Amnesty has criticised the Egyptian authorities intention to prohibit Egyptian NGOs’ contact with foreign organisations without permission from security bodies.

It is not possible to predict with any sense of certainty how affairs will develop across the Middle East and North Africa region in 2013. What can be seen, writes regional analyst Dr Harry Hagopian, is that we are in the midst of a grand reshaping of all the regional assumptions that have stood for almost a generation. Something has made the pulse of this region race faster, and that cannot be undone. Now, we are seeking the calm in eye of the storm, and we will possibly do so for some time to come.

New powers announced by Egypt’s President trample the rule of law and herald a new era of repression, Amnesty International says.