Unnamed: 0
int64 1
386
| publication_date
stringdate 2009-12-04 00:00:00
2020-06-19 00:00:00
| url
stringlengths 46
125
| text
stringlengths 316
15.7k
|
|---|---|---|---|
309 |
2015-02-09
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/prosecutors-pose-rioting-charges-against-ultras-fans
|
Prosecutors have charged 18 football fans with assaulting police in the violence that broke out on Sunday outside a Cairo stadium leaving 22 fans dead. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The East Cairo Prosecution accused members of the White Knights (WK), the Zamalek Sports Club fan group, of rioting and attempting to storm the Air Defense Stadium during their team's premier league encounter with the ENPPI Club. While the Interior Ministry said the fans did not hold tickets for the game and blamed the deaths on a stampede, the WK accused police of indiscriminately firing tear gas at supporters crammed inside a narrow stadium gateway. Medical examiners have concluded that the deaths were caused by broken necks and blunt force trauma resulting from a stampede, noting at the same time that the corpses did not show signs of gunshot wounds. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
310 |
2015-02-10
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/alexandria-club-chief-blames-zamalek-club-incident-administration-security
|
Alexandria football fans have called on officials of the Egyptian Football Association to cancel this season's matches to mourn the 22 victims who were killed in clashes with security during the Zamalek-ENPPI match which took place on Sunday. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Several ultras groups said they do not want to attend matches this season in solidarity with the Zamalek Club. They blame Zamalek Club Chief Mortada Mansour for refusing to sell the match's tickets and distributing them among the general assembly members. They also called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to remove Mansour from the sports scene. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Mashaly, chief of the Ittihad Alexandria Club, described the Zamalek-ENPPI match incident as 'calamitous'. "Egyptian football has faced a huge catastrophe that touched all Egyptians after blood was shed, reminding us of the incident when 74 victims of the Ahly Club were killed due to negligence." Mashaly blamed the most recent incident on the Zamalek Club administration and security. He also added that security did not treat the situation wisely. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
311 |
2015-02-11
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/prosecution-releases-18-arrested-deadly-football-game
|
The East Cairo Prosecution released late Tuesday 18 individuals arrested in the deadly violence which erupted ahead of a football game on Sunday, leaving 19 killed. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The detainees were released on a 200 Egyptian-pound bail. The prosecution ordered the detention of three more for 15 days. The 21 detainees were accused of attacking security personnel, vandalising police cars and public facilities, blocking the road and "inciting terror and panic among passersby," said Mohamed Seif, the head of the prosecution. All detainees denied the charges, Seif said. Investigation revealed that the 18 released detainees did not take part in the violence, the head of the prosecution said. According to the ministry of interior, large numbers of Zamalek fans attempted to storm the stadium. Meanwhile, "Ultras White Knights" group, which supports the Zamalek Sporting Club, said on its Facebook page that the police "initiated firing teargas towards fans" outside the stadium, adding that many people fainted and experienced suffocation as a result. The prosecution also released from custody a health official accused of forging burial permits for five of those killed in the violence. The official was investigated after writing in the burial permits that suffocation from teargas was the cause of death, said Forensic Authority Spokesman Hisham Abdel Hameed. A preliminary medical report by the Forensic Authority suggested on Monday that the 19 people were killed in a stampede. The authority denied that any of the deaths were caused by live ammunition, birdshot or suffocation from teargas. The health official said he was coerced into the act after being pressured by the families of those killed. The Interior Ministry allowed football fans to attend the Egyptian Premier League games toward the end of 2014. The games were held in the absence of any fans since over 70 football fans were killed in the Port Said Stadium following a game in February 2012. This is the first football game for Zamalek club where football fans were allowed to attend since February 2012. Tensions often arise between Ultras groups and security forces securing games. This content is from :Aswat Masriya
|
312 |
2015-02-12
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/sisi-and-psychology-hostility
|
I worship the state. I am convinced that all Egyptians, regardless of their beliefs, consider the state as their custodian. I am talking here about a state, not something that looks like it. It is the state that the Egyptians had invented and taught to humanity. It is a state that knows what to do, manages my affairs and anticipates and solves my problems. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); If you go to a doctor suffering from a headache and he opens your skull and destroys your brain cells, then he is a murderer and not a doctor. By the same token, if a policeman kills me for violating the law, then he is no policeman. The Ultras are a universal problem that no country, backward or advanced, could evade. In fact, our Ultras are better than those of Europe. Just as any social phenomenon, they need a vision on the part of the state as to how to deal with them, not killers to shoot them. For they are a key part of our future. Sisi's problem is that he still has the psychology of a sniper, which is required for a man of the intelligence service because in that field he dealt with an enemy. But he still did not realize that he has moved to a different realm that is governed by the laws of diversity and differences, even over crucial issues. It is a realm where there is no place for hostility as long as we are all committed to one nation and subjected to its laws. And he still did not realize that we are passing through a different and volatile phase that needs new rules and new methods of governance. Sisi wants to be considered the leader of the third modern Egyptian state that is more mature than that of Muhammad Ali and Gamal Abdel Nasser. Like many others, I wanted a man to lead the people in accordance with the Constitution of the January and June revolutions. And so I voted for Hamdeen Sabbahi so that Sisi does not become worshiped like a god. For we cannot achieve any development without freedoms. We learned that from our experience with Nasser. The era of this kind of leaders era has long ended. The excesses and brutality of Sisi's security services have surpassed those of Nasser and Mubarak. Everyone from the "Active Bloc" was disappointed in him. And he will not make it without that bloc no matter what he tries to do externally because it is the only part that can think outside the box and direct the public towards development. Sisi will not lead the third modern Egyptian state unless he drops the psychology of hostility and recognizes as a statesman the plurality of the public with its violators and even most rebellious Ultras who are part of our nation. He must know how to attract them to his project, if he has a project in the first place. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
313 |
2015-02-24
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/court-sentences-10-juvenile-ultras-group-members-prison
|
A juvenile court sentenced 10 members of the Ultras White Knights group to two years prison terms on Tuesday, the head of the group's defence team said. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Lawyer Mohamed Rashwan said five of those sentenced were present in the session, while the other five were sentenced in absentia. The trial dates back to clashes that broke out between the ultras group members and security forces last August in Cairo's Shubra neighbourhood. Ultras White Knights, which supports the popular Zamalek Sporting Club, had called for a march to denounce the arrests of fellow group members over alleged complicity in an attempt on the club chairman's life. Prosecutors have accused the 10 defendants of violating the protest law by organising an unauthorised march, joining a group established in violation of the law and committing acts of violence. Tensions between ultras groups supporting football teams and security forces are not uncommon. On February 8, violence broke out ahead of a game between the Enppi and Zamalek football clubs, leaving at least 19 people dead. While the ministry of interior says large numbers of Zamalek fans attempted to storm the stadium, the ultras group says the police "initiated firing teargas towards fans" outside the stadium. Following the violence earlier this month, football activity across the country has been suspended. This content is from :Aswat Masriya
|
314 |
2015-02-25
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/cabinet-approves-resumption-football-league-late-march
|
Egypt's Cabinet decided Wednesday to take the necessary measures to resume the premier football league after ending the 40-day mourning moratorium, following a Cairo stadium rampage that left dozens dead. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Once again, the games will be resumed without spectators, the Cabinet decided in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, reversing an earlier decision to allow a limited number of fans at the games. The government tasked the ministries of interior and youth, as well as the Egyptian Football Association with studying the procedures needed for resuming the league. At least 22 of Zamalek Sports Club fans were killed outside the Air Defense Stadium on 8 February while their team was preparing for a game with the ENPPI team. While the Interior Ministry blamed the deaths on a stampede when several fans attempted to enter the stadium without being searched by security, Ultras White Knights, Zamalek's organized fan group accused the police of indiscriminately firing tear gas at the crowds, suffocating the victims. Egypt's local football league, halted during the revolutions of 2011 and 2013, has seen several incidents of violence between fans and security, which prompted authorities to deny spectators entry to stadiums. The worst catastrophe occurred in February 2012 when 72 fans of Al-Ahly Sports Club were killed by angry rivals at Port Said Stadium during the team's premier league encounter with its host, Al-Masry. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
315 |
2015-03-05
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/six-incidents-toppled-mohammed-ibrahim
|
After nearly two years and two months of terrorist attacks and scandals, the Interior Ministry has struggled to counter threats facing the nation. On Thursday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb made a limited cabinet reshuffle of eight ministers, including Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, who was replaced by the General Magdy Abdel Ghaffar. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); After serving two completely different regimes, Ibrahim withstood criticism for what critics say was security negligence of frequent terrorist attacks witnessed by the country after the 30 June 2013 uprising, as well as for the brutal security practices used against citizens. Six incidents stood out during Minister Ibrahim's tenure that arguably led to his dismissal; most recently the killing of political activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, the Air Defense Stadium massacre and bombing the High Court complex. The prison transport van In August 2013, 36 prisoners, mostly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, were killed outside the Abu Zaabal prison, suffocated with gas after having been detained inside a prison transport van for six hours. The Interior Ministry said at the time that the prisoners held an officer captive and fought in an attempt to escape, but the police forces managed to free the officer and take control of the situation with tear gas canisters, which led to the death of the prisoners as they stampeded to exit the van. The incident provoked anger among youth movements that demanded the dismissal of the interior minister and a fair investigation. On 22 October 2013, Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat referred four officers of the Heliopolis Police Station to trial on charges of manslaughter as a result of recklessness, lack of prudence and serious breach of job responsibility. On 29 October, the trial of the four officers began and the verdict was issued on 18 March 2014, sentencing the deputy sheriff of the Heliopolis Police Station to 10 years in prison and the other three officers to a suspended one-year imprisonment sentence. Yet the court rescinded the verdict and returned the case to the prosecutor general for further investigations. They were then acquitted. In January 2015, the Court of Cassation accepted the appeal submitted by the public prosecutor and ordered a retrial for the accused. National Security Officer Mohamed Mabrouk assassinated Two month passed and on 17 November 2013, National Security Officer Mohamed Mabrouk was shot dead by unknown assailants on his way to work in Nasr City, according to a statement issued by the Interior Ministry. Mabrouk was investigating the espionage case in which deposed President Mohamed Morsy and a number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders are accused. He also contributed to the arrest of the Nasr City terrorist cell. The bombing of the Daqahlia Security Directorate On 24 December 2013, at least 14 policemen were killed and 130 others wounded by a car bomb that blasted the Daqahliya Security Directorate. Security sources said the suicide bomber was an informant from National Security. His name was Imam Mahfouz, born in 1973 in Cairo. He lived on Youssef Awad Street in Matareya. And he was arrested twice before. The sources added that instructions from senior National Security leaders were given to the officers to release him on the grounds that he would work as an informant for the bureau. Al-Masry Al-Youm has posted a YouTube video of the attack. Activist Shaima al-Sabbagh's killing Nn the eve of the fourth anniversary of the 25 January revolt, The 32-year old Political activist Shaima al-Sabbagh and the member of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPA) was shot dead during a march with floweres near Tahrir Square. The SPA held the security forces the responsiblity for the young activist killing and wrote on Facebook that she was shot with a police cartridge rifle while she was placing roses at the Tahrir Square memorial during a peaceful march. Meanwhile, The democratic current including AlDostor, AlKaramah the social popular alliance, Misr AlHoreya and justice parties declared they will not participate in the coming parliamentary elections unless the government responds to their demands including the dismissal of minister of interior Ibrahim, after video footages where a policeman appeared shooting the young killed protester. Al-Masry Al-Youm has posted a YouTube video documenting her death. Air Defense Stadium catastrophe A very short time passed before the situation exacerbated when the Air Defense Stadium massacre took place, killing at least 22 of the Zamalek Football Club's White Knights Ultras, after they were prevented from attending the match because they did not have tickets. The massacre sparked a wave of outcry from various political parties and coallitions who demanding Sisi dismiss Ibrahim. A video clip on Facebook showed the fans stranded in an iron cage and shouting: "We are dying. The other fans demanded the police force to let them out, but minutes later the iron cage collapsed and the force fired tear gas canisters, cartridges and bullets, killing 19 people. The Egypt Revolution Party (Masr Althoura) blamed the head of Zamalek Club, Mortada Mansour, along the football association and the Interior Ministry for the massacre, while the Karama Party condemned the unjustified violence against the fans, demanding Ibrahim's dismissal. Following the masacre, the Dostour party along with the Egyptian Social Democratic, Egypt Freedom, and Life and Freedom parties issued a joint statement, also demanding the dismissal of Ibrahim and the ministry's restructure. Al-Masry Al-Youm has posted a YouTube video of the aftermath of the incident. Bombing of the High Court Complex The most recent terrorist attack was the bombing of the High Court Complex on Monday in broad daylight and amid intense security presence, killing at least one person and wounding nine others, including four conscripts, as well as destroying six cars. Al-Masry Al-Youm has posted a YouTube video of the aftermath of the incident.
|
316 |
2015-03-17
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypt-charges-muslim-brotherhood-ultras-over-football-violence-deaths
|
Egypt's public prosecutor said on Tuesday 16 people, including members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, were charged with killing and inciting violence in connection with the deaths of 19 football fans who clashed with security forces last month. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The Brotherhood supporters and members of a fan group known as the Ultras were charged with carrying out the violence outside a stadium in order to create an image of instability before an investment summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh at the weekend.
|
317 |
2015-03-18
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/cabinet-egypt-s-premier-league-return-march-30-without-spectators
|
Egypt's cabinet decided on Wednesday to resume the country's football premier league on March 30, yet without spectators. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The cabinet said in a statement the league would return after coordination between the Youth and Sports Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the Egyptian Football Association (EFA). The EFA had announced on February 9 the indefinite suspension of all football activity after at least 19 were killed in deadly violence involving football fans and security forces the night before. Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat referred to trial 16 defendants over the incident on Tuesday, 12 of whom are in custody Barakat accused the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood of coordinating with Zamalek Sporting Club's Ultras group to commit acts of violence. This was the first football game for Zamalek club where fans were allowed to attend, since February 2012. On February 1, 2012 over 70 football fans were killed inside a stadium in Port Said, following a football game. In December 2014, the Interior Ministry said it will allow football fans to attend the second leg games of the Egyptian Premier League, but with a maximum of 10,000 fans in games played in Cairo and Alexandria. This content is from :Aswat Masriya
|
318 |
2015-03-18
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/families-stadium-massacre-victims-we-know-killer
|
"God wanted my son to go to the match to die there. Only God is able to avenge him," says Emad al-Sayyed, father of Abdel Rahman, one of the 20 people killed googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); outside a Cairo stadium last month. On Sunday, the prosecution referred 16 Muslim Brotherhood members and White Knights Ultras to trial over their involvement in the riots outside the Air Defense Stadium, during a match between Zamalek and ENPPI. Sayyed adds that he learned about the prosecutor's decision from the TV, saying that he is not going to take any action against it. According to him, the prosecution has ignored the role of the police in the massacre, while medical reports indicated that the victims had died from asphyxia and injuries sustained in the stampede. Meanwhile, Ahmed, Abdel Rahman's brother, says: "Why would we hire a lawyer? He will do nothing." He does not believe it is possible to prosecute anyone in relation to his brother's killing. "I know who killed my daughter. We have all watched the videos and we know who fired gas on our sons, while they were kept inside a cage that they could not escape, till they died of asphyxia," said Amer Hebeishy, father of Hala, another victim. "All what we hear are lies. However, there is nothing we can do." He wonders,"How would ordinary people have access to tear gas? And if they did, how and why would they hide among the police securing the stadium to use it against the fans without the police stopping them?" He said that his daughter was the only one whose body did not undergo an autopsy, as she was transferred to a nearby hospital in the Fifth Settlement district by a passer-by. In the hospital, the doctor concluded she had died out of asphyxia. "Mortada Mansour [Head of Zamalek Club] told me he will file a lawsuit to defend the rights of the victims," he said, accusing police of killing his daughter. According to Abdel Hakim, Hala's brother, the decision made no reference to the role of the police. "We know who killed the young people in the stadium, I have seen them with my own eyes." The brother of Hala and Sara, who accompanied them to the match, said: "My sigblings were not involved in any riting, especially when they were locked inside a cage and killed." An anonymous member of Ultras member added: "There is an ongoing effort to do away with the White Knights group. It started with detaining dozens of our members and sentencing them in prisonr." Riham Hussein, the mother of 19-year old Omar Sherif, who was referred by the prosecutor to the Criminal Court, told Al-Masry Al-Youm: "My son entered the match with Mortada Mansour and I showed the picture proving this to the prosecution. He had a ticket. I also showed a certificate from his university, proving his good behaviour." Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
319 |
2015-03-18
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/windows-10-coming-190-countries-111-languages
|
Microsoft says its new Windows 10 operating system will be coming "this summer" in 190 countries and 111 languages. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); In a blog post late Tuesday, Microsoft executive vice president Terry Myerson said the operating system designed for multiple devices would also have a "small footprint" for connected devices. "We continue to make great development progress and shared today that Windows 10 will be available this summer in 190 countries and 111 languages," he said. Microsoft has yet to provide a precise date for the launch of the operating system, which is aimed at powering PCs, smartphones and also connected devices such as bank machines and medical equipment. "For the first time, a new version of Windows for small footprint IoT (Internet of Things) devices will be available - for free - when Windows 10 launches," Myerson said. "Windows 10 will offer versions of Windows for a diverse set of IoT devices, ranging from powerful devices like ATMs and ultrasound machines, to resource constrained devices like gateways." Microsoft is also working with fast-growing Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi to test Windows 10 on its devices. The US tech giant also announced partnerships with Chinese-based Tencent and Lenovo to help customers in China upgrade to Windows 10. The company also said Tuesday that Windows 10 will allow users to sign in to a device without a password by using biometrics, including facial recognition.
