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Egypt Rejects European Parliament’s Statement on Presidential Elections

Egyptian Parliament (Facebook)
Egyptian Parliament (Facebook)
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Egypt Rejects European Parliament’s Statement on Presidential Elections

Egyptian Parliament (Facebook)
Egyptian Parliament (Facebook)

The Egyptian Parliament on Friday rejected a European Parliament statement on the country’s upcoming presidential elections, saying it lacks credibility and neutrality.

On Thursday, the European Parliament called in a report for a “review” of the EU’s relations with Egypt. It also urged Egyptian authorities to hold “credible, free and fair elections” and stop “harassing peaceful opposition figures such as aspiring presidential candidates.”

The report sparked a wave of widespread criticism in Egypt, particularly from deputies and politicians who said the statement is based on false information.

Egypt is gearing up for its presidential elections late this year. Voting in Egypt will take place from December 10 to December 12, with Egyptians abroad casting their votes from December 1 to December 3.

In a statement issued Friday, the Egyptian Parliament said the EU’s report lacks objectivity and reveals a predisposition to issue premature judgments about the electoral process.

It then called on the European Parliament to focus its efforts on European affairs, where violations of human rights and freedoms are documented in various reports.

Several Egyptian party leaders, in addition to political and legal officials, rejected the Union’s interference in Egypt’s internal affairs.

Nagi Al-Shihabi, head of the Democratic Generation Party (al-Geel al-Dimuqrati), told Asharq Al-Awsat that the European Parliament statement contains false information aimed at misleading global public opinion, affirming that the Parliament exceeded its limits and powers and interfered in Egyptian affairs.

He affirmed that Egypt’s elections are run by an independent body, the National Electoral Commission, and in accordance with the law, the Constitution and international standards.

Shihabi said it is normal that the European statement triggered wide criticisms in Egypt because Egyptian political parties and civil society are participating in the national dialogue, called for by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, without exclusion.

Meanwhile, Tarek Fahmy, a political science professor at Cairo University, said the timing of the European Parliament is suspicious because it coincides with the announcement of Sisi's candidacy for a new term.

The statement aims to intervene in local affairs and try to spark fears among Egyptian authorities, he said, adding that the statement also aims to change the course of the electoral process.

He then rejected the European Parliament’s “unacceptable interventions” in Egypt’s internal affairs and said it was still early to comment on the elections.

Fahmy then told Asharq Al-Awsat that the European Parliament statement came one-day following demands by lobbyists in Washington and rights groups that US lawmakers withhold a further $235 million in military aid to Egypt.

“I believe there are some European-US arrangements to intervene in Egyptian affairs in one way or another,” he said.

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Varieties

2 Humpback Whales Set Records Swimming between Australia and Brazil

This photo provided by the Pacific Whale Foundation in May 2026, shows a humpback whale breaching off the coast of Australia. (Pacific Whale Foundation via AP)
This photo provided by the Pacific Whale Foundation in May 2026, shows a humpback whale breaching off the coast of Australia. (Pacific Whale Foundation via AP)
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2 Humpback Whales Set Records Swimming between Australia and Brazil

This photo provided by the Pacific Whale Foundation in May 2026, shows a humpback whale breaching off the coast of Australia. (Pacific Whale Foundation via AP)
This photo provided by the Pacific Whale Foundation in May 2026, shows a humpback whale breaching off the coast of Australia. (Pacific Whale Foundation via AP)

Scientists have spotted two humpback whales that made separate, record-breaking crossings between Australia and Brazil.

The whales were identified by their distinctive tail markings at the two locations about 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) apart. They traveled in opposite directions and journeyed farther than any humpback known so far.

“It’s a very rare event, but it is a really wonderful demonstration of just how wide-ranging these animals are,” said Phillip Clapham, former head of a NOAA whale research program who was not involved with the new findings.

Humpback whales are known for roaming long distances across major oceans in predictable patterns, typically following migration routes learned from their mothers. They feed on krill and small fish in the warmer months and breed in tropical waters over winter.

It's difficult to track the movements of creatures that spend most of their lives underwater. In the new study, scientists analyzed over 19,000 whale images taken in the past four decades by research groups and citizen scientists, The Associated Press reported.

Recognition software helped to identify the whales based on their tails' color patterns and jagged edges. Researchers pinpointed two different whales at breeding sites in eastern Australia and Brazil over the years, suggesting they had crossed from one place to the other.

One whale traveled just over 9,300 miles (15,000 kilometers), outranking previous recordholders including a humpback that swam from Colombia to Zanzibar.

The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Since the photos only depict the whales at the beginning and end of their journeys, researchers don't know the exact route they took.

Whales don't typically travel between mating sites so it's not yet clear why these two separately embarked on their journeys. They may have met other whales on shared feeding grounds and split off instead of returning to where they came from, study co-author Stephanie Stack with the Pacific Whale Foundation said in an email.

