Latest news with #Cairo
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Teen labourers among 19 killed in road collision in Egypt
A truck has collided with a minibus carrying workers on a road in Egypt, killing 19 people, most of them teenage girls, according to local officials. The collision occurred as the workers were heading to work in the early hours of Friday morning on a regional road in the city of Ashmoun in the Nile Delta province of Menoufia, north of the capital Cairo. The truck collided with the minibus as it carried the labourers to their workplace from their home village of Kafr al-Sanabsa, according to the state-owned newspaper, Akhbar al-Youm. Most of the workers were teenagers – two of them just 14 – according to a list of the names and ages published by the state-owned daily, Al-Ahram. Egyptian media has dubbed the crash victims 'martyrs for their daily bread'. Some 1.3 million minors are engaged in some form of child labour in Egypt, according to government figures, and accidents often involve underage labourers travelling to work in overcrowded minibuses in rural areas. Only three people survived the crash on Friday, according to a statement from Egypt's Ministry of Labour, and they were transferred to the General Ashmoun Hospital. Egypt's Labour Minister Mohamed Gebran has ordered authorities to compensate the families of the deceased with up to 200,000 Egyptian pounds (about $4,000) each. Each injured person will also receive 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($400). Menoufia provincial governor, Ibrahim Abu Leimon, said the cause of the crash would be investigated. Preliminary reports suggest excessive speeding may have been a key factor. Abu Leimon also called on the country's Ministry of Transportation to reassess safety measures on the regional road. In April, five members of a single family died in a two-car collision on the same road. Deadly traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year across Egypt. In October 2023, 35 people were killed, at least 18 of whom burned to death, in a 'horrific collision' involving a bus and several cars on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, according to Al-Ahram.
Washington Post
7 hours ago
- Washington Post
Man who kicked customs dog at Dulles ordered to leave U.S.
Freddie the Customs and Border Protection beagle spent Tuesday morning doing his typical work: patrolling the international baggage claim area at Washington Dulles International Airport for undeclared agricultural products. Then the morning took an unusual turn. After the dog alerted his handler that a piece of luggage from Cairo was suspicious, the duo approached the suitcase's owner, a 70-year-old man from Egypt.
National Post
12 hours ago
- National Post
U.S. deports 70-year-old man after he 'violently' kicked a CBP dog at an airport
Article content A 70-year-old man has been deported from the United States after kicking a U.S. Customs and Border Protection dog at an airport in the Washington, D.C. area on Tuesday. Article content CBP agriculture detector dog Freddie, a five-year-old beagle, and his handler were inspecting bags during a routine screening after a flight landed at the Dulles International Airport from Cairo, Egypt. Article content Article content Article content Freddie alerted his handler to a suitcase belonging to the 70-year-old, when the man 'violently' kicked the animal 'with sufficient force to lift the 25-pound beagle off the ground,' authorities said Thursday. Officers handcuffed him and turned him over to Homeland Security Investigations agents. Article content The veterinarian who examined Freddie determined the beagle had contusions to his right forward rib area. CBP Public Affairs Officer Steve Sapp told National Post in an emailed statement that Freddie is still recovering. Article content The vet said he needed rest and prescribed low dose pain medication, said Sapp, adding that the beagle should be back to work in a week. Article content Authorities searched the man's baggage and said they found more than 100 pounds of food products, including 55 pounds of beef, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of eggplant, cucumbers and bell peppers, two pounds of corn seeds and one pound of herbs. The items, which are on the prohibited list, were seized, per the agency. Article content Article content The man appeared before the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia and pled guilty to harming animals used in law enforcement. He was credited with time served, ordered to pay the veterinarian bill and to report to CBP to be deported. Article content According to court documents obtained by CBS News, the veterinarian fee amounted to US$840. Article content He left the U.S. on a flight to Egypt at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. Article content 'Being caught deliberately smuggling well over one hundred pounds of undeclared and prohibited agriculture products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenseless Customs and Border Protection beagle,' said CBP's Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C. Christine Waugh. Article content She added that Freddie was 'just doing his job.' Article content CBP K9 Freddy: Small dog, BIG impact! 🐶💪 With his handler, Officer Snyder, this talented pup is keeping our food and farms safe at Washington Dulles International Airport #ProtectingAgriculture #PawsontheFrontline #BugBustingBeagles #FarmDefenders #OFOproud🇺🇸🌾🍊 Posted by CBP Office of Field Operations on Friday, March 21, 2025 Article content Freddie, who is part of CBP's Beagles Brigade, helps screen passengers and cargo 'to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal disease from entering the U.S.,' the CBP said. Article content
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- CTV News
19 killed in a road collision in Egypt's Nile Delta region