|
320 |
2015-03-21
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/zamalek-club-chairmen-sentenced-year-prison-insulting-lawyer
|
An Egyptian misdemeanour court sentenced on Saturday the chairman of the Zamalek Sporting Club to a year in prison and a one thousand Egyptian-pound bail for insulting a lawyer. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The club's chairman, whose name is withheld due to a ban enforced by the Egypt's Press Syndicate against its use in publication, was also ordered to pay a 10 thousand Egyptian-pound fine. Lawyer Tarek al-Awady, who represents Zamalek Sporting Club's Ultras fan group, Ultras White Knights (UWK) had accused the defendant of libel. Awady had also won a libel lawsuit filed against Ahmed Moussa, television host in a private-owned satellite channel. An Egyptian misdemeanour court sentenced the television host to six months' hard labour on a 5,000 Egyptian-pound bail last December for insulting Awady. This content is from :Aswat Masriya
|
321 |
2015-04-23
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ahlawy-ultras-storm-prince-abdullah-hall-cheer-their-team-against-sporting
|
Large numbers of the Ahlawy Ultras have broken into the Prince Abdullah Hall in the Al-Ahly Club on Thursday, to cheer their handball team playing against the Sporting Club. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Security failed to prevent the crowd from entering, due to their large numbers. Previously, due to security concerns, the club had decided to prevent the group from attending football and handball matches. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
322 |
2015-04-25
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ultras-green-eagles-protest-support-port-said-massacre-defendants
|
The Green Eagles Ultras, a group of Al-Masry Club football fans, staged a protest Friday evening to support defendants in the Port Said Stadium massacre. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The march kicked off at Mariam Mosque in the al-Monakh neighborhood where hundreds of Ultras members, families of the defendants and Wafd Party leaders participated. The protesters raised images outside Port Said Prison of defendants sentenced to death, as well as banners that demanded the prosecution of former Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim over the killing of 54 protesters. They chanted against presenter Ahmed Moussa and Zamalek Club chief and lawyer Mortada Mansour for receiving LE2 million to defend the accused without attending the sessions. The Green Eagles Ultras announced in a statement on its Facebook page it would continue to protest until the final verdict on May 30. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
323 |
2015-04-27
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/urgent-matters-court-declines-jurisdiction-ultras-ban-case
|
The Cairo Court of Urgent Matters declined on Monday to assume jurisdiction in a lawsuit demanding the disbandment of the Ultras footbal fan group and the banning of their activities. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The lawsuit was filed by lawyer Ashraf Farhat, who accused the Ultras of staging riots inside and outside stadiums and of burning the Football Federation and the Police Officers Club. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
324 |
2015-05-10
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/zamalek-club-ultras-trial-adjourned-june-8
|
The Giza Criminal Court adjourned on Sunday the trial of 21 members of the Zamalek Club White Knights Ultras to June 8. They face charges of attacking and attempting to murder Club Chief Mortada Mansour. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The decision was made administratively as the trial session was not held due to the assassination attempt on the court judge early Sunday. The prosecution had referred the suspects to court after accusing them of possessing arms and ammunition, damaging public property, endangering citizens' lives and trying to murder Mansour while he was leaving the club. Edited translation from MENA
|
325 |
2015-05-13
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ten-port-said-massacre-prisoners-suffer-food-poisining-mostaqbal-prison
|
Ten of the Al-Masry football team ultras, convicted in the 'Port Said Massacre' case, currently held in the Mostaqbal Prison of Port Said, have shown symptoms of acute food poisoning, including vomiting and diarrhea. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); They were taken to the prison hospital for treatment, and returned back to prison after they recovered. Prosecutors are investigating the incident. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
326 |
2015-05-16
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypt-court-bans-popular-hard-core-ultra-soccer-fan-clubs
|
An Egyptian court has banned the country's hard-core soccer fan associations, known locally as ''ultras,'' over accusations that the groups are involved in terrorism. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The ruling Saturday at the Court of Urgent Matters in Cairo outlaws the fan organizations for soccer clubs across the country. Ultras frequently clash with police inside and outside of stadiums. They are deeply politicized and many participated in the country's 2011 uprising that forced out autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Many consider them as one of the most organized movements in Egypt after the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which the government outlawed as a terrorist organization following the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The case was filed by Mortada Mansour, the head of the Zamalek Football Club, one of Egypt's most popular teams.
|
327 |
2015-05-17
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/inside-world-ultras
|
"An Ultras member works in the dark to provide light for the rest of his group. He does not care about himself or his career because all what he cares for is his club. He is the epitome of manliness and cooperation. The Ultras are not a group of savages and barbarians. They give meaning to patriotism and sacrifice without waiting for award." googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); This was part of a lengthy introduction by Mohamed Gamal Bashir, author of the book "The Ultras" that was published in 2011, in which he says that what the Ultras do is not merely cheering for 90 minutes, but rather a creation of an overwhelming feeling that brings everyone together. There has been considerable controversy about the Ultras from the beginning of their appearance to the final court ruling that has banned their activities. The beginning Bashir says that cheering in stadiums was sporadic and unorganized until the late 1980s when certain fans spontaneously volunteered to lead it and became famous for it, such as Hussein of the Ahly Club fans and Ali Kuta of the Zamalek Club fans. And with the spread of the Internet in the third decade since its creation, young fans formed virtual groups, the first of which was known as "ALU" or Ahly Lovers Union. Then another group was formed in 2005 and called "AFC" or Ahly Football Club until the biggest group of Ultras Ahlawy was formed widely on the Internet. Their first strong presence was during the match between Ahly and Barcelona in 2007. In contrast, the Zamalek Football fans also formed a group and called themselves the "White Nights" whose first strong presence was during the match between Zamalek and the Sudanese Al-Hilal Club in 2007. They both met at the first derby between Ahly and Zamalek in 2007 when Zamalek lost 1-6. The slogans raised by each group are derived from the performance of their clubs. For example, when the Zamalek Club was defeated several times, the White Knights raised slogans like "We Will Remain Loyal" and "With You Forever," whereas the Ultras Ahlawy raised slogans like "Ahly Above All" and "The Greatest Club in the Universe," given it's repeated victories. Cheering tools In addition to cheering, those fans use tools to make the event more of a carnival. Among the tools they use are drums, megaphones, colored paper strips and flags that carry messages or drawings ridiculing the rival team. They raise them all at the same time to cover the whole part of the stadium where they are sitting. And very important is the way they enter the stadium in a dramatic show to give enthusiasm to their teams. Sources of funding People may wonder where those fans get money from to buy such expensive tools or pay for tickets and accommodation when their teams are playing outside Egypt. But Bashir says the Ultras are self-financed. They may sell T-shirts, scarves and jackets printed with the logo of their teams, or CDs of the songs they cheer, but they do not take money from the clubs or anyone else. Bashir says they choose to be financed independently so that they remain independent of the interests of the management of their clubs or other sports authorities. "We are not for sale. We belong to our club only," is their motto. Against the media and the police The Ultras are always in the range of media fire, charging them with attempting to spread chaos in stadiums. But Bashir criticizes the media for not understanding the mentality and culture of those fans, which is almost the same like all other Ultras of the world. He says that most Ultras all over the world refuse to appear in the media because they fear they would be persecuted by the police. Some of them wear masks to hide their identities. Also, none of them likes to appear in the media so as not to assume some leadership status above the rest of his colleagues. He says that they consider themselves a key partner in the game, and that the security presence is but a blatant infringement on their right to enjoy it. In contrast, the police fear large gatherings and clash with them. This is why the Ultras consider every policeman a bastard, as they put it. The Ultras and the revolution Basir says that there are three types of Ultras in the world. The first are leftist groups that have left-wing political inclinations, the second are right-wing and are extremely racist, and the third have no political inclination whatsoever, which is the type of most Egyptian Ultras groups. However, they did take part in the January 25 revolution and demanded freedom and social justice along with the rebels. On January 22, 2011, an anonymous video clip was posted on YouTube, reassuring those who intended to take to the streets on January 25 that there are groups that will protect them from the police. The clip showed clashes between the Ultras of Ahly and Zamalek with security forces. Bashir says the Ultras did indeed clash with the police in many cities during the revolution and were in the frontline facing the security forces during the "Battle of the Camel." And after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, Ultras songs praising the revolution became common. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
328 |
2015-05-18
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/zamalek-ultras-remember-february-stadium-deaths-new-song
|
The Zamalek Sports Club's hardcore fan group has released a new googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); song documenting the February catastrophe that left 20 group members dead in clashes with security outside a military-run stadium in Cairo. "This is for the 20 Zamalek martyrs who died at the hands of police during the Air Defense Stadium Catastrophe. It relates what happened inside the death pathway on February 8, 2015," read the group's introduction to "Open Up We're Dying", the latest release by the Ultras White Knights (UWK). "Open up, we're dying were his last words, they broke the silence", read a couplet of the song. "You guard a stadium with weapons of intimidation, we're the Ultras, keep that in mind, your suppressive state won't make you any good." Clashes broke out shortly before a premiere league match between the Zamalek and ENPPI football teams. While the Interior Ministry said the fans did not hold tickets for the game and blamed the deaths on a stampede, the UWK accused police of indiscriminately firing tear gas at supporters crammed inside a narrow stadium gateway. On Saturday, a Cairo court accepted a lawsuit by Zamalek's chief, Mortada Mansour, which demanded Ultras groups be banned across the republic for involvement in incidents of violence. The groups, which began in 2007, have been at loggerheads with consecutive authorities that have taken over following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. They were active contributors to the uprising that toppled the former president. In February 2012, 72 Ultras al-Ahlawy fans, supporters of Egypt's top al-Ahly soccer club, died in a stampede in Port Said Stadium while escaping a massive attack by opposing fans. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
329 |
2015-05-22
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/sadat-metro-station-re-operation-postponed
|
The Transport Ministry has followed the instructions of the Interior Ministry not to re-open the Sadat Metro Station until further notice. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Transport Minister Hany Dahy had intended to reopen the station in February only for changing trains. He had also ordered the installation of 20 surveillance cameras and six metal detector gates, but the Interior Ministry had refused it after the Air Defense Stadium incident, fearing the Zamalek Club Ultras would storm the station. Sources said Dahy had again asked the new Interior Minister, but the Civil Defense Department requested him to change the fire extinguishers of the station from two bars to four bars, although all other stations have two-bar extinguishers. The sources added that the Interior Minister is being intransigent and does not want to alleviate the suffering of more than 300,000 passengers a day. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
330 |
2015-05-26
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/verdict-ultras-terrorist-groups-be-issued-june-16
|
The Administrative Court has set June 16 as the date to issue its verdict on considering all Ultras' associations terrorist groups as per a lawsuit filed by the chairman of the Zamalek Club. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
331 |
2015-05-27
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/tv-presenter-ahmed-moussa-challenge-jail-sentence
|
TV presenter Ahmed Moussa said late Tuesday he was going to challenge a two-year sentence upheld by the Nasr City Appeals Court for libel charges. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); In his show on the satellite TV channel Sada El-Balad, Moussa, a staunch supporter of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government and a vocal opponent to the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak, said "I respect the Egyptian judiciary and there are other levels of litigation which I will resort to." On Tuesday, the appeals court upheld a March verdict which sentenced Moussa to two years in prison for slandering Osama al-Ghazaly Harb, chairman of the Free Egyptians Party's board of trustees, in one of his TV episodes. "Mr. Farid al-Deeb will take the necessary measures on the decision to uphold the sentence," Moussa said, referring to the lawyer who defended Hosni Mubarak and will likely defend Moussa as well. This is not the first time Moussa has received a sentence for attacking a politician. In February, he was handed a six-month prison term and a LE5,000 fine for libel and slander charges concerning Tarek al-Awady, a lawyer representing the Ultras White Knights' football fan group. In January, Moussa was fined LE15,000 in a lawsuit brought against him by activist Israa Abdel Fattah, a prominent opposition figure against the Mubarak regime and military authorities. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
332 |
2015-06-03
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypt-court-acquits-8-juvenile-football-fans-illegal-protest
|
A Juvenile Court acquitted on Wednesday eight defendants who belong to the Ultras White Knights group of the charge of violating Egypt's protest law. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Ten members of the group were sentenced to two years in prison in February. Only eight of the defendants challenged the sentences. The defendants were being tried for clashes that broke out between the ultras group members and security forces last August in Cairo's Shubra neighbourhood. Ultras White Knights, which supports the popular Zamalek Sporting Club, had called for a march to denounce the arrests of fellow group members over alleged complicity in an attempt on the club chairman's life. Prosecutors have accused the 10 defendants of violating the protest law by organising an unauthorised march, joining a group established in violation of the law and committing acts of violence. Tensions between ultras groups supporting football teams and security forces are not uncommon. On February 8, violence broke out ahead of a game between the Enppi and Zamalek football clubs, leaving at least 19 people dead. An Egyptian urgent matters court banned last month the activities of all ultra's fan groups nationwide, accusing them of complicity in "riots" and vandalism. This content is from :Aswat Masriya
|
333 |
2015-07-16
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/yaqeen-network-director-detained-over-inciting-against-state
|
Qasr al-Nil prosecutor Samir Hassan has ordered the detention of Yaqeen News Network's (YNN) director Yehia Khalaf for four days pending an investigation into charges of publishing videos which incite against state and government institutions, in addition to impersonating a lawyer. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); According to investigations, Khalaf possessed a camera belonging to YNN, a mask to protect him from tear gas during protests, a logo belonging to YNN and a card that states he is a lawyer. All of these items were seized. Khalaf also possessed CDs of protests staged by Muslim Brotherhood supporters and the Ultras' football fan groups. He was accused of sending the materials he possessed to satellite channels and newspapers that incite against the state. The defendant was arrested at the headquarters of YNN in the Qasr al-Nil district and has denied the accusations against him during interrogation. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
334 |
2015-07-21
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/security-high-alert-decisive-soccer-match
|
The Interior Ministry has beefed up its security measures ahead of a much-anticipated, decisive football premier league encounter between arch rivals Ahly and Zamalek on Tuesday evening. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The Interior Ministry's department in Alexandria has announced the deployment of 5,000 soldiers from Central Security Forces and armoured vehicles to secure the match hosted by the Borg Al-Arab Stadium, at the province's remote western region. Alexandria security chief Mohamed al-Sharqawy made a field visit to the stadium on Monday to follow up the security preparations, which included the installation of checkpoints as far as two kilometers from the stadium. Bomb squads combed the stadium's vicinity. The Ministry warned the two teams' hardcore fan groups, known as the Ultras Ahlawy and Ultras White Knights, of any attempts to violate its decision to hold the competition's matches without spectators. The warning came as Ahly fans asked through social media to allow them to attend the game. Tensions were already high between the two teams as Ahly had objected to holding the game at al-Gouna Stadium in Hurghada citing high temperatures, which sparked a verbal altercation between by Zamalek's chief Mortada Mansour and Ahly's Mahmoud Taher.The spat, which saw Ahly threatening to quit the game, was resolved with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb's intervention to assign the Alexandria pitch. Zamalek is topping the league's chart with 83 points, and needs only one point from today's match to end an eleven-year league title drought and raise the club's total to 12 titles. Ahly won the title 37 times, the last being in 2014. Egypt's local football league, besides halting due to two popular uprisings in 2011 and 2013, has seen several incidents of violence between fans and security, which prompted authorities to deny spectators entry to stadiums indefinitely. The worst catastrophe occurred in February 2012 when 72 fans of Al-Ahly Sports Club were killed by angry rivals at Port Said Stadium during the team's premier league encounter with its host, Al-Masry. The current edition was also halted briefly after 22 Zamalek fans died in a stampede outside a Cairo military stadium in February that coincided with the firing of tear gas by police. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
335 |
2015-07-22
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/prosecutors-investigate-football-fan-riots
|
The Agouza prosecution in north Giza inspected, on Wednesday morning, the scene of riots that occurred Tuesday evening between the Ultras White Knights and the Ultras Ahlawy outside the Zamalek Club in the Meit Oqba area. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); A number of private cars, as well as a motorcycle, were set on fire and eight rioters were arrested. The Ultras White Knights blocked the road outside the Zamalek Club to protest the loss of the Zamalek football team in a 0-2 match against the Al-Ahly Club team. Fighting broke out between the two groups of fans as they watched the match from cafes near the club headquarters. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
336 |
2015-07-24
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/afp-football-frenzy-waning-turbulent-egypt
|
Denied entry to watch his favourite football team, Osama Gamal glumly settled on a pavement outside and followed the match live on his phone as policemen guarded the near-empty stadium. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Egypt once boasted some of the strongest teams in Africa and the Middle East, and the sport was adored by millions. But the bloody turmoil of the past four years has not spared the world's most popular sport, which in the minds of many Egyptian fans has become synonymous with deadly riots and stampedes. Games are now played in empty stadiums, with spectators banned. "Although it is played for spectators, we no longer enjoy football, our only pleasure in life," said Gamal, 21. Two editions of the Egyptian Premier League have been cancelled since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime president Hosni Mubarak. When the authorities did open some matches for spectators, they were marred by deadly violence. In February, police fired tear gas at fans who tried to push their way into a Cairo stadium. Nineteen people died in the ensuing stampede. It was the second such incident since the 2011 uprising. In the deadliest sports riot in Egypt's modern history, 72 fans were killed after a match in the canal city of Port Said in 2012. "For the first time in my adult life, my favourite team Zamalek will win the premier league championship and we can't even celebrate," Gamal told AFP. Last week's game between Cairo clubs El-Nasr and Zamalek - expected to win the trophy for the first time in 11 years - was attended by only a few high-profile invitees, with police outnumbering spectators, an AFP correspondent reported. - 'Matches result in bloodshed'- Football has always stirred passions among Egyptians, and many still accuse Mubarak of using it to distract them from the political and economic woes that marred his reign. But that passion has turned to deadly violence in the political climate of recent years. "I ran for my life from the teargas and chaos" that erupted during the February stampede, said lawyer Mohamed El-Arabi. That match was among just a handful that had been open to the public, and the authorities reimposed the ban on spectators following the crush. Sixteen defendants are on trial on charges of starting the stampede. They are accused of being members of the Ultras White Knights - hardcore Zamalek supporters - and prosecutors allege they received funds from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to spark the rioting. For Egyptians football used to be a festive occasion when friends and families gathered to watch a match at homes or at stadiums. But Ashraf El-Sherif, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo, said Egyptians' attitudes to football has changed. "People feel that the entire process involved in these football matches results in bloodshed and chaos, so they are losing interest," he said. The political turbulence that followed Mubarak's ouster and the overthrow of his Islamist successor, Mohamed Morsi, has deeply impacted the sport. Morsi's toppling by the army in July 2013 polarised Egypt for months, and an ensuing government crackdown targeting his supporters left hundreds dead and thousands jailed. Jihadists have also killed scores of policemen and soldiers in retaliatory attacks. - 'Football is dead' - In May, a court outlawed the Ultras, who were at the forefront of protests that toppled Mubarak and have openly displayed their hostility to the police. The national team has also suffered since Mubarak's fall, failing three times since 2011 to qualify for the African Cup of Nations it had once dominated. "Local football no longer arouses the same passion," said Samir, a waiter in a cafe in the capital's Sayeda Zeinab district. Behind him a match involving El-Ahly, the most popular club in Egypt, is being broadcast live on television but few seem to care. "We have more customers when Barcelona or Real Madrid play. There are no empty chairs left then," he said. "Football is dead in Egypt," said Sameh Mamdouh, an engineer who previously never missed a match. "My only pleasure now is to watch European football. Everything is more sophisticated with the European championship - the competition, the performance and the audience."