“Finding not one but two individuals that have crossed between Australia and Brazil challenges what we thought we knew about how separate these populations really are,” Stack said.

Such odysseys are more difficult for whales in the Northern Hemisphere, where massive continents make traveling across oceans tougher.

Scientists said the record journey shows just how far humpback whales can go. These methods can also help keep track of them as climate change warms oceans, possibly changing where krill live and where humpbacks might go to feed and breed.

Varieties

Animal Welfare Groups: 3 South African Zoo Elephants Are Depressed, Sue to Move Them

FILE - Charley, an ageing four-ton African elephant, is trained to enter a transport container, on Aug. 9, 2024 at the Pretoria, South Africa's, National Zoological Gardens. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Charley, an ageing four-ton African elephant, is trained to enter a transport container, on Aug. 9, 2024 at the Pretoria, South Africa's, National Zoological Gardens. (AP Photo, File)
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Animal Welfare Groups: 3 South African Zoo Elephants Are Depressed, Sue to Move Them

FILE - Charley, an ageing four-ton African elephant, is trained to enter a transport container, on Aug. 9, 2024 at the Pretoria, South Africa's, National Zoological Gardens. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Charley, an ageing four-ton African elephant, is trained to enter a transport container, on Aug. 9, 2024 at the Pretoria, South Africa's, National Zoological Gardens. (AP Photo, File)

The mental well-being of three elephants in a zoo in South Africa is the subject of an unusual court case, with animal welfare groups saying they are depressed and should be moved to a larger conservation park where they can be happy.

The case this week will ask a South African court to decide if the state is meeting its legal obligations with regard to the welfare of the animals and the conditions in which they are kept, according to David Bilchitz, a board member at Animal Law Reform South Africa, one of the groups bringing the case.

Experts would show in court that the elephants are unhappy, The Associated Press quoted Bilchitz as saying. The animal welfare groups said a part of the South African Constitution puts an obligation on authorities to look after animals.

The zoo in question in Johannesburg is publicly owned and has defended its management of the elephants, saying they are well cared for.

Bilchitz said elephants have highly complex social structures and specific physical and mental needs, and generally live in herds of 20-50 animals that roam large areas in the wild.

He said that the three elephants at the zoo — named Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane — live in an enclosure not much bigger than a soccer field with none of the typical stimulation that elephants need, like trees to forage from and mud pools to bathe in.

“They are sad, depressed and frustrated,” Bilchitz told AP. “They are listless and stand around.”
He said the elephants had shown signs of psychological distress, like standing and rocking and other “repetitive compulsive behavior.”

Johannesburg Zoo said in a statement that there had been a “media scourge” over the condition of the elephants and maintained they were healthy and also popular with zoo staff and visitors. It also said that relocating elephants from zoos to semiwild sanctuaries is not always successful.

There is a kind of precedent for the case. In 2024, an old bull elephant called Charley was relocated from another South African zoo to a game reserve after he outlived his elephant companions at the zoo and animal experts believed he was lonely.

The zoo agreed that Charley should be taken to the reserve to retire after he spent decades in captivity, including around 16 years in a circus.

Business

UK Inflation Slows to 2.8% in April

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves arrives at Downing Street in London , Britain, 13 May 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves arrives at Downing Street in London , Britain, 13 May 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL
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UK Inflation Slows to 2.8% in April

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves arrives at Downing Street in London , Britain, 13 May 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves arrives at Downing Street in London , Britain, 13 May 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL

British consumer price inflation slowed to 2.8% in April from 3.3% in March, according to official figures published on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected inflation to soften to 3.0%, in large part due to the big increases in utility and other regulated prices in April last year falling out of the annual comparison.

Before the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, the Bank of England said inflation in Britain - the highest among the Group of Seven economies for much of the last four years - was likely to be close ⁠to its 2% ⁠target in April.

But the energy price shock from the war prompted the BoE to increase sharply its inflation forecasts which, it says, could hit 6.2% early next year under its most inflationary scenario.

British finance minister Rachel Reeves is expected to announce on Thursday more measures to help ⁠reduce the cost of living, including a possible cancellation of a fuel duty increase which is due to come into effect in September.

The finance ministry is also pressing supermarket chains to introduce voluntary price caps on key food products in return for easing some regulations, two people with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.

The key question for the BoE's interest rate-setters is whether the expected rise in headline inflation creates longer-term price pressures in the economy.

Several have said the ⁠weak ⁠jobs market could make it harder for workers to demand higher pay and for businesses to pass on higher costs.

Preliminary data from the tax office published on Tuesday showed a sharp fall in people in payrolled employment and weaker pay growth. Wage settlement figures published earlier on Wednesday pointed to a slowdown in pay growth too.

Financial markets on Tuesday were betting on two quarter-point interest rate rises by the BoE this year, with a chance of a third. A Reuters poll of economists published last week showed most expected no change in rates in 2026.