This is a locator map for Egypt with its capital, Cairo. (AP Photo) CAIRO — A truck and a microbus collided on a road in Egypt on Friday, killing 19 people, officials said. The microbus was carrying workers on a regional road in the city of Ashmoun, in the Nile Delta governorate of Menoufia, as they were heading to their jobs, according to a statement by the Labour Ministry. Three people survived the crash. The victims, including the injured, were transferred to General Ashmoun hospital, according to local media reports. Labour Minister Mohamed Gebran ordered authorities to take the necessary measures to disburse compensation to victims' families, sending up to 200,000 Egyptian pounds (about US$4,000) to the families of those deceased and 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($400) to each injured person. Menoufia's governor, Ibrahim Abu Leimon. said that the cause of the crash would be urgently investigated, and he called on the transportation ministry to reassess safety measures on the regional road, according to local media outlet Al-Masry Al-Youm. Deadly traffic collisions claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record. Speeding, bad roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws are the main reasons behind most of the crashes. The Associated Press
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Cautious optimism in UK on progress to secure British-Egyptian dissident's release
The family of Alaa Abd el-Fattah have expressed cautious optimism that progress is being made to secure the British-Egyptian dissident's release after Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, managed to secure a long-delayed phone call with the Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in which the two leaders discussed improving UK-Egypt trade relations. The call coincided with a decision by Abd el-Fattah's 69-year-old mother Laila Soueif to ease her hunger strike in the hope diplomacy may work. She is on a glucose drip in St Thomas's hospital in London. Her decision came after discussions with doctors and her family. She has been on hunger strike for more than 270 days to secure improvement in Abd el-Fattah's jail conditions in Cairo or his release. The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, told MPs this week he was confident that the UK strategy to secure Abd el-Fattah's release was working, but did not give any further details to explain that view. In a readout of the Starmer phone call with Sisi, Downing Street said: 'Turning to the bilateral relationship between the UK and Egypt, the leaders underscored the potential to go further and faster on trade and investment to benefit both countries. 'The prime minister also raised the case of British national Alaa Abd el-Fattah and again pressed for his release so that he can be reunited with his family.' The fact that the British readout seemed to link improved trade ties to el-Fattah's release hinted at an effort to persuade Sisi that it would be in Egypt's economic interest to permit the release of the British-Egyptian dual national. It is the third phone call the UK prime minister has made to the Egyptian president in which he has raised the award-winning writer's imprisonment. In the Egyptian version of the call 'the two leaders emphasised the two countries' keenness on enhancing their bilateral relations across various fields, particularly in the economic and investment spheres'. Starmer said he looks forward to Sisi's acceptance of the invitation extended from the King to visit London. For his part, Sisi confirmed the invitation extended to the British prime minister to visit Egypt later this year. The two men also discussed a Gaza ceasefire. No mention of Abd el-Fattah is made in the Egyptian statement. Some MPs have been calling for the foreign office to change its travel advice in a bid to threaten the Egyptian economy with the loss of UK tourist income, but there has been tension inside the foreign office over whether threats or incentives will persuade Egypt's authoritarian leader that continued detention is damaging the Egyptian national interest. Soueif, a university professor and long-term campaigner for human rights in Egypt, has been in and out of hospital since she started her hunger strike, but her health has become critical over the past three weeks as her blood glucose levels dropped. Her daughter Sanaa posting on Facebook on Wednesday said her mother may be facing long-term mobility issues, explaining she fell twice yesterday. Sanaa wrote 'she was not sure she knows how to stand on her legs again and at her age it is hard to build muscle … The signs of course were very scary and mama was forced to use the wheelchair again but the tumour is getting better. Before the glucose bag, my mother's face was very warm and there was a block of water gathered around her eyes often described as Edema. |The tumour in her face and hands is almost completely gone and the rest of the body is less.' Soueif has been in and out of hospital since the start of her hunger strike and she has again agreed to a small glucose intake to improve her blood sugar levels. She continues to take no food. Labour MP Stella Creasyasked Lammy on Tuesday to give an assurance all options are being considered, including changing the travel advice to Egypt. The foreign secretary replied: 'This case and Laila's condition has concerned me greatly. It has been a top priority every week I have been in office at every single level – prime minister, foreign secretary, foreign minister and national security adviser – we are engaged with the Egyptians. I believe our strategy is working, but given Laila's health we must see progress at pace with the Egyptians.' Abd el-Fattah was arrested in September 2019, after he had already served five years for the so-called Shura council protest in November 2013, when dozens of activists were detained for demonstrating against military trials. In December 2021, after more than two years in detention, he was sentenced again – this time to five more years, accused of spreading false news for reposting a tweet about a detainee who died as a result of his torture in prison.