|
337 |
2015-08-25
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/zamalek-fans-remain-tunisia-club-chief-demands-their-arrest
|
Hardcore fans of the Zamalek Sports Club football team have still not returned from Tunisia following an international game there, leading some to believe they fear calls by the club's president to arrest them upon arrival in the country, airport sources said. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Mortada Mansour has accused members from the Ultras White Knights (UWK) of insulting him, as well as Egyptian authorities, during the African Confederation Cup game on Sunday against Club Sportif Sfaxien, which Zamalek won 3-1. Mansour, speaking to the satellite TV channel al-Hayat 2 late Monday, said the fans would be arrested upon their arrival at Cairo International Airport, adding that al-Hayat's sports reporter, Mohib Abdel Hady, was the one who tipped him off about the names of the people who had insulted him. "He informed me about the fans who attended the game and the offensive slogans against Egypt's police and army. I now have their names and all are wanted," Mansour said. "The names of those who insulted President al-Sisi, the army and police are now with airport security who are waiting for their return," Mansour told the channel. Mansour's son, Ahmed, a board member at the club, also accused the fans of insulting his father and Egyptian authorities. He told satellite TV channel al-Nahar on Monday that reporters accompanying the team on its trip supported stories about derogatory slogans chanted by the fans during the game. The UWK group and Mansour have been at loggerheads as the club's chief has often accused the group of hooliganism. In August 2014, Mansour, a former court president and an influential lawyer known for his belligerent media rhetoric, accused the UWKs of attempting to shoot and kill him outside the club. The UWKs, meanwhile, accuse Mansour of complicity with the police in the death of 22 fans in a stampede outside the Air Defense Stadium in Cairo during a premier league match in February. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
338 |
2015-08-27
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/court-recommends-banning-zamalek-chief-tv-over-libel
|
The commissioners board at the Supreme Administrative Court in Cairo recommended on Wednesday banning Zamalek Sports Club chief Mortada Mansour from appearing in satellite channels, as well as suspending a TV show which hosted him, over libel charges. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Tarek al-Awady, a lawyer representing Ultras White Knights, the fan group of Zamalek Sports Club, said Mansour, who had been at loggerheads with UWK, insulted and made baseless accusations against him during a phone-in with media host Ahmed Moussa three earlier on the satellite channel Sada el-Balad. The commissioner's recommendations are judicially non-binding for the SAC which has the final say. Mansour and Awady had exchanged libel accusations in courts over the past months. Mansour's relation with the UWK further deteriorated days ago when he vowed to arrest group members upon their return from Tunisia after attending their team's encounter with Club Sportif Sfaxien. In August 2014, Mansour, a former court president and an influential lawyer known for his ferocious media rhetoric and court battles, accused UWKs of attempting to shoot him dead outside the club. UWKs accuse Mortada in complicity with police into the death of 22 fans in a stampede outside the Air Defense Stadium in Cairo during a premier league match last February.
|
339 |
2015-08-31
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/big-motorbikes-rev-again-under-iranian-reforms
|
The joy of riding big Japanese and American motorbikes was just one of the pleasures taken away from Iranians after the country's Islamic revolution. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); But three decades on, to the delight of enthusiasts, there are signs of restrictions being eased. This month a dozen bikers on pre-revolutionary and newer models were allowed a strictly regulated ride in Tehran. It was still a far cry from the open highways of "Easy Rider". Special permission is needed to ride just one weekend per month and the cruise is limited to specific streets during daylight hours. Women are still prohibited from riding bikes. It fits in, however, with other developments as Iran opens up to the West again under reform-minded President Hassan Rohani. The ban outlawing motorcycles with engines above the size of 250 cubic cm was introduced in the early years of the revolution to halt drive-by killings of Iranian officials by the opposition. It was also part of an effort to eradicate vestiges of an un-Islamic Western lifestyle that had prevailed under the monarchy overthrown in 1979. Women were barred from riding motorcycles as it was seen as incompatible with Shi'ite Islamic values. Motorbikes with big engine power were used exclusively by the Basij, the government's plain-clothes security force, which often paraded on them around Tehran in a show of power. Under the reprieve, authorities select members of the Tehran Motorcycling and Car Racing Association to license for street riding after running them through security checks, the association's manager Mehrdad Hemmatian said. Police and Interior Ministry agents monitor the riders while they are on the road. "We are hopeful that the restrictions on full-sized motorcycles will be revised and lifted," Hemmatian said. "The restrictions are outdated." The government-linked association is also lobbying to bring down import tariffs on sports bikes to 6 percent from 100 percent. People involved with the government are mostly behind the demand for motorcycles as it is easier for them to obtain special permission and they are better able to afford the expensive American-made Harley Davidson motorcycles. Bikers who are not from the elite can manage to afford cheaper Japanese sports bikes for use on race tracks. ROUHANI REFORMS Under reforms initiated by Rohani, who successfully concluded an accord with world powers on curtailing Iran's nuclear program in July, life could become a bit easier for some Iranians as trade sanctions are lifted. Marginal advancements in allowing Western culture to seep into Tehran are mirrored in other ways, for example a knock-off version of fast food chain McDonald's called Mash Donald's in a posh neighborhood of the capital. Many Iranians now also have luxury Japanese and European cars as some of the policies instituted after the downfall of the Shah are relaxed. American dealerships for Harley or General Motors have been absent from Iran but a sanctions deal would open the gateway for such manufacturers to have a local presence. Businesses worldwide want to get into Iran, home to some 80 million people and with a sizable middle-class craving international brands. In a sign of its reconnection to the international world, Britain and Iran reopened their embassies in their respective capitals last week. DUBAI'S DESERT HIGHWAY While the motoring association is trying to have the ban fully lifted, Iranian bikers have found other ways to satisfy their passion. Symbolizing the love for U.S.-made Harley Davidson motorcycles, local bike manufacturer Tondar Shahab makes replicas with street-legal engine of 250 CC as opposed to the usual range of 883 and 1800 CC. Some ship in Harley parts from Dubai before assembling them in Iran - sometimes just to display the bike in a prominent place in their homes. Dubai is a main source for international brands that are barred from having official stores in Iran, such as Apple electronics. Often these are loaded onto small ships or dhows, which sail across the narrow Arabian Gulf to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and eventually make their way to Tehran. Dubai is also where some Iranians spend their holidays and indulge in their love of riding U.S- made motorcycles. There are scores of Iranian Harley owners in the city. Shabab, an Iranian enthusiast who lives in Dubai, often rides with his friend Shahbol on their Harley Ultras from the city to the desert resort of Bab Al Shams, a popular sheesha and drinks stop for riders. "At the end of the day, when you have a passion you will find a way to ride whether it is in Dubai, in Europe or the United States," Shabab said. "And someday also in Iran."
|
340 |
2015-10-05
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/breast-cancer-conference-be-held-cairo-october-14-15
|
Women's Health Outreach Program General Manager Naglaa Abdel Razek has announced that the first conference on spreading awareness of breast cancer will be held on October 14 and 15 under the supervision of the Health Ministry. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The conference will be held as part of the ministry's plan to spread awareness about the disease, which is considered the most dangerous cancer to afflict women in Egypt and the second leading cause of death in the country for women. The conference will host doctors specialized in breast cancer and women's health in Egypt, Arab countries, the US and Europe. Three workshops will be held to train doctors on mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs. The conference will discuss the development of Egypt and the Arab world in the field of early detection of breast cancer, and address different challenges they will face, including financial support. Other topics of discussion include the application of a free early detection service for women in Egypt and the role genetics plays as one of the main causes of the disease. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
341 |
2015-10-20
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/football-fans-prefer-watching-team-training-over-voting
|
As satellite channels appealed to citizens to participate in the House of Representatives elections, criticizing in particular the absence of youth at polling stations, more than 10,000 young football fans gathered at the Mokhtar al-Touch Stadium at the Al-Ahly Club to watch the football team's first training since it won the Egyptian Super Cup. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The young Ahly fans responded to a short message published on the Ultras Ahlawy Facebook page stating that the training would occur at 4 pm Sunday, coinciding with the first day of the elections. "Youth now sense no forthcoming hope with the current form of the elections. They are the segment most attacked and accused of treason daily on TV, whether engaged in political or sport activities," activist Khaled Talima wrote on his Facebook account. Talima added, "How could they trust you and participate in the political process with you?" Talima said that youth are not the only ones who are reluctant to particpate in the elections, all segments of society are feeling this way. The youth's reluctance reflects very weak political activity in Egypt, said Fatehy al-Sharkawy, a professor of political psychology and head of the public opinion unit at Ain Shams University. There is no real opposition due to the weakness of political parties, he added. The state is interested in establishing major projects like the new administrative capital, which does not reflect the ambitions of the youth, Sharkawy mentioned. The young men and women have not seen improvement in their living conditions or a decline in unemployment rates since June 30. They are not given channels to express their political views either, he said. Dostor Party leader Hany al-Gamal, who was recently released from prison over charges of protesting without a license at the Shura Council, said the political atmosphere has become very frustrating in Egypt and people do not feel that the upcoming Parliament will represent them. Not only are youth abstaining from participating in the elections, but all people feel excluded from political life, he added. People distrust the current regime due to its lack of credibility, Gamal mentioned. Young people are usually more aware than the older generations, the latter whom have faith in the political leadership and need more time to boycott, Gamal added. According to Gamal, older generations have started to become more aware of the political situation in Egypt, which has been reflected through the weak voter turnout in the ongoing elections. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
342 |
2015-10-24
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/sisi-not-nasser-alain-gresh
|
Alain Gresh, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); , was born in Cairo in 1948 to a French family, of whom some were Jews and others were Christians. But he has developed Egyptian traits in his personality that he learned from his friends. His mother was a prominent member of the communist Democratic Movement for National Liberation and his godfather was Henri Curiel, the founder of the movement. His family left Egypt in 1962, although Gresh believed President Nasser was the leader of national liberation. He comes to Egypt every year, especially after the January 2011 revolution, in order to follow-up on developments in the Arab Spring. Gresh recently talked about the situation in Egypt and the Middle East in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm. Q: What can you tell us about your early years in Cairo? A: I was born to a French family, of whom some were Jews and others were Christians, but I have developed Egyptian traits in my personality that I have picked up from my friends. Q: Was your family forced to leave? A: Not forced as such. Nasser's socialist policies were hurting the businesses of the Jews. Also, it was not possible for the Jews to stay amid the hostility to them after the Tripartite Aggression, although not all of them were Zionists. I left with my family, although I believed Nasser was a leader of national liberalization. There was harmony among all citizens before that, with no distinction between Jews, Muslims and Copts. Q: Did the Egyptian Jews give great services to the country? A: By all means. There was no difference between Jews, Muslims and Christians. They were all living in social peace. There were 50,000 to 70,000 foreign and Egyptian Jews. Their problem was that they themselves were not united. Strangely enough, Zionist organizations worked in Egypt until the end of the 1940s under the nose of the government. Many Jews played an important role in the National Liberation Movement, not only in Egypt, but also in many other Arab countries. Some of them chose to stay in Egypt. Shehata Aaron, the father of Magda Aaron, the head of the Jewish community in Egypt, tried to volunteer in the army in April 1967 when there were signs of a problem with Israel, but was rejected. And on June 6, he was arrested because he was Jewish. Q: How do you see the January 25 revolution, four years after it broke out? A: I see that it has not achieved its goal of building a democratic state. The revolution wanted to topple the president and not the regime. And when this happened, there was no clear political vision. There was chaos. Chaos always comes after revolutions. Q: Has it failed? A: It is hard to tell now. Maybe in 20 years or so. The French Revolution of 1789 failed for 15 years before it succeeded. Q: How do you see the situation now after the June 30 revolution against the Muslim Brotherhood's religious fascism, and after more than a year under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi? A: First, I do not think June 30 was a revolution, nor do I think there was religious fascism. The remnants of Mubarak's regime pushed for June 30 with the help of the military machine. This ended democracy for good. And as to the Brotherhood, it had but unqualified members and some armed militias. And there was a president ruling alone, with the military and all other state institutions standing against him. Q: But did not all the segments of the Egyptian people come out on that day and not just the remnants of Mubarak's regime? A: By the way, I am against the Brotherhood and the religious rule. All what I am saying is that there were methods other than the army's intervention. Q: Like what? A: A general strike, for example. Q: Did this not happen all over the country? Did the Suez Canal cities not declare rebellion against the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood? A: Still, the intervention of the army was wrong. It gave the world a message that the old regime was back with all its tools, which was reflected in the violence against all opposition and not just the Muslim Brotherhood. Many of the youth of the revolution were sent to prison. And the state media and the satellite channels make me laugh. Sometimes I wonder if Ibrahim Eissa is really a journalist. Q: Is it the people's fault? A: It is the fact that there was no political movement that drives the people towards a democratic goal. Q: But it was the people who asked the army for help. Did they not wait three days in the streets for the army to move? A: People? What people? In France, the supporters of the president are no more than 15 percent, yet the army does not interfere. The normal procedure is the elections. What did the millions who went out on June 30 fear? They are the majority and the Brotherhood is the minority. They could have easily won the elections. Q: Was the Arab Spring really a spring? A: I do not like the term Arab Spring. It brought civil wars in Libya, Yemen and Syria. But I do not deny that there were popular uprisings. Q: Uprisings or revolutions? A: They were uprisings because they did not lead to concrete results. There is no political vision, and there are no political parties. Q: What will happen to Syria? A: I do not think there is a solution in the near future despite the Russian strikes. I do not know why Russia is interfering. This will result in the United States interfering as well, which will lead to a catastrophe. Q: How about Yemen? A: Yemen's is an internal issue. It is not an Iranian plot, as Saudi Arabia claims. The Houthis are different than the Shi'ites than the Iranians. This does not mean that there is no Iranian interference. The issue needs a political solution, not military. They are hitting poor and miserable people. Q: How can we build a real democracy in Egypt? A: It will take a long time. But the interference of the controling powers will breed times worse than Nasser's time. Q: Do you think Sisi is like Nasser? A: I do not see people. I see circumstances. Nasser could make decisions like the nationalization of the Suez Canal because circumstances at that time allowed for it. Today, there is globalization and the power of capital. You need mature economic ideas rather than reminiscing on Nasser's days. Q: After more than half a century, do you think Nasser was a step forward? A: Nasser did many good things, such as national liberation, the elimination of colonialism and the pursuit of establishing a strong national economy. Q: Do you think the June 1967 defeat ended him? A: Certainly. Q: Is the time for charismatic leaders over? A: Bertolt Brecht once said there is nothing worse for people than to have charismatic leaders. Yes it is over. Q: What do you make of the Arab and Egyptian press? A: There is no community dialogue in the Egyptian newspapers that can stir the political situation. And Egyptian journalists are not independent. They should be. A: How? A: They should not be part of an ideological struggle. For example, I saw demonstrations by the Ultras. The next day the papers said the residents of the neighborhood stood against them. Mind you, the residents did not do anything. Q: How do you see Egypt's position internationally? A: I think things changed after July 3. The French President came to Egypt twice. The world sees Egypt as the gateway to the Middle East. As to the foreign press, it is not with the Egyptian regime. Mind you, it is not with the Brotherhood either. But Europeans do not like to see journalists and activists imprisoned. Q: Had you been the president of Egypt, what would you have done in light of terrorism and the economic problems? A: I think we need to define the term terrorism. The Israelis call the Palestinians terrorists. The Americans under Reagan called the African liberation movements terrorist. So did the West call the Kurds. Terrorism is not a political line. It is a means. It began in Sinai after July 3. Q: But Sinai was being prepared to be a huge arms store, and there were terrorist operations before July 3. What would you say to that? A: Maybe just a few. Q: What would you do if you were president? A: Whoever seeks to become Egypt's president is crazy because there are too many problems to solve. I am a journalist, not a president. Q: Do you think the Americans changed their stance after June 30 or July 3? A: Yes. I know that you in Egypt think the Americans are the ones who brought the Brotherhood to power. I do not think so. The White House supported Mubarak until the last minute. Then it supported the Muslim Brotherhood because it was the main force in the street, given the weakness of the political parties. Q: What will happen to the Brotherhood? A: It has proven that it was stupid and did not have a vision for ruling. Its future depends on how it will handle this. Q: And what about the Brotherhood's international organization? A: It holds futile meetings in the capitals of the world, that is all. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
343 |
2015-12-29
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ultrasound-may-be-useful-supplemental-test-breast-cancer
|
A new study adds to the evidence that ultrasonography can help diagnose cancer in women with dense breasts. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Researchers examined data from 2,809 women from across the U.S., Canada and Argentina. All of them had dense breasts, plus at least one other risk factor for breast cancer. Each woman had three screenings over three years with mammography and ultrasonography, according to a report in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Overall, 111 breast cancers were found. Most - 80 percent - were invasive. Both tests identified about the same number of cancers, with 129 women needing an ultrasound or 127 women needing a mammography for doctors to find one cancer. Mammography was better at picking up cancers with so-called calcifications, such as are characteristic of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the most common non-invasive form of breast cancer. DCIS may spread and become invasive cancer, but is not life-threatening on its own - and some researchers question whether it should be called "cancer" at all. Ultrasound was better at detecting invasive cancers and those without calcifications, said lead author Dr. Wendie Berg, of Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "It's likely the cancers we find on ultrasound will make a bigger difference than those we find in mammography," Berg said. However, ultrasound also produced more false alarms - or false positives. For example, during the first year, 9 percent of biopsies ordered based on ultrasound findings confirmed a cancer diagnosis, compared to about 29 percent of biopsies for positive mammograms. Berg said the rate of biopsies would likely decrease as women receive ultrasounds, because doctors wouldn't biopsy a suspicious area on an image if it doesn't change over time. "If we know it's always been there, we're less likely to order a biopsy," she said. Dr. Stephen Feig, who was not involved with the new research, told Reuters Health that the results are encouraging. "The people who are hesitant about ultrasound say 'it's finding all these cancers, but look at all the false positives,'" he said. "That's true, but it's a matter of judgment." For example, some women with dense breasts may decide finding a more invasive cancer is worth the risk of a false positive and biopsy, said Feig, director of breast imaging at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center in Orange. "But before you make national guidelines we need large studies," Feig cautioned. In the meantime, Berg urges women with dense breasts to consider supplemental screening with ultrasound but says high-risk women who follow the American Cancer Society recommendation to receive a supplemental MRI don't need ultrasound screening. Advancements in technology may also mean breast cancer screening with ultrasound is an acceptable alternative for women in developing countries, the researchers say. "It seemed like a particularly relevant question because in many countries there is no mammography available," Berg said. "There are now low-tech ultrasound devices that produce images of similar quality to devices used in this study," she told Reuters Health.
|
344 |
2016-01-11
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/defendants-hurghada-attack-visited-city-prior-attack-investigation
|
The Supreme State Security Prosecutors' interrogation of the second defendant in Friday's attack on three tourists in Hurghada revealed that the first defendant, who was killed, and second defendant visited Hurghada a few days prior to the incident. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); They left the resort and returned to it on Friday by bus. They rented an apartment in the Sheraton area and entered a famous supermarket in front of the hotel but did not find any tourists so they left, according to investigators. They visited many areas in Hurghada looking for tourists to attack, but they could not find any. They decided to storm Bella Vista Hotel after they spotted tourists in the restaurant. According to the investigation, the defendants were not able to travel abroad to join a jihadist organization so they decided to plan an attack in Hurghada. The defendant said he met the first defendant through the Ultras White Knights, a football fan group. The defendants came to Hurghada to target Russian tourists in revenge for Russian attacks in Syria, according to investigations. The attack left two Austrian tourists and a Swedish tourist injured, said the Interior Ministry in a statement published on its official Facebook page. Security forces killed one of the armed men and injured the other.
|
345 |
2016-02-02
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/sisi-urges-dialogue-ultras-anniversary-stadium-massacre
|
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has proposed initiating a dialogue with hardcore football fans, known as the Ultras, on the fourth anniversary of the Port Said Stadium rampage that killed 72. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); "Delegate 10 of you to brief the (Ultras) on the results (of investigations) ... It is no secret, they (the Ultras) have the right to know everything under the presidency's auspices," the president told presenter Amr Adib in a phone call on Al-Youm channel late Monday. "I was close to the Port Said Ultras massacre issue, and nothing was achieved," continued the president, who was military intelligence chief at the time of the incident. "There was no clear truth that we can assuredly settle on. Somebody is hiding something that we do not know of." In June, the Port Said Criminal Court sentenced 11 people to death over charges of murdering 72 Al-Ahly Club fans after attacking them during the team's premier league encounter with Port Said hosts Al-Masry. The court sentenced 41 people to 5-15 years hard labor and acquitted 21 others of all charges. The Ultras have been at loggerheads with security authorities since their participation in the 2011 uprising, praticipation which some analysts attribute to the uprising's success, chanting anti-police slogans and being involved in several stadium encounters with security since then. "As a state, we have failed until now to properly address that issue," Sisi stated, commenting on the conflict with the Ultras. "What matters is that someone, like an official or a club president, finds a way to outreach to the Ultras' minds, they are our sons." Sisi's call came after Ultras Ahlawy fans invaded Al-Ahly club's pitch during a team training exercise on Monday to mark the catastrophe's anniversary, chanting anti-regime slogans. Commenting on Sisi's call, Zamalek Club President Mortada Mansour, a harsh opponent to the Ultras, opposed the invitation. "I disagree with you, Mr. President. I had met with the Ultras many times, and every time their response was insulting the army," Mansour told LTC channel on Monday. "No dialogue with a terrorist group, dialogue with them should be to put them in jail." Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
346 |
2016-02-04
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/port-said-mps-oppose-sisi-s-outreach-ultras
|
Parliament members from Port Said have voiced their objection to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's call for dialogue with the Ultras football fan groups. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail late Wednesday, the MPs asked to convey their opposition to Sisi, pointing out that "a state of tension among the people of Port Said that requires the president to deliver a statement elaborating on his initiative or pay a visit to the province." "I delegate 10 of you to brief the (Ultras) on the results (of investigations) ... It is no secret, they (the Ultras) have the right to know everything under the presidency's auspices," the president said in a phone call on Al-Youm channel late Monday, addressing the Ultras groups. His call was referring to the investigations into the death of 72 members of Ultras Ahlawy (Ahly Club Ultras) during a match with Port Said's Al-Masry in February 2012, believed to be Egypt's worst sports-related catastrophe. "I was close to the Port Said Ultras massacre issue, and nothing was achieved," continued the president, who was military intelligence chief at the time of the incident. "There was no clear truth that we can assuredly settle on. Somebody is hiding something that we do not know of." In June 2015, the Port Said Criminal Court sentenced 11 people to death over charges of murdering 72 Al-Ahly Club. It sentenced 41 people to 5-15 years hard labor and acquitted 21 others of all charges. The president's call drew mixed reactions from Ultras fans, with the group releasing a statement in response late Tuesday that seemed to show conditional approval. "For four years, we have been calling for retribution against all of those implicated in the Port Said massacre. If there is a real intention to resolve the case or rerun investigations, priority should be given to interrogating security leadership, the names of whom were mentioned in the prosecution's investigations," read the statement. Those convicted in the 2015 ruling already include three police officials. But Ultras Ahlawy had expressed rage agains the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which was running the country at the time of the massacre, calling for its officials to be held accountable. "There are (state) bodies that are aware of the details of that tragic day, but until now no punishment has been made to those who killed 72 Egyptian youths," read the statement. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
347 |
2016-02-09
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/lawyer-claims-ultras-ahlawy-implicated-port-said-2013-riots
|
Ultras Ahlawy, a group of Al-Ahly Club football team fans, could be implicated in the case known publicly as "Storming Port Said Prison" where 52 people were killed in Port Said city, lawyer Ashraf al-Ezaby claimed on Tuesday. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Ezaby is the lawyer of the defendants in the case. Ultras Ahlawy no longer chants the slogan "We either bring back their rights or die like them", which referred to the 72 killed Ultras Ahlawy members in Port Said in 2012, Ezaby said in his argument before the court Tuesday. Ezaby suggested that Ultras Ahlawy avenged the killing of its members by murdering 52 people in Port Said in January 2013 so they stopped chanting that slogan. Ultras Ahlawy might have hired thugs to carry out the killings, said Ezaby, adding that no doubt those who committed the killings were not citizens from the city of Port Said because they would not shoot each other. The testimonies of toppled President Mohamed Morsi and former Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim on how Ibrahim informed Morsi of the incident are contradictory, which proves that one of them is lying, he added. The defendants in the case are accused of deliberately killing over 40 people including police officers Ahmed Balky, Ayman Abdel Azim and Ahmed Afify during riots in Port Said from January 26-28, 2013. Violence erupted in Port Said on January 26 after 21 local youths were sentenced to death over charges of killing the 72 Al-Ahly football team fans. Families of the defendants sentenced to death attempted to storm the area of the Port Said prison where their sons were incarcerated in protest of the ruling. A Cairo court had sentenced 21 defendants to death for the killings of 72 Al-Ahly football fans in the aftermath of a match with Port Said's Al-Masry club in February 2012. Police fired tear gas to disperse the families of the defendants and ultras supporting Al-Masry who had gathered around the prison in Port Said. Riots continued for several days in the governorate during which dozens were killed. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
348 |
2016-02-14
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/court-orders-re-investigation-2015-stadium-massacre
|
Cairo Criminal Court has ordered that investigations into the Air Defense Stadium massacre case be restarted, stating that there is insufficient evidence and too few documents to try the case in court. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The court decided to halt the trial of 16 defendants accused of murder and violence at the stadium in February 2015. The defendants will remain in custody for a six-month period will investigations are re-run. Fighting errupted outside the Air Defense Stadium in Cairo before a league encounter between Zamalek Sports Club and ENPPI, leaving 22 fans dead. Hisham Barakat, the previous general prosecutor, had referred the defendants to trial on charges of murder, rioting, sabotage and the possession of explosives. Police investigations blamed Zamalek Sporting Club's hardcore fan group, the Ultras White Knights, for causing a deadly stampede that caused the deaths. However, the fans accused the police of causing the catastrophe by firing tear gas at fans as they passed through a metal passageway leading to the stadium's gates. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
349 |
2016-02-15
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/back-its-roots-how-zika-may-threaten-africa
|
Florzinha Amado is eight months pregnant and trying to stay calm about whether the Zika virus infection she contracted at 21 weeks could have harmed her unborn child. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); But Amado isn't Brazilian. She lives on the volcanic archipelago of Cape Verde, 570 km west of Senegal, and is one of 100 pregnant women in the capital of Praia who have contracted Zika there. Their fears, and those of West African authorities seeking to prepare the region's defenses, are shared by global health experts who say it could have unknown consequences in countries ill-equipped for another public health emergency following the Ebola epidemic. Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, was first identified by two Scots, virologist George Dick and entomologist Alexander Haddow, in a forest near Entebbe in Uganda in 1947. The disease itself is mild and 80 percent of those infected do not feel ill, but it has shot to the top of the global health agenda after an outbreak in Brazil was suspected of causing a spike in birth defects. And now, nearly 70 years after its discovery in mainland Africa, it is threatening to return to its roots - this time apparently in a changed form causing large-scale outbreaks. "Cape Verde has historical links with Brazil and it seems very likely it has got there from Brazil," said Nick Beeching of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, a Zika expert for the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. According to new data from Cape Verde's health ministry, more than 7,000 cases of Zika have been recorded in the country since the beginning of the epidemic in October 2015, with heavier than normal rains last summer boosting mosquito numbers. Beeching believes it is highly probable Zika will soon be back on the African mainland, thanks to regular flight connections from the Atlantic islands, potentially triggering a new chain of transmission. Regional health officials told Reuters they were most worried about Zika being exported to Senegal or Guinea Bissau, which shares the same Portuguese heritage as Cape Verde. A regional meeting on Zika took place in Dakar on February 9, with African and Western partners discussing preparations for possible imported cases, according to officials. Abdoulaye Bousso, the coordinator of the health emergency operations center in Senegal, said his country had an active surveillance program with several "sentinel sites" being established as early warning points for an outbreak. "We do not have cases in the country currently but the risk is there," he said. Many Mosquitoes Africa is fertile ground for Zika. Researchers have found more than 20 different mosquito species carrying the virus there, although whether they all transmit the disease effectively to humans is unclear. Ultimately, how much damage Zika may cause on this vast continent will depend on the level of immunity among African populations - and that hinges, crucially, on the extent to which Zika's genetic make-up has mutated on its round-the-world trip. A warning from World Health Organization experts in a paper published online on February 9 that the virus "appears to have changed in character" is heightening concerns. The exact nature of the shift has yet to be unraveled but Mary Kay Kindhauser and colleagues said Zika had altered as it moved through Asia - from an infection causing limited cases of mild illness to one leading to large outbreaks and, from 2013 onwards, linked to babies born with neurological disorders and abnormally small heads. Jimmy Whitworth, a British-based researcher now at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who studied Zika in Uganda back when it was still a "virological curiosity", said the ground was shifting and the risks increasing. "There are a few genetic differences between the African and Asian lineages, and it looks like the Asian lineages may be better able to transmit and flourish in a human population," he told Reuters. What this means on the ground is uncertain. In theory, there may be some cross-protection between different Zika strains, which could protect Africans from the latest version. But Beeching noted that dengue fever, a closely related mosquito-borne virus, had four recognized strains and there was only limited and temporary cross-protection between them. "We just don't know how Zika will spread if it gets to Africa," he said. Another big question is why there is no apparent link in Africa between Zika and birth defects, since the continent has been home to sporadic cases of Zika for decades, if not centuries or millennia. It may be that any past cases of small heads in newborns, known as microcephaly, or of the neurological condition Guillain-Barre syndrome may have been missed in Africa given its limited healthcare infrastructure. But Whitworth hopes to go back and take a retrospective look, since countries including Malawi, Kenya and Uganda have good population records, head measurement data and serum banks that should make checks possible. Back in Cape Verde's Central Hospital in Praia, clinical director Maria do Ceu says there is so far no evidence from scans of any microcephaly among the country's infected mothers-to-be, who are due to deliver their first babies this month. Amado is optimistic. "The doctor encouraged me to do morphological ultrasound and told me that I am okay," she said. "It happened suddenly. I started having blotchy skin and then I went to the maternity ward. I was followed up and thank God everything is fine."
|
350 |
2016-02-15
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/fifteen-ultras-white-knights-sentenced-one-year-prison-0
|
Giza Criminal Court, headed by Judge Moataz Khafagy, sentenced 15 members of the Ultras White Knights football fan club to one year in prison on Monday for trying to storm the Zamalek Sports Club's headquarters and conspiring to kill MP Mortada Mansour, former head of the club. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Eleven of the defendants were given jail sentences for plotting to kill Mansour, while four were jailed for trying to storm the club's headquarters. The Ultras White Knights is a group or ardent football fans supporting the Zamalek football club, and has been involved in various controversial events in recent years. At the court on Monday, defendants shouted angrily from their dock, as did their families who had gathered outside the court, accusing the court of favoring Mansour. The defendants were previously sentenced to one year in prison, but they challenged the ruling and a retrial was ordered by a higher court. The prosecutors accused the defendants of using violence and conducting surveillance on Mansour with a view to killing him using weapons they had prepared. Members of the Ultras White Knights gathered outside Zamalek Sports Club in August 2015 in an apparent attempt to storm it, after Mansour made a statement saying he would not allow them to watch a football training session for the Zamalek team. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
351 |
2016-03-05
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/new-range-serious-fetal-abnormalities-linked-zika-study
|
Fetuses in 29 percent of pregnant women with Zika virus infection were found to have a range of severe abnormalities, according to preliminary results from a small study that raised new concerns about the potential link between Zika and serious birth defects. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The list of "grave outcomes" found in the study of pregnant women in Rio de Janeiro, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Friday, included fetal death, calcification of the brain, placental insufficiency with low to no amniotic fluid, fetal growth restriction and central nervous system damage, including potential blindness. "These were women infected in the first and second trimester of pregnancy," Dr. Karin Nielsen, lead author of the study, said in a telephone interview. "We also saw problems in the last trimester, which was surprising to us," added Nielsen, noting two cases of fetal death very late in pregnancies in which there was no sign of brain malformation in earlier ultrasound tests. "We have found a strong link between Zika and adverse pregnancy outcomes, which haven't been documented before," said Nielsen, professor of clinical pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Even if the fetus isn't affected, the virus appears to damage the placenta, which can lead to fetal death." Zika infection has been linked to numerous cases in Brazil of the birth defect microcephaly in babies, a condition defined by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly. Brazil said it has confirmed more than 640 cases of microcephaly and considers most to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly. Nielsen said microcephaly may be one of many abnormalities in what she referred to as Zika Virus Congenital Syndrome. A separate case study reported last week in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases described a stillborn baby from a Brazilian mother infected with Zika in which the skull was filled with fluid but had no brain. The new study was conducted by researchers at UCLA and at the Fiocruz Institute in Brazil. It followed 88 women who went to a Rio de Janeiro clinic between September 2015 and last month, 72 of whom tested positive for Zika. No fetal abnormalities were detected in any of the 16 women who tested negative for Zika. Among 42 Zika-positive women willing to undergo fetal ultrasound testing, a total of 12, or 29 percent, had abnormal readings. Eight of the women in the study have delivered babies, including the two stillbirths and two who appeared healthy. Two were born undersized, while a third was born at normal weight but with severe microcephaly, including eye lesions that could indicate blindness. Another was delivered by emergency cesarean section due to no amniotic fluid. "We do have more babies who seem to have microcephaly that haven't been born yet," Nielsen said.
|
352 |
2016-03-29
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/telemedicine-could-expand-access-medical-abortions
|
Women in the US without reproductive health services close to home might have an easier time getting medical abortions if they could consult with doctors online instead of scheduling in-person visits, some providers argue. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Although surgical abortions require clinic visits, roughly one quarter of abortions are done with medication and might be provided with telemedicine - using webcams and video chats to diagnose and treat these patients, Dr. Elizabeth Raymond of Gynuity Health Projects in New York and colleagues argue in JAMA Internal Medicine. "The use of telemedicine is growing," Raymond said by email. "It has tremendous potential to make many essential services more accessible, more convenient and cheaper. Medical abortion is such a service." For many US women, obtaining an abortion is difficult because they live at least 100 miles away from the nearest clinic, the authors note. Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota and North Dakota each only have one abortion clinic, and Wyoming has none. Medical abortions performed before 10 weeks of gestation with two drugs - mifepristone and misoprostol - can be self-administered at home. Healthcare providers can use telemedicine to interview patients and assess potential safety issues by reviewing lab test results and ultrasounds before prescribing medication, the authors note. In the two-step medical abortion regimen typically used in the US, women first take mifepristone. This pill works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which causes the lining of the uterus to break down and makes it impossible for the pregnancy to continue. Then, 24 to 48 hours later, women take misoprostol, which causes the uterus to empty. Women are usually advised to have a clinic visit within two weeks to confirm the pregnancy was terminated. In rare cases when ultrasound or a blood test shows the medical abortion didn't succeed, women require surgical abortions. In 2008, a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Iowa initiated the first formal telemedicine abortion program in the US with physicians reviewing labs and imaging then speaking to patients to determine if the clinic should be authorized to dispense medical abortion pills. In the first year, this program nearly tripled the number of sites in Iowa offering abortion services, from six to 17, the researchers report. Among 233 women with follow-up, the treatment was successful 99 percent of the time. One patient had a blood transfusion in an emergency department, and there were no other serious adverse events reported. Direct-to-patient telemedicine programs for medical abortions are available in the Canadian province of British Columbia and in Australia, the authors note. But in the US, regulators require that abortion medications be dispensed to patients in clinics, medical offices and hospitals. Widespread use of telemedicine for medical abortions in the US is also restricted because some states require in-person exams or have banned telemedicine abortions, the authors note. "Currently, more than half of rural women don't have access to reproductive health services anywhere in their county," said Katy Kozhimannil, a researcher in health policy at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis who wasn't involved in the study. "For these women, telemedicine can make medication abortions more accessible," Kozhimannil added by email. "Non-clinical factors, including state and federal regulations, influence requirements such as exams and in-person clinician visits," Kozhimannil said. "Many of these decisions are influenced by political factors, and not explicitly made based on medical evidence."
|
353 |
2016-03-31
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/writer-fatima-naoot-file-fresh-appeal-against-contempt-religion-sentence
|
The lawyer of Egyptian writer Fatima Naoot, who faces a three-year prison sentence for contempt of religion, has vowed to file a fresh appeal after the first appeal was rejected on Thursday. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Lawyer Sherif Adib said that the decision by Cairo Misdemeanor Appeals Court on Thursday was of no consequence, because the appeal had been heard in the absense of Naoot, who was in Canada for a conference. He said the appeal was dismissed as a matter of routine because neither he nor Naoot turned up for the hearing, and that he would file a fresh appeal within 10 days, according to standard judicial procedure. On hearing the news on Thursday, numerous journalists and literary and artistic figures spoke out in support of Naoot, defending her right to free speech and condemning outdated laws. Naoot was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of LE20,000 on January 26, after a court case revolving around statements she made condemning the mass slaughter of animals during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. In October 2014, she made comments through her Facebook and Twitter accounts condemning the slaughter of sheep, but later took the comments down after a harsh reaction. She was later arrested for contempt of religion, and while she admitted during interrogation that she had posted the statements, she denied that she had intended to insult Islam, saying that her comments did not violate Islamic Sharia. "Happy massacre anniversary. In a while, millions of innocent beings will be escorted to the most earth-shattering massacre committed by humans for ten centuries," she wrote. The slaughter of sheep during the feast is in memory of the Biblical story of Abraham, who was willing to slaughter his own son for the sake of God, but was given a sheep to sacrifice instead, having demonstrated his strong faith. Naoot also wrote an article in Al-Masry Al-Youm commenting on the Biblical tale and its modern-day commemoration. "A yearly massacre because a good man once had a nightmare about his good son, and although the nightmare has passed for the good man and his son, the [sheep] pay their lives as a price for that holy nightmare," Naoot wrote. Moral support After Thursday's ruling was announced in her absence, Naoot responded via Facebook, thanking the many people who had been offering her support. She said she was "fine" and that "morale is very high, thanks to your love, which is my greatest treasure." She added that she had just arrived at Toronto airport to take part in a conference of Canadian-Egyptian nationals, at which she would be the guest of honor during the first session. Naoot said that she had missed the first appeal session due to her travel schedule, claiming that the court had not yet given a final ruling on her appeal, and that she would try again within 10 days. Columnist Khaled Montasser criticized the prison sentence for contempt of religion, saying that such cases confirm that "Egypt is not a civil state but a theocratic state par excellence." "We see religion 'brokers' and 'traders' widespread all around Egypt. We became the only religion which antagonizes the modern state. We will never have art, science or innovation as long as these ideas exist," Montasser said in a phone-in on Mehwar television channel on Thursday evening. He continued: "Intellectuals and writers have nothing but a pen to express their opinions. Is it necessary to act like the Ultras so the president talks to us? Or do we need to deal severely with the state so that officials meet with us and solve our problems?" Activists and writers declared their solidarity with Naoot via social media on Thursday, using a hashtag bearing her name. Naaot's trial was preceded by the trial of actress Entissar, who was accused of inciting debauchery. Meanwhile, TV host Islam al-Beheiry was given five years in prison for contempt of religion, and writer Karam Saber was sent to jail for his collection of short stories titled "Where's God?" Mohamed Salmawy, writer and advisor to the Arab Writers Union said of Naoot's case, "The ruling is not a mere sentence against a well-known poet and writer or a public intellectual figure. It actually reflects a disdain for renewing the religious discourse," a reference to the much-vaunted project of revising and modernizing religious attitudes in Egypt through public debate. Salmawy said that Egypt applies archaic laws that establish a theocratic state and contradict the Constitution, claiming that the charges agaisnt Naoot are unconstitutional. Salmawy said that the law allows for much lighter sentences than three years, or even aquittal, but the court chose to give Naoot a harsh sentence. He said that the court's ruling suggests that Egypt is now a theocratic state, despite the fact that such a situation is supposed to have ended with the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government in June 2013. Meanwhle, Mohamed Faeq, the chairman of the National Council for Human Rights, refused to comment on the subject, stating that he did not wish to interfere with the work of the judiciary. However, the said that Egyptian laws need to be changed in order to make them compatitble with the Constitution and modern thinking. "Although we want to preserve heritage, culture, and religions, we want to move forward," he said. Faeq demanded a specific definition of the notion of "contempt of religion" in law. Activist Dalia Ziada commented on her Facebook account, saying that the court ruling on Thursday rejecting Naoot's appeal was the worst news she had ever heard. "What happened to Islam al-Beheiry and many other respectful intellectuals before him because of this article is quite enough, since it harms the reputation of Egypt and is inconsistent with President Sisi's calls to reform the religious discourse," she said. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
354 |
2016-07-14
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/tv-host-amr-adib-quits-orbit-channel-after-two-decades
|
TV host Amr Adib has ended his 20-year association with the Orbit television channel, saying that he will not renew his contract, which ended recently. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Adib, who has been hosting talk shows for the channel for the past two decades, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he will not sign a new contract and may take a break from media work altogether. Adib orginally asked to terminate his contract with Orbit in June 2015, but the channel managers convinced him to stay for another year, he said. "I was the first in the Arab world to present talk shows," said the TV host. "I received my full [financial] entitlements and there is no money due to me from the channel." He told Al-Masry Al-Youm that, after covering several tense and traumatic years in Egyptian history, he was ready for a break. "Up to this moment, I am not sure when I am going back to my media work. I need a break... especially since we are going through a calm stage in the media. "Earlier, we wanted to topple the Muslim Brotherhood, and prior to that was the January 25 revolution. But now its calm," he said. Adib is a veteran TV presenter and well-known across the region, thanks to the popular TV show "Al-Qahera Al-Youm" (Cairo Today), one of the most durable television talk shows in the Middle East, running for two decades. Adib started his career as a journalist, becoming editor-in-chief of Al-Alam Al-Youm newspaper, where he worked with his wife and influential TV host Lamis al-Hadidi. Al-Qahera Al-Youm was a smash hit, largely as a result of its trenchant criticism of the government's performance, especially during the Muslim Brotherhood's reign. Adib once said during his show that he had received a series of threats calling on him to halt criticism of President Mohamed Morsy and Muslim Brotherhood members. However, one key draw for his viewers was Adib's sarcastic sense of humor, intertwined with blunt - sometimes even blatant - tone. Adib is well-known for his supportive stance toward President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since the ousting of Morsy on June 30, 2013. On July 3, after Morsy had been removed from office, Adib shouted "God is Great! Long live Egypt!" proudly spreading the Egyptian flag across his shoulders. Sisi appeared in phone interviews with Adib twice during 2016. During the first interview, Sisi proposed initiating a dialogue with Ahly's hardcore football fans, known as the Ultras, on the fourth anniversary of the Port Said Stadium rampage. During the second one, he unveiled a LE10bn development plan for Sinai.
|
355 |
2016-07-16
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/smoking-during-pregnancy-may-hurt-your-chances-grandkids
|
Women who smoke during pregnancy run the risk of having boys with low sperm production in adulthood, an Australian study suggests. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); "It is harder for men with low sperm counts to conceive children, or it may take a longer time to make the partner pregnant," said Dr. Christine Wohlfahrt-Veje, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen who wasn't involved in the study. "If women want to have grandchildren, they shouldn't smoke," Wohlfahrt-Veje added by email. To see how exposures in the womb might influence men's reproductive system later in life, researchers contacted men in their early 20s whose mothers had participated in a maternal and infant health study during pregnancies two decades earlier. They collected sperm samples from 365 men and did testicular ultrasounds on 404 men. Researchers looked at median sperm production, or the amount produced by at least half the men in the study. It was about 19 percent lower among the men whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. In utero development Men born prematurely, a risk that goes up when women smoke during pregnancy, also had lower testosterone in adulthood. Low testosterone levels are associated with erectile dysfunction, reduced sex drive and decreased sperm count. Men who were a healthy size in utero were also less likely to have low sperm counts than men who were unusually small or large as they developed during pregnancy, the study found. Smoking can stunt growth in utero. Maintaining a healthy weight during childhood may also help with reproductive health, researchers note in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, online June 24. Men who consistently had a healthy weight during childhood and adolescence tended to have larger testicular volume and higher testosterone levels in adulthood. One limitation of the study is that some men dropped out or opted out of the testicular function tests, which may bias the results, the authors note. Even so, there's plenty of solid evidence proving that women shouldn't smoke during pregnancy. Among other things, it can increase the odds of complications during pregnancy and premature birth, impair brain development in utero and increase the odds of breathing difficulties and other childhood health problems like hyperactivity. The study findings should give women yet another reason to avoid smoking during pregnancy, said lead study author Dr. Roger Hart of the University of Western Australia. "It is a general healthy lifestyle message that women should not smoke in pregnancy, they should only start to try to conceive when they are in their optimal health, and when any co-existing medical conditions have been optimized, as this is associated with good fetal growth through pregnancy and a reduced risk of premature delivery," Hart said by email. "Plus of course they should not smoke when pregnant - and should ideally cease before they start to try to conceive," Hart added.
|
356 |
2016-07-26
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/buying-abortion-virtual-world-facebook
|
With 28 million Facebook users in Egypt, advertisers have clocked the social networking website as a powerful tool for promoting their products. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The prospect of this unimpeded medium for self-publishing, coupled with the difficulties authorities face in catching anonymous online perpetrators, has made Facebook a lucrative platform on which illicit traders can stealthily promote illegal products and practices. Among the illicit products sold through Facebook now is abortion. Over the last few years, advertisers have scattered their promotion pages across the social network, claiming to perform "secret abortions" to anyone who will pay. Abortion remains illegal according to the Egyptian Penal Code, and individuals found guilty of attempting to terminate a pregnancy could face prison sentences of six months to three years. Doctors implicated in abortion cases could face imprisonment for up to 15 years. But the demand for the practice remains high, meaning that those looking to terminate an unwanted pregnancy must resort to illegal measures. Since the proliferation of the internet, this has come to take the form of a labyrinthine online market of illegal abortion services. Techniques advertised include Cytotec and Misotac pills for the early stages of pregnancy and operations for women beyond their first three-month phase. Some of these groups offer a mobile number to contact them. "We have Cytotec pills available at LE300. Anyone interested in buying them, please call us," reads one announcement written on many abortion-related Facebook pages. Cloak-and-dagger procedure "Doctor Abortion" is one of the frequently visited Facebook pages of this kind, run by an anonymous administrator and offering services to any client. "Without surgery, any one to three-month pregnant woman can undergo a self-administered abortion using pills at home," it promises. The page, or Facebook "group", claims to be able to terminate pregnancies as advanced as the forth month with no need for surgery. "Doctor Abortion" says their office is based in Cairo and that they do not have any other branches outside Egypt. "Your pills can be delivered to any address in Egypt, the Arab world or further abroad. Send me a private message and I'll answer instantly," reads the advert. The page is subscribed to by a large number of Egyptians and some Facebook users from other Arab countries, with some subscribers inquiring publically on the webpage about the price of the pills, details of the procedures on offer and requests for an "urgent operation". To find out more about the work of "Doctor Abortion", Egypt Independent made contact with the webpage in the guise of a woman wanting to terminate a pregnancy after having been refused by her doctor. The conversation revealed that the webpage is run by an intermediary who asks for various details about a client's pregnancy before putting her in touch with the doctor. Egypt Independent's reporter was asked a series questions, including whether this was her first pregnancy. "Don't worry," she was told, "You'll undergo an operation by a senior gynecologist in a [fully equipped] theatre. The price will depend on how many weeks pregnant you are - less than ten weeks will cost LE3,500, and up to 15 weeks will cost LE4,500," the administrator said. "Dr Abortion" asked the reporter to have an ultrasound carried out to determine exactly how far along her pregnancy was. "I'll tell you [further] details after you have the ultrasound done," he said, not disclosing any information about the place or the name of the physician. A dangerous trade Five days ago, Egyptian media reported the death of a pregnant woman who had taken so-called "abortion pills" to end a problematic pregnancy. The woman was reported to have felt fatigued after taking the drugs, and was admitted to hospital in the governorate of Monufiya where she died later on. Speaking to Egypt Independent, gynecologist Amr Hassan said that this medication works by inducing contractions of the uterus (typically felt in the form of painful cramps) after which the cervix opens and expels the embryo in the form of a bloody discharge. In legal medical practice, explained Hassan, the pills are used to terminate pregnancies that would pose health risks to the mother or child. "We use this form of medication when a mother is suffering from cancer or a form of heart disease, or if she has miscarried". Article 29 of the Doctors' Ethical Code allows doctors to perform an abortion in such cases, backed up by a detailed report specifying the reasons for the decision and necessary health care to be administered after the procedure. In non-life-threatening cases, the expecting woman is required to obtain official letters of approval from two physicians. According to Hassan, abortion medication is available in few pharmacies because Cytotec has to be obtained from abroad and is very expensive - costing as much as LE8 per capsule and LE200 per blister pack. Misotac, he said, is a cheaper Egyptian alternative. Both drugs are sold only to patients with a prescription signed by a gynecologist. "The wrong dosage of the medication may lead to severe bleeding and cause a uterine rupture, and possibly the women's death," he said. Hassan urged the Doctor's Syndicate and Interior Ministry to carry out cyber crime investigations to crack down on the people selling illegal abortion drugs that threaten people's health and condone indiscretion in the practice of abortion. Soaring popularity Despite the medical and legal dangers associated with the practice, the figures on abortion rates in Egypt appear to be on the rise. A study conducted by the Population Council in collaboration with the Egyptian Fertility Society in 1998 found that the abortion rate in Egypt had seen a surge in the years leading up to the publishing of the report. It was calculated that for every 100 babies born, 14.8 babies were aborted. Another study, conducted by the Cairo Institute on 1,300 women (both married and unmarried) revealed that one-third had attempted abortion, and of study participants from rural areas, 14 percent had administered abortion drugs to themselves at least once. In the latest studies by the modern medical encyclopedia, it was discovered that 46 million abortions are currently performed worldwide each year, 20 million of which are considered to be unsafe. Apart from those seeking to terminate pregnancies out of wedlock, a common factor in the studies was that a considerable proportion of women seeking illegal abortions in Egypt are married. This raises questions about the rate of unwanted pregnancies within marriage and their causes. The issue is a complex tangle of economic, social and religious causes, but in broad terms, factors such as poverty, insufficient contraception, lack of access to family planning and the traditional gender roles that assign wives to a submissive, non decision-making position have been identified. While an assortment of strategies have been adopted over the years to address the issue of unwanted pregnancy, (not least former President Mubarak's regimental contraception and family planning campaigns of the 1990's) there has been little dialogue about the legalization of abortion as a means of protecting women from the dangers associated with illicit abortions. The weighty influence of Islam and Orthodox Christianity on Egyptian society dominate the debate to a large extent. In 2010, the Islamic institute of jurisprudence, Dar al-Iftaa, issued a fatwa (ruling) stating that a child cannot be aborted after it has reached 120 days old - the point when it is believed to possess a soul. Prior to that point, a woman is permitted to undergo an abortion if her doctor deems the pregnancy a danger to her or the child's health.
|
357 |
2016-08-02
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/veteran-tv-talk-show-host-amr-adib-joins-ontv-channel
|
Veteran TV talk-show host Amr Adib has joined ONTV Channel, having recently ended a 20-year association with rival TV channel Orbit. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The arrival of Adib at ONTV was announced by Ahmed Abu Hashima, the channel's owner, through his instagram account. Abu Hashima published photos of himself, Adib and business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, who is a partner in ONTV. Abu Hashima commented on the photos saying, "A new step toward the forefront for ONTV which signed [a contract] with the great host Amr Adib". He took the opportunity to announce two more business breakthroughs for ONTV. The company recently signed a contract for exclusive advertising rights with advertising agency Promomedia, and bought the exclusive broadcast rights for Egyptian football league matches, he said. Amr Adib left Orbit television channel in June after two decades as a presenter, gaining high viewing figures with his lively coverage of political events. He is well-known across the region, thanks to the popular TV show "Al-Qahera Al-Youm" (Cairo Today), one of the most durable television talk shows in the Middle East. Adib started his career as a journalist, becoming editor-in-chief of Al-Alam Al-Youm newspaper, where he worked with his wife and influential TV host Lamis al-Hadidi. Al-Qahera Al-Youm was a smash hit, largely as a result of its trenchant criticism of the government's performance, especially during the Muslim Brotherhood's reign. Adib once said during his show that he had received a series of threats calling on him to halt criticism of President Mohamed Morsy and Muslim Brotherhood members. However, one key draw for his viewers was Adib's sarcastic sense of humor, combined with a blunt - sometimes even blatant - tone. He is well-known for his supportive stance toward President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since the ousting of Morsy on June 30, 2013. On July 3, after Morsy had been removed from office, Adib shouted "God is Great! Long live Egypt!" proudly spreading the Egyptian flag across his shoulders. Sisi appeared in phone interviews with Adib twice during 2016. During the first interview, Sisi proposed initiating a dialogue with Ahly's hardcore football fans, known as the Ultras, on the fourth anniversary of the Port Said Stadium rampage. During the second one, he unveiled a LE10bn development plan for Sinai. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
358 |
2016-08-17
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ahly-coach-martin-jol-quits-after-fans-storm-pitch-during-training
|
Ahly's Dutch coach Martin Jol decided to end his contract with Egypt's leading sporting club after fans stormed the pitch during training on Tuesday evening and physically assaulted some players. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The team's manager met with Ahy's President Mahmoud Taher after the incident and informed him of his decision, stressing his right to the penalty clause in the contract. Taher and the board of directors said on Wednesday that they are trying to convince Jol to remain at the club. They have given him 24 hours in which to reconsider his position. Jol started coaching Ahly in February this year, but he came under fierce criticism from the team's "Ultras" fan group after a series of failures. Ahly lost its derby against his rival club Zamalek in the final of Egypt Cup on August 8. Ahly also went out of the African Champions League after their 2-2 draw last Friday against Zesco United of Zambia. Rumors on Taher modifying the team's coaching staff went viral this week, with former star striker Mohamed Abo Trika tipped by some as a potential coaching recruit. However, a source close to the star said he refuses to take up any position with the club. According to the source, Trika believes that the team's performance is being held back by various circumstances within the club.
|
359 |
2016-10-03
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/zamalek-football-fan-gets-prison-sentence-attack-club-chief-mansour
|
Giza Criminal Court has sentenced Mohamed Hamdy to two years with labor for assaulting Mortada Mansour, the head of Zamalek Sporting Club, and for breaking into the club's premises. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Hamdy was given one year in prison for each offense. Judge Moataz Khafagy said that the court sympathized with the suspect. The prosecution earlier accused the suspect of using force, harming the victim and endangering his life, as well as possession of weapons. The incidents go back to August 2015 when several members of the White Knights Ultras gathered outside the club in protest against remarks by Mansour, who had said he would be attending training sessions for the Zamalek football team. The remarks from Mansour sparked outrage among the Ultras, who gathered at the club and sought to force their way inside. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
360 |
2016-11-16
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/cholesterol-drug-shows-promise-help-reverse-heart-disease
|
For the first time, a new drug given along with a cholesterol-lowering statin medicine has proved able to shrink plaque that is clogging arteries, potentially giving a way to undo some of the damage of heart disease. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The difference was very small but doctors hope it will grow with longer treatment, and any reversal or stabilization of disease would be a win for patients and a long-sought goal. The drug, Amgen Inc.'s Repatha, also drove LDL, or bad cholesterol, down to levels rarely if ever seen in people before. Heart patients are told to aim for below 70, but some study participants got as low as 15. "There doesn't appear to be any level at which there is harm" from too little LDL, and the lower patients went, the more their plaque shrank, said one study leader, the Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Steven Nissen. Results were published Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association and discussed at an American Heart Association conference. Statins such as Lipitor and Crestor curb cholesterol production. Repatha and a similar drug, Praluent, block PCSK9, a substance that interferes with the liver's ability to remove cholesterol from the blood. Too much cholesterol, along with other substances, can build up and form plaque in arteries. The new drugs have drawbacks, though. Statins are pills sold as generics for as little as a dime a day. The new ones are biotech drugs that are expensive to make - Repatha costs $14,000 a year and insurers often won't pay. They must be given as shots every two weeks or once a month. People can do it themselves with a penlike device. In the study, about 900 heart disease patients were given a strong statin and monthly shots of either Repatha or a dummy solution. Ultrasound images were taken of an artery with plaque at the start of the trial and 18 months later. The average for bad cholesterol stayed around 93 for people given only the statin, but dropped to 37 for those on both drugs. The amount of artery plaque stayed about the same for the statin-only group but shrank 1 percent in those also given Repatha. Some people with more dramatic LDL declines saw plaque shrink 2 percent. "It's small, but it probably took patients 60 years to accumulate that plaque," so to see any change after just 18 months of treatment is good, said a cholesterol expert, Dr. Raul Santos of the University of Sao Paolo. Dr. Vincent Bufalino, president of Advocate Medical Group, a large cardiology group in suburban Chicago, agreed. "It sounds small but it's a beginning" and still a win, he said. Amgen sponsored the study, and Santos has consulted for the company. Nissen said his fees for doing the study were donated to charity. The best test of the new drugs' value will be large studies underway now to see whether drops in cholesterol will lead to fewer heart attacks and deaths. Results are expected next year. Also at the conference, doctors gave results of a safety study of an experimental treatment aimed at rapidly removing cholesterol after a heart attack to help prevent a second one. "When you have a heart attack, your ability to get cholesterol out of plaque is actually worsened. Your plaques grow more plump....the pipes are getting even more clogged," said Dr. C. Michael Gibson, professor of medicine at Harvard University. He led a study in 1,250 people testing infusions of ApoA-1, the main component of HDL, or good cholesterol, which helps remove the bad kind. The substance is taken directly from human blood, not synthesized in a lab. An earlier version showed side effects on the liver; this one was modified to try to avoid that, and no safety roadblocks were seen, said Gibson, who consults for the treatment's maker, CSL Behring. remove the bad kind. The substance is taken directly from human blood, not synthesized in a lab. An earlier version showed side effects on the liver; this one was modified to try to avoid that, and no safety roadblocks were seen, said Gibson, who consults for the treatment's maker, CSL Behring.
|
361 |
2017-01-31
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/5-ultras-ahlawy-fans-taken-custody-day-port-said-stadium-massacre-anniversary
|
West Cairo Prosecution ordered for five members of the Ahly Club fan group, Ultras Ahlawy, to be taken into custody for 15 days pending investigations into accusations of forming and leading an illegal group. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The indictment includes harming public peace, possessing unlicensed explosives, and inciting protests on February 1 without permission. On Monday, Ultras Ahlawy said it will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Port Said Stadium massacre on Wednesday. 72 fans of Ahly were killed after a game between the club and Masry Club at Port Said Stadium on February 1, 2012. In June 2015, Port Said Criminal Court sentenced 11 suspects involved in the lawsuit to death and 10 others to life. However, the suspects challenged the verdict. The ruling is scheduled for February 20. In related context, the group posted on Facebook saying: "We don't consider the martyrs of Ahly, killed in February 2012, solely as victims of the group, but of a whole country. Five years after the massacre, no retaliation has occurred against the killers. Five years passed and we don't know how many years should the victims' family should wait until [justice is reached]." Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
362 |
2017-02-01
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ultras-ahlawy-not-commemorate-port-said-stadium-massacre-anniversary-due-police-crackdown-0
|
The Ultras Ahlawy group announced it will not commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Port Said stadium massacre, which takes place on Wednesday, according to a statement on its Facebook page, as reported by Aswat Masriya googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); February 1 marks the fifth anniversary of the massacre which claimed the lives of 72 al-Ahly fans in the aftermath of a football match between al-Ahly and Masry clubs. "The homes of a number of the group members have been raided over the past few days. Their relatives were arrested if the members were not home," the statement read, stating the reason behind the group's decision. "As a matter of fact, we do not understand the Interior Ministry's statement about the anniversary ... it said troops will be present at the [stadium] to prevent clashes with security ... The ministry has decided to attend the fifth anniversary to prevent clashes, even though the anniversary has been commemorated over the past few years without any security presence," it added. However, the group declared it will not be present there, or elsewhere, to commemorate the anniversary. On Monday, the group said it will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the incidents at al-Titsh stadium. A day after, the West Cairo Prosecution placed five members into custody pending investigations into charges of founding and leading an illegal group. The indictment includes harming public peace, possessing unlicensed explosives, and inciting protests on February 1 without permission. Edited translation from Aswat Masriya
|
363 |
2017-02-20
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/court-upholds-death-sentences-10-port-said-stadium-massacre-suspects
|
The Court of Cassation has rejected challenges submitted by 10 suspects involved in the Port Said Stadium massacre, which occurred in 2012 when 72 fans of al-Ahly Club were killed, upholding the death sentences. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); In June 2015, the Port Said Criminal Court sentenced 11 suspects to death, 10 to life in prison, while 10 others were dealt harsh prison sentences and hard labor. Twelve suspects, including the Port Said security chief and security officials, were sentenced to five years hard labor, while 20 suspects were cleared. The prosecution earlier accused the suspects of premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery, sabotage and thuggery. It indicated the suspects; intentions to kill al-Ahly fans in revenge for previous conflicts, adding that they used force against the Ultras fan group using edged weapons, explosives, rocks and other tools. The first verdict was issued on March 9, 2013, which saw 21 suspects sentenced to death, five others to life, 10 suspects to 15 years in prison, six suspects to 10 years, two suspects to five years, one suspect for one year with labor, and 28 suspects cleared. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
364 |
2017-03-12
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/180000-women-checked-breast-cancer-10-years-health-ministry
|
As part of the national program for early breast cancer checks, 180,000 women older than 40 have been examined for free since October 2007, the Health Ministry declared. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Advisor to the Health Minister, Abeer al-Maghawry, said the program began with four mobile clinics providing digital mammograms, which then increased to 12 mobile clinics, in addition to other units across other governorates. As of January 2017, the number of cases diagnosed with tumors is 2,993. Women diagnosed with breast cancer were referred to Qasr al-Aini, Ain Shams University hospitals, National Cancer Institute (NCI) and tumor centers across other governorates. The checkup and treatment is offered for free. All workers in the program are women, Maghawry said, adding that three ultrasound devices were obtained as a grant from the UN High Commission for Refugee Affairs. Egypt is the first country in Africa and the Arab world to obtain such devices, she said, indicating the total costs of all the devices reach LE8 million. Maghawry highlighted Egypt's experience in the program during a conference held at the previous Arab Hospitals Federation, attended by Arab health ministers. She also urged women above the age of 40 to visit the nearest checkup vehicles, citing some locations: next to the Finance Ministry, at Haram Hospital, at the Health Department in Borg al-Arab, at Luxor International Hospital, at Qosiya Hospital in Assiut, next to the National Council of Women in Banha city and at the main headquarters next to NCI. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
365 |
2017-04-22
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/11-zamalek-ultras-imprisoned-conspiring-kill-mortada-mansour
|
Egypt's Court of Cassation on Sunday upheld an earlier ruling for Giza Criminal Court sentencing 11 members of Ultras White Knights to one year in prison for conspiring to kill MP Mortada Mansour, said the head of Zamalek Sports Club. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Giza Criminal Court in February 2016 sentenced 15 members of the Ultras White Knights football fan club to one year in prison for trying to storm the Zamalek Sports Club's headquarters and conspiring to kill Mansour. Eleven of the defendants were given jail sentences for plotting to kill Mansour, while four were jailed for trying to storm the club's headquarters. Today's ruling came as the 11 defendants appealed the court verdict of last year. The Ultras White Knights is a group or ardent football fans supporting the Zamalek football club. They have been involved in various controversial events in recent years. The prosecutors accused the defendants of using violence and conducting surveillance on Mansour with a view to killing him using weapons they had prepared. Members of the Ultras White Knights gathered outside Zamalek Sports Club in August 2015 in an apparent attempt to storm it, after Mansour made a statement saying he would not allow them to watch a football training session of the Zamalek team. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
366 |
2017-05-08
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/striker-mohamed-salah-receives-death-threats-rome
|
Ahead of Sunday's match against AC Milan, Egyptian striker to Roma football team Mohamed Salah, known as "Momo", along with two of his teammates Radja Nainggolan and Daniele de Rossi, received anonymous death threats. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); After the club's defeat to Lazio football club last week, three dummies donned in the jerseys of the football players were found hanging in the Colosseum area along with a large banner saying: "Un consiglio senza offesa ... dormite sempre con la luce accesa". Translated, this means: "Some advice with no offense ... always sleep with the lights on". According to the Italian media, Rome police opened up an investigation into the death threats as it dispatched to the Colosseum area. Other Italian media outlets have reported that the Lazio football team Ultras, "Curva Nord Lazio", claimed responsibility for the incident; they released a statement saying that they would not apologize and it was "healthy banter". "Amazed and stunned by such narrow-mindedness, from the sensationalism and animosity that creates Italian journalism, the 'irriducibili' of Lazio's Curva Nord claim responsibility for the banner that appeared last night and clarify that everything should be confined to the healthy banter that creates the capital derby," the statement read, according to Italian media. It added: "There was no threat to any Roma player; there were inflatable dolls which aimed to highlight the depressive state of [Roma's] fans and players on the other bank of the River Tiber. It represented the continuation, not the end, of some healthy banter, that now three derbies have now passed." The statement said the banner with the words "sleep with the lights on" was to prevent nightmares from disturbing their sleep. "We won't apologise to anyone because, even if it's bad for some, it's all in our healthy right to ridicule our eternal rivals." Related Stories FIFA lifts Messi four-game international ban In Egypt, a large number of Salah Fans launched a hashtag "Mohammd Salah is redline" which went viral and topped the list of the trending hastags in Egypt a few hours after the news broke. Most of the tweets were supporting the footballer and warning against attempts to harm him. Moreover, the Facebook page of Curva Nord Lazio recevied dozens of comments from Egyptians criticizing and cursing their act and warning them against ever approaching Salah. A source at the Egyptian National Football team told Youm 7 that the head coach Hector Cooper phoned Salah and advised him not pay attention to these threats and only focus on the coming matches, so as not to be emotionally affected by these threats which usually come from fanatical masses. He said that senior and professional players used to receive similar threats and none of them were ever harmed. Salah scored 13 goals in the Italian league this season with Roma football club leading it to be the second in the domestic league with 75 points score. In 2016 Salah was selected as the best player in Roma team in a popular referendum.
|
367 |
2017-07-10
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/20-fans-of-zamalek-football-club-arrested-7-injured-following-riot
|
Riots took place Saturday night, following the football match between the Egyptian football club of Zamalek and the Libyan club of Ahly Tripoli in Alexandria. 20 fans of Zamalek club known as 'Ultras White Knights' were arrested for their participation in these 'riot acts.' googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The acts took place at Borg Al-Arab stadium, where the match between the two aforementioned teams was held, and led to the injury of seven people as a result of mutual clashes between Zamalek fans and officials from the stadium. According to the state-run newspaper of Akhabr Al Youm, the riots erupted directly after the end of the match between the fans of the two teams, as the Egyptian team of Zamalek's fans expressed outrage after their team tied with the Libya Ahly Tripoli. The tie between the two teams pushed fans of the Zamalek team ['Ultras White Knights] to start destroying seats of the stadium and launching fireworks in different parts of the arena, located in Alexandria. The injured people were transferred immediately to the nearest hospitals and 20 fans of the Egyptian team of Zamalek were arrested by police forces following participation in riots within the stadium. Related Stories 11 Zamalek Ultras imprisoned for conspiring to kill Mortada Mansour The Ultras White Knights is a group or ardent football fans who support the Zamalek football club. They have been involved in various controversial events in recent years. In February 2015, the Zamalek Sports Club's hardcore fan group lost 20 group members in clashes with security outside a military-run stadium in Cairo. Clashes broke out shortly before a premier league match between the Zamalek and ENPPI football teams. The Interior Ministry said that the fans did not hold tickets for the game and blamed the deaths on a stampede, the UWK accused police of indiscriminately firing tear gas at supporters crammed inside a narrow stadium gateway.
|
368 |
2017-07-28
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/judge-sends-ultras-white-knights-military-prosecution
|
Alexandria Public Prosecution on Thursday sent 235 Zamalek football club fans to the military prosecution to commence an investigation on the "Borg al-Arab incident", Judge Mohammed Salah Gaber, the first attorney-general of West Alexandria prosecutions, announced. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Police arrested the fans after they carried out violence following a Zamalek vs. al-Ahli football game during the CAF Champions League in Tripoli. Clashes erupted on July 9 between Zamalek fans and Borg al-Arab stadium officials, leading to the injury of seven people. The Public Prosecution accused the Zamalek fans of damaging Borg al-Arab stadium, disturbing public peace and security, spreading 'Ultras White Knights' propaganda and of wearing T-shirts decorated with the images of 20 martyrs. The 'Ultras White Knights' is a group of ardent football fans who support the Zamalek football club. In February 2015, the Ultras White Knights lost 20 group members in clashes with security outside a military-run stadium in Cairo. The Court of Urgent Matters in Cairo banned the hard-core soccer fan association, known locally as "Ultras", in May over accusations that the group is involved in terrorism. Related Stories 20 Zamalek football club fans arrested, 7 injured following riot in Alexandria Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
369 |
2017-08-14
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/lion-rescued-syria-zoo-gives-birth-jordan-reserve
|
The odds had been stacked against Hajar, a lion cub born just hours after her mother Dana, rescued from a defunct zoo in war-torn Syria, was released into a wildlife reserve in Jordan. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Dana and 12 other animals, including four other lions, two bears and two tigers, had barely survived under harsh conditions in the Syrian city of Aleppo, until a few months ago a major battleground in the country's civil war. They were transported from Syria to Turkey and then to Jordan by the international animal charity Four Paws, stuck in cages during the three-week journey. They arrived at the al-Ma'wa reserve in northern Jordan on Friday. Dr. Amir Khalil, a vet who accompanied the animals, said Sunday that he had been worried during the transport that Dana would give birth while in a cage. In such a case, it's unlikely the cub would have survived, he said. Instead, Hajar, Arabic for "the immigrant," was born sometime in the night from Friday to Saturday, in the tranquility of the wooded reserve. Staff at the reserve discovered the cub when they checked on Dana on Saturday morning. Khalil said he believes the lioness waited for a safe space to give birth. "She is a mom, she had the instinct," he said. "It's a miracle." The cub is white, a color that might change later, and weighs an estimated 1.5 to 2 kilograms (3.3 to 4.4 pounds), said Khalil who hasn't been able yet to examine Hajar. The gender is still unknown. On Sunday, the cub was mostly sleeping next to the mother in a cage in the reserve. The mother has been bonding with the cub, nursing and cleaning it. An ultrasound performed on Dana during the stopover in Turkey showed that she carried two cubs. Khalil said it's unclear whether the second cub is still waiting to be born or whether it was born dead close to the time of Hajar's birth and was eaten by the mother. The vet said the team will wait for a possible second birth until Monday and, if that hasn't happened, conduct an ultrasound to determine the next step. The reserve now has 25 lions, tigers and bears rescued from war zones across the conflict-scarred region, including Iraq and the Gaza Strip. The birth of the cub is a powerful symbol of hope, said Khalil. "After the dark, there is light," he said with a wide smile.
|
370 |
2017-09-14
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/attacked-bed-safe-feet-away-cuba-mystery-deepens
|
The blaring, grinding noise jolted the American diplomat from his bed in a Havana hotel. He moved just a few feet, and there was silence. He climbed back into bed. Inexplicably, the agonizing sound hit him again. It was as if he'd walked through some invisible wall cutting straight through his room. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Soon came the hearing loss, and the speech problems, symptoms both similar and altogether different from others among at least 21 US victims in an astonishing international mystery still unfolding in Cuba. The top US diplomat has called them "health attacks." New details learned by The Associated Press indicate at least some of the incidents were confined to specific rooms or even parts of rooms with laser-like specificity, baffling US officials who say the facts and the physics don't add up. "None of this has a reasonable explanation," said Fulton Armstrong, a former CIA official who served in Havana long before America re-opened an embassy there. "It's just mystery after mystery after mystery." Suspicion initially focused on a sonic weapon, and on the Cubans. Yet the diagnosis of mild brain injury, considered unlikely to result from sound, has confounded the FBI, the State Department and US intelligence agencies involved in the investigation. Some victims now have problems concentrating or recalling specific words, several officials said, the latest signs of more serious damage than the US government initially realized. The United States first acknowledged the attacks in August - nine months after symptoms were first reported. It may seem the stuff of sci-fi novels, of the cloak-and-dagger rivalries that haven't fully dissipated despite the historic US-Cuban rapprochement two years ago that seemed to bury the weight of the two nations' Cold War enmity. But this is Cuba, the land of poisoned cigars, exploding seashells and covert subterfuge by Washington and Havana, where the unimaginable in espionage has often been all too real. The Trump administration still hasn't identified a culprit or a device to explain the attacks, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former US officials, Cuban officials and others briefed on the investigation. Most weren't authorized to discuss the probe and demanded anonymity. In fact, almost nothing about what went down in Havana is clear. Investigators have tested several theories about an intentional attack - by Cuba's government, a rogue faction of its security forces, a third country like Russia, or some combination thereof. Yet they've left open the possibility an advanced espionage operation went horribly awry, or that some other, less nefarious explanation is to blame. Aside from their homes, officials said Americans were attacked in at least one hotel, a fact not previously disclosed. An incident occurred on an upper floor of the recently renovated Hotel Capri, a 60-year-old concrete tower steps from the Malecon, Havana's iconic, waterside promenade. The cases vary deeply: different symptoms, different recollections of what happened. That's what makes the puzzle so difficult to crack. In several episodes recounted by US officials, victims knew it was happening in real time, and there were strong indications of a sonic attack. Some felt vibrations, and heard sounds - loud ringing or a high-pitch chirping similar to crickets or cicadas. Others heard the grinding noise. Some victims awoke with ringing in their ears and fumbled for their alarm clocks, only to discover the ringing stopped when they moved away from their beds. The attacks seemed to come at night. Several victims reported they came in minute-long bursts. Yet others heard nothing, felt nothing. Later, their symptoms came. The scope keeps widening. On Tuesday, the State Department disclosed that doctors had confirmed another two cases, bringing the total American victims to 21. Some have mild traumatic brain injury, known as a concussion, and others permanent hearing loss. Even the potential motive is unclear. Investigators are at a loss to explain why Canadians were harmed, too, including some who reported nosebleeds. Fewer than 10 Canadian diplomatic households in Cuba were affected, a Canadian official said. Unlike the US, Canada has maintained warm ties to Cuba for decades. Sound and health experts are equally baffled. Targeted, localized beams of sound are possible, but the laws of acoustics suggest such a device would probably be large and not easily concealed. Officials said it's unclear whether the device's effects were localized by design or due to some other technical factor. And no single, sonic gadget seems to explain such an odd, inconsistent array of physical responses. "Brain damage and concussions, it's not possible," said Joseph Pompei, a former MIT researcher and psychoacoustics expert. "Somebody would have to submerge their head into a pool lined with very powerful ultrasound transducers." Other symptoms have included brain swelling, dizziness, nausea, severe headaches, balance problems and tinnitus, or prolonged ringing in the ears. Many victims have shown improvement since leaving Cuba and some suffered only minor or temporary symptoms. After the US complained to Cuba's government earlier this year and Canada detected its own cases, the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police traveled to Havana to investigate. FBI investigators swept the rooms, looking for devices. They found nothing, several officials briefed on the investigation said. In May, Washington expelled two Cuban diplomats to protest the communist government's failure to protect Americans serving there. But the US has taken pains not to accuse Havana of perpetrating the attacks. It's a sign investigators believe that even if elements of Cuba's security forces were involved, it wasn't necessarily directed from the top. Cuba's government declined to answer specific questions about the incidents, pointing to a previous Foreign Affairs Ministry statement denying any involvement, vowing full cooperation and saying it was treating the situation "with utmost importance." "Cuba has never, nor would it ever, allow that the Cuban territory be used for any action against accredited diplomatic agents or their families, without exception," the Cuban statement said. After half a century of estrangement, the US and Cuba in 2015 restored diplomatic ties between countries separated by a mere 90 miles of water. Embassies were re-opened and restrictions on travel and commerce eased. President Donald Trump has reversed some of those changes, but left others in place. Mark Feierstein, who oversaw the Cuba detente on President Barack Obama's National Security Council, noted that Cuban authorities have been uncharacteristically cooperative with the investigation. If the Trump administration felt confident Raul Castro's government was to blame, it's likely the US would have already taken major punitive steps, like shuttering the newly re-established American Embassy. And the US hasn't stopped sending new diplomats to Cuba even as the victim list grows. "Had they thought the Cuban government was deliberately attacking American diplomats, that would have had a much more negative effect," Feierstein said. "We haven't seen that yet."
|
371 |
2017-09-18
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/cuba-mystery-theories-us-investigators-pursuing
|
There must be an answer. Whatever is harming US diplomats in Havana, it has eluded the doctors, scientists and intelligence analysts scouring for answers. Investigators have chased many theories, including a sonic attack, electromagnetic weapon or flawed spying device. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Each explanation seems to fit parts of what's happened, conflicting with others. The United States doesn't even know what to call it. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used the phrase "health attacks." The State Department prefers "incidents." Either way, suspicion has fallen on Cuba. But investigators also are examining whether a rogue faction of its security services, another country such as Russia, or some combination is to blame, more than a dozen US officials familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the investigation. The AP also talked to scientists, physicians, acoustics and weapons experts, and others about the theories being pursued. Perhaps the biggest mystery is why the symptoms, sounds and sensations vary so dramatically from person to person. Of the 21 medically confirmed US victims, some have permanent hearing loss or concussions, while others suffered nausea, headaches and ear-ringing. Some are struggling with concentration or common word recall, the AP has reported. Some felt vibrations or heard loud sounds mysteriously audible in only parts of rooms, and others heard nothing. "These are very nonspecific symptoms. That's why it's difficult to tell what's going on," said Dr. H. Jeffrey Kim, a specialist on ear disorders at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, who isn't involved with the investigation. To solve the puzzle, investigators are sorting symptoms into categories, such as auditory and neurological, according to individuals briefed on the probe. There can be a lag before victims discover or report symptoms, some of which are hard to diagnose. So investigators are charting the timeline of reported incidents to identify "clusters" to help solve the when, where and how of the Havana whodunit. While Cuba has been surprisingly cooperative , even inviting the FBI to fly down to Havana, it's not the same as an investigation with the US government in full control. "You're on foreign soil," said David Rubincam, a former FBI agent who served in Moscow. "The quality of the information and evidence you collect is limited to what the host government will allow you to see and hear and touch and do." Especially when you don't even know what you're looking for. ___ SONIC DEVICE The first signs pointed to a sonic attack. But what kind? Some victims heard things - signs that the sounds were in the audible spectrum. Loud noise can harm hearing, especially high-decibel sounds that can trigger ear-ringing tinnitus, ruptured ear drums, even permanent hearing loss. But others heard nothing, and still became ill. So investigators considered inaudible sound: infrasound, too low for humans to hear, and ultrasound, too high. Infrasound often is experienced as vibration, like standing near a subwoofer. Some victims reported feeling vibrations. And it's not impossible that infrasound could explain some of what diplomats thought they heard. Though infrasound is usually inaudible, some people can detect it if the waves are powerful enough. For example, individuals living near infrasound-generating wind turbines have described pulsating hums that have left them dizzy, nauseous or with interrupted sleep. Such effects have prompted fierce scientific debate. The balance problems reported in Havana? Possibly explained by infrasound, which may stimulate cells in the ear's vestibular system that controls balance, scientists say. But there's little evidence infrasound can cause lasting damage once the sound stops. And the pinpointed focus of the sound, reported by some? Infrasound waves travel everywhere, making them difficult to aim with precision. "There's no efficient way to focus infrasound to make it into a usable weapon," said Mario Svirsky, an expert on ear disorders and neuroscience at New York University School of Medicine. If not infrasound, maybe ultrasound? At high-intensity, ultrasound can damage human tissue. That's why doctors use it to destroy uterine fibroids and some tumors. But ultrasound damage requires close contact between the device and the body. "You cannot sense ultrasound from long distances," Svirsky said. No victim said they saw a weird contraption nearby. None of these sound waves seems to explain the concussions. Usually, those follow a blow to the head or proximity to something like a bomb blast. "I know of no acoustic effect or device that could produce traumatic brain injury or concussion-like symptoms," said Juergen Altmann, an acoustic weapons expert and physicist at Germany's Technische Universitaet Dortmund. ___ ELECTROMAGNETIC WEAPON It may sound like Star Wars fantasy, but electromagnetic weapons have been around for years. They generally harm electronics, not humans. The electromagnetic spectrum includes waves like the ones used by your cellphone, microwave and light bulbs. And they can be easily pinpointed. Think lasers. Such waves can also travel through walls, so an electromagnetic attack could be plausibly concealed from afar. There's precedent. For more than a decade ending in the 1970s, the former Soviet Union bombarded the US Embassy in Moscow with microwaves. The exact purpose was never clear. What about the sounds people heard? Microwave pulses, short, intense blasts, can cause people to "hear" clicking sounds. According to a two-decade-old US Air Force patent, the American military has researched whether those blasts could be manipulated to "beam" voices or other sounds to someone's head. But when electromagnetic waves cause physical damage, it usually results from body tissue being heated. The diplomats in Cuba haven't been reporting burning sensations. ___ SOMETHING ELSE The stress and anxiety about the disturbing incidents could be complicating the situation. Diplomats may be taking a closer look at mild symptoms they'd otherwise ignored. After all, once symptoms emerged, the US Embassy encouraged employees to report anything suspicious. Many of these symptoms can be caused by a lot of different things. At least one other country, France, tested embassy staffers after an employee reported symptoms. The French then ruled out sonic-induced damage, the AP reported . ___ Not knowing what's causing the crisis in Cuba has made it harder to find the culprit. If there is one at all. ___ THE CUBA THEORY It was only natural that American suspicion started with Cuba. The attacks happened on Cuban soil. The two countries routinely harassed each other's diplomats over a half-century of enmity. Despite eased tensions over the past couple of years, distrust lingers. Diplomats reported incidents in their homes and in hotels. Cuban authorities would know who is staying in each. But what's the motive? When symptoms emerged last November, Cuba was working feverishly with the US to make progress on everything from internet access to immigration rules before President Barack Obama's term ended. Officials still don't understand why Havana would at the same time perpetrate attacks that could destroy its new relationship with Washington entirely. Cuban President Raul Castro's reaction deepened investigators' skepticism, according to officials briefed on a rare, face-to-face discussion he had on the matter with America's top envoy in Havana. Predictably, Castro denied responsibility. But US officials were surprised that Castro seemed genuinely rattled, and that Cuba offered to let the FBI come investigate. Then, Canadians got ill. Why them? The warm, long-standing ties between Cuba and Canada made it seem even less logical that Castro's government was the culprit. ___ THE ROGUES If not Castro, could elements of Cuba's vast intelligence apparatus be to blame? Investigators haven't ruled out that possibility, several US officials said. It's no secret that some within Cuba's government are uneasy about Raul Castro's opening with Washington. "It's entirely possible that hard-line elements acted," said Michael Parmly, who headed the US mission in Havana until 2008. But mounting unauthorized attacks, tantamount to aggression against a foreign power, would be a risky act of defiance in a country noted for its strong central control. Cuba's surveillance of US diplomats in Havana is intense. The government tracks US diplomats' movements and conversations. So at a minimum, if Americans were being attacked, it's difficult to imagine Cuba's spies being left in the dark. ___ THE OUTSIDERS Who else would dare? US investigators have focused on a small group of usual suspects: Russia, Iran, North Korea, China, Venezuela. Russia, in particular, has harassed American diplomats aggressively in recent years. Moscow even has a plausible motive: driving a wedge between the communist island and "the West" - nations such as the United States and Canada. Russia also has advanced, hard-to-detect weaponry that much of the world lacks and might not even know about. None of the officials interviewed for this story pointed to any evidence, however, linking Russia to the illnesses. The same goes for the other countries. ___ SPYING GONE AWRY? Maybe no one tried to hurt the Americans at all. Several US officials have emphasized the possibility the culprit merely surveilled the US diplomats using some new, untested technology that caused unintended harm. You might think eavesdropping devices simply receive signals. But the world of espionage is full of strange tales. During the Cold War, the US Embassy in Moscow discovered Russia listening to conversations through a wooden plaque that the American ambassador received as a gift. The plaque had a tiny "microphone" and antenna embedded, but no power source, making it hard to detect even when the room was swept for bugs. The Russians had developed something novel. They remotely beamed electromagnetic waves to activate the device, which then transmitted sound back via radio frequencies. Yet if the Cubans or anyone else were equally as innovative, it's unclear why the incidents would have continued once the United States and Canada complained.
|
372 |
2017-10-10
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/parliamentarians-call-president-sisi-release-ultras-football-fans
|
Egyptian parliamentarians called on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to allow football fans or "Ultras", as they are sometimes called, to attend matches and release the ones who had been imprisoned. The request was put in during the Monday's session, after the Egyptian Football Team qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); After House of Representatives' First Deputy, Al-Sayed al-Sheref praised the efforts of the armed forces and police to secure the football match between Egypt and the Congo on Sunday, after first congratulating President Sisi and the Egyptian people. Haitham al-Hariri, a House of Representatives member, asked President Sisi to give a presidential pardon to the Ultras for Egypt's qualification to the 2018 World Cup. Parliamentarian Muhammad al-Husini said, "We want President Sisi to release the Ultras tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." He called on the members to honor the Egyptian football team, Muhammad Salah and Issam al-Hadari in particular, inside the House of Representatives.Edited Translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
373 |
2017-10-13
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/dangerous-sound-americans-heard-cuba-attacks
|
It sounds sort of like a mass of crickets. A high-pitched whine, but from what? It seems to undulate, even writhe. Listen closely: There are multiple, distinct tones that sound to some like they're colliding in a nails-on-the-chalkboard effect. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The Associated Press has obtained a recording of what some US Embassy workers heard in Havana in a series of unnerving incidents later deemed to be deliberate attacks. The recording, released Thursday by the AP, is the first disseminated publicly of the many taken in Cuba of mysterious sounds that led investigators initially to suspect a sonic weapon. The recordings themselves are not believed to be dangerous to those who listen. Sound experts and physicians say they know of no sound that can cause physical damage when played for short durations at normal levels through standard equipment like a cellphone or computer. What device produced the original sound remains unknown. Americans affected in Havana reported the sounds hit them at extreme volumes. Whether there's a direct relationship between the sound and the physical damage suffered by the victims is also unclear. The US says that in general the attacks caused hearing, cognitive, visual, balance, sleep and other problems. The recordings from Havana have been sent for analysis to the US Navy, which has advanced capabilities for analyzing acoustic signals, and to the intelligence services, the AP has learned. But the recordings have not significantly advanced US knowledge about what is harming diplomats. The Navy did not respond to requests for comment on the recording. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert wouldn't comment on the tape's authenticity. Cuba has denied involvement or knowledge of the attacks. The US hasn't blamed anyone and says it still doesn't know what or who is responsible. But the government has faulted President Raul Castro's government for failing to protect American personnel, and Nauert said Thursday that Cuba "may have more information than we are aware of right now." "We believe that the Cuban government could stop the attacks on our diplomats," said White House chief of staff John Kelly. Not all Americans injured in Cuba heard sounds. Of those who did, it's not clear they heard precisely the same thing. Yet the AP has reviewed several recordings from Havana taken under different circumstances, and all have variations of the same high-pitched sound. Individuals who have heard the noise in Havana confirm the recordings are generally consistent with what they heard. "That's the sound," one of them said. The recording being released by the AP has been digitally enhanced to increase volume and reduce background noise, but has not been otherwise altered. The sound seemed to manifest in pulses of varying lengths - seven seconds, 12 seconds, two seconds - with some sustained periods of several minutes or more. Then there would be silence for a second, or 13 seconds, or four seconds, before the sound abruptly started again. A closer examination of one recording reveals it's not just a single sound. Roughly 20 or more different frequencies, or pitches, are embedded in it, the AP discovered, using a spectrum analyzer, which measures a signal's frequency and amplitude. To the ear, the multiple frequencies can sound a bit like dissonant keys on a piano being struck all at once. Plotted on a graph, the Havana sound forms a series of "peaks" that jump up from a baseline, like spikes or fingers on a hand. "There are about 20 peaks, and they seem to be equally spaced. All these peaks correspond to a different frequency," said Kausik Sarkar, an acoustics expert and engineering professor at The George Washington University who reviewed the recording with the AP. Those frequencies might be only part of the picture. Conventional recording devices and tools to measure sound may not pick up very high or low frequencies, such as those above or below what the human ear can hear. Investigators have explored whether infrasound or ultrasound might be at play in the Havana attacks. The recordings have been played for workers at the US Embassy to teach them what to listen for, said several individuals with knowledge of the situation in Havana. Some embassy employees have also been given recording devices to turn on if they hear the sounds. The individuals weren't authorized to discuss the situation publicly and demanded anonymity. Cuban officials wouldn't say whether the US has shared the recordings with Cuba's government. Another big question remains: Even if you know you're under attack, what do you do? Still dumbfounded by what's causing this, the United States has been at a loss to offer advice. The embassy's security officials have told staff if they believe they're being attacked, they should get up and move to a different location, because the attack is unlikely to be able to follow them, the commenting individuals said. The AP reported last month that some people experienced attacks or heard sounds that were narrowly confined to a room or parts of a room. The State Department has said 22 Americans are "medically confirmed" to be affected and that the number could grow. The symptoms and circumstances reported have varied widely, making some hard to tie conclusively to the attacks. The incidents began last year and are considered "ongoing," with an attack reported as recently as late August. Cuba has defended its "exhaustive and priority" response, emphasizing its eagerness to assist the US investigation. Cuban officials did not respond to requests for comment for this story but have complained in the past that Washington refuses to share information they say they need to fully investigate, such as medical records, technical data and timely notification of attacks.
|
374 |
2018-01-16
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/court-orders-retrial-26-ultras-white-knights-members
|
The Court of Cassation accepted on Tuesday the appeal of the Public Prosecution against the ruling issued by the Sahel Misdemeanor Court in Cairo, acquitting 26 fans of the Zamalek football team, with the court ordering the retrial of the defendants. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The acquitted are members of the "Ultras White Knights", a hardcore fan group that supports the Zamalek Club in all sports, mainly football. The defendants were accused of organizing a march without a permit from authorities in the Dawaran Shubra area on August 28, 2013. The Sahel Misdemeanor Court said it acquitted the defendants due to the lack of evidence against them. The investigation lacked detailed information about the circumstances of the arrests, which were carried out randomly. No weapons were found in possession of the defendants during the arrest and there was no proof that the defendants belong to an illegal group. None of the defendants has a criminal record, the court mentioned before acquitting the defendants. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
375 |
2018-03-10
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/7-ultras-ahlawy-arrested-following-clashes-police-prosecution-orders-investigation
|
Egypt's prosecutor general Nabil Sadek ordered an investigation into clashes that broke out between security forces and fans from the Ahly football club during a match between Ahly SC and Gabon's CF Mounana in Cairo stadium on Tuesday. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, security forces attempted to arrest a dozen of spectators after they moved into the upper deck of the stadium, a prohibited area, which consequently sparked a fight between the fans and the police. Fans reportedly set two police vehicles on fire, lit firecrackers, and chanted against the police. Lawyer Mohamed Hafez said on Facebook on Friday that seven members of the Ultras Ahlawy are still being held in an unidentified location following their arrest. Egypt's prosecution said in a statement that the clashes were a matter of "national security," but asserted that the incident has nothing to do with the Ahly Club. The Ultras' official Facebook Page released a statement following the clashes on Wednesday claiming that those detained were "merely arrested because they are well-known," adding that their whereabouts are not known. "It makes no sense that Ahly fans would be the ones to create such a crisis after we have been determined to make it back to the games for over six years," the statement read, referring to a ban on crowds attending football games following riots in Port Said in 2012. "If some irresponsible people participated in this transgression we apologize, but the real Ahly fans are the ones who wanted to come back." Ali Darwish, head of the Cairo Stadium Authority, said in a media statement on Thursday that the clashes have caused LE650,000 in property damage to the stadium. "The incident reveals the truth about these political groups, which is that they run and are funded by forces of evil that are hostile to the state," Egypt's Parliament Youth and Sports Committee said on Wednesday. However, Ultras Ahlawy insisted that it did not want the issue to be "used in any political way." Since 2012, football fans have been banned from attending domestic league games after over 70 Ahly fans died in clashes between fans at the Port Said Stadium while security forces reportedly looked on without intervening. The ban was partially lifted in 2015, but soon reimposed after 20 Zamalek fans died in clashes that erupted between police and crowds lined up to enter a match against the Enppi club. The Ahly Club stated following Tuesday's incident that violations by the isolated group are undermining state and management efforts to assist in the return of the public's attendance to football games.
|
376 |
2018-03-13
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/video-8-ahly-fans-detained-stadium-rioting-mounana-match
|
The Supreme State Security Prosecution in Egypt ordered on Monday eight fans of al-Ahly Club to be detained for 15 days pending investigations over riots that erupted after Ahly's match against Gabon's CF Mounana at the Cairo Stadium on March 6. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Egypt's Ahly and Mounana faced off at the first-leg of the first round of the CAF Champions League. Ahly won the game 4-0. The match witnessed offensive slogans by some fans, along with some clashes, which resulted in mass damages in the stadium, making the prosecution to open an investigation into the events. Ahly's football ultra, 'Ultras Ahlawy', issued a statement apologizing for the trouble which it said was caused by some individuals who don't represent the Ahly fans. According to preliminary investigations, some fans from Ultras Ahlawy went to a part of the stadium not reserved for the spectators and clashed with security personnel. They then started hostile chants, and clashed with police after they ignited fireworks and smashed chairs. Investigations said some of the fans included members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and planned to attack security forces. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
377 |
2018-03-18
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/five-additional-ultras-ahlawy-fans-detained-over-football-riots
|
Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered on Sunday five additional hard-line fans of the al-Ahly Club (Ultras Ahlawy) to be detained for 15 days pending investigations over their alleged participation in riots that erupted after a match against Gabon's CF Mounana at the Cairo Stadium on March 6, making the total number of suspects detained climb to 17. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The suspects face several charges, including joining and leading a group that aims to incite the disregard for the constitution and law, to prevent state institutions and public authorities from carrying out their work, and threatening the safety and security of society. Egypt's Ahly and Mounana faced off at the first leg of the first round of the CAF Champions League with Ahly winning the game 4-0. Some of the fans reportedly shouted offensive slogans, and clashes broke out, which resulted in substantial damages to the stadium, making the prosecution open an investigation into the events. The Ultras Ahlawy group issued a statement apologizing for the trouble which it said was caused by individuals who do not represent Ahly fans. According to the preliminary investigations, some Ultras Ahlawy supporters went to a part of the stadium not reserved for spectators and clashed with security personnel there. They then started to chant hostile slogans and ignited fireworks and smashed chairs. Investigations said some of the fans included members of the Muslim Brotherhood and planned to attack security forces. Crowds have been banned from attending Egyptian football matches since clashes at a Port Said stadium in on 1 February 2012 left 74 people dead when fans of Port Said's home team al-Masry stormed the pitch following a victory over Cairo-based Ahly. Eye-witness accounts said that security forces failed to intervene as the violence transpired. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
378 |
2018-04-23
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ultras-ahlawy-freezes-activities-in-effort-to-mend-ties-with-government
|
Hardcore football fan group Ultras Ahlawy announced on Monday that it is freezing its activities for an unspecified period after alleged unnamed "foreign channels" attempted to exploit its situation to cause harm to the Egyptian state. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); "The group's activity was frozen for an unspecified term," Ultras Ahlawy stated on Facebook. Sources said that the statement aims to turn a new page in the relationship with the government. The group's statement added that Ahly fans supported the government in its war against terrorism as they wore black bands during the football game against the Tunisian club al-Nejm al-Sahli in Alexandria, commemorating the martyrs of the al-Wahat incident in October 2017. The group did not commemorate 74 victims of the 2012 Ahly-Masry football game clashes in the Ahly club headquarters after the Egyptian Minister of Interior asked them not to. The group urged President Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi to issue a presidential pardon for releasing the club's fans who were randomly arrested during the club's games. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
|
379 |
2018-06-09
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/us-fears-mystery-weapon-revived-new-china-diplomat-cases
|
A US health alert issued for China over a mysterious illness has revived fears of a rumoured sonic weapon that first surfaced after a scare involving American diplomats and their families in Cuba two years ago. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Staff who fell ill after hearing strange sounds are being examined by doctors at a consulate in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, with several evacuated to the US and at least one diagnosed with brain trauma. The new cases eerily echo the odd noises and subsequent illnesses suffered by 24 US diplomats evacuated from Cuba since 2016, deepening a baffling medical enigma. But the incident also poses a diplomatic conundrum - how to respond to what some fear may be a deliberate attack against Americans by shadowy foes on Chinese soil. According to a New York Times report, US officials have privately raised questions about whether China, or Russia, might have separately or in tandem targeted the diplomats. Washington has so far taken care not to implicate Beijing, which has told US officials it is investigating the incident. "Until they are certain of the cause, it seems premature to make accusations," said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I don't think the US is calling it an 'attack'." It is in stark contrast to the US handling of the Cuba case, when the State Department lashed out at Havana for failing to protect its diplomats. Washington expelled 15 Cuban diplomats, arguing the authoritarian state must have either carried out the assaults or known who was behind them. President Donald Trump said he held Cuba responsible, although Havana denied any involvement. There are clear reasons for the US to avoid rocking the boat so readily this time. As a rising superpower, Beijing possesses significantly greater clout than impoverished Havana, with the cases coming at a precarious moment in US-China relations. Ongoing talks to avoid a full-blown trade war are balanced on a knife edge, and Beijing's cooperation is likely to be key if hopes for North Korea's denuclearisation ahead of next week's summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un are to be realised. - Many theories, no proof - Still lacking proof to support allegations against Cuba, US officials could also be facing up to claims there were no "sonic attacks" after all. Although the American victims heard strange noises - described as static or the sound of metal sheets waving - studies have cast doubt on the "acoustic weapon" hypothesis. A University of Pennsylvania team examined 21 affected staff from the Cuba embassy, and found they suffered symptoms typical of concussion such as headaches and memory loss. "There is no known mechanism for audible sound to injure the brain," said study author Douglas Smith. "We are pretty certain that it was not the sound itself that caused the injury." A Canadian investigation into similar illnesses among its own diplomats in Cuba in April said a sonic attack was "now considered unlikely", while FBI agents sent to Havana reportedly found no evidence to support the theory. This has not stopped speculation about other possible weapons potentially using microwaves, infrasound or ultrasound, despite technical difficulties in projecting these types of energy over long distances and through structures. A University of Michigan study in March posed an alternative theory, suggesting the illnesses could be caused by bugging or surveillance jamming devices. The study showed ultrasonic signals from such devices could clash with each other to create the strange sounds heard by diplomats. Importantly, this theory would suggest there was no malicious intent - and even that the US's own equipment could be the cause. Others have claimed the illness may simply be psychological and dismissed the whole affair as mass hysteria. - China sceptical - In China, analysts have queried the absence of a suitable motive for an attack. "If the Chinese government did it, then why?" said Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University. "Is it happy to drive the diplomats out of China? I can't see the reason behind it." "The Chinese government will not express its dissatisfaction with the US in this way," added Wu Xinbo, a US politics expert at Fudan University. "I think the whole event is nonsense."
|
380 |
2018-06-23
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/protests-across-spain-sexual-abuse-gang-released-bail
|
Protesters hit the streets across Spain for the second day running on Friday, after five men sentenced to nine years in prison for sexually abusing a young woman at Pamplona's bull-running festival were released on bail. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The men, who called themselves "The Pack" in a WhatsApp messaging group, had been accused of raping a woman, then 18, on July 7, 2016, at the start of the week-long San Fermin festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors. All five, aged between 27 and 29, were convicted of sexual abuse in April but were acquitted of the more serious crime of sexual assault - which includes rape - as the court did not consider the victim to have been subjected to intimidation or violence. The men appealed their jail terms and a Pamplona court on Thursday ordered the five to be released on bail of 6,000 euros ($7,000) pending the outcome of the appeal. Thousands of people of all ages demonstrated outside the justice ministry in central Madrid on Friday evening, shortly after the five men left jail after spending nearly two years in custody. "I was stunned" by the court ruling, Aratz Beranoaguirre, a geologist, told AFP at the Madrid protest. "Men have been educated with the idea that we can do anything, and with this ruling we have seen that you can rape and nothing happens." The crowd chanted: "They don't believe us if they don't kill us." Other protests were held in the southern city of Seville, the hometown of the five men, Pamplona - where the crowd held a large banner that read: "No is no. Justice!" outside of city hall - Granada, and elsewhere. Thousands of people had already protested in Pamplona, Bilbao, Barcelona and other cities on Thursday after the court issued its ruling. Women's groups took to social media to call the protests with the slogan: "If the pack hits the streets, we will as well." Marches after the verdict in April brought tens of thousands of protesters out on to the streets. - 'Not fair' - "It is not fair that they are released with a sentence of nine years, and just a few days before San Fermin, they can even go there," said Lucia Rodriguez, a 60-year-old protester in Madrid, referring to the upcoming running of the bulls festival which gets underway on July 6. In its decision on Friday, the Navarre court said the five had been allowed out on bail because the social pressure on them made it "practically unthinkable" they would risk re-offending. The men will remain under judicial monitoring. They have had their passports withdrawn and must report to court three times a week. They are also banned from travelling to Madrid, where the victim lives. One of the men is a policeman with the Guardia Civil - who is currently suspended - and another was once in the army. Several are "ultras" or hardcore fans of FC Sevilla. The fact that the men videoed the attack on their smartphones and bragged about it within their WhatsApp group added to the outrage over the case. - 'Not enough' - The mayor of Pamplona, Joseba Asiron, said Friday his office would appeal the decision to release them, saying there was "a growing distance... between society itself and certain decisions taken by the courts". An online petition calling for the five to be kept behind bars had garnered 657,000 names by Friday night. New socialist Justice Minister Dolores Delgado has not commented on the court decision, speaking only of a need to "change mentalities". The first step announced by the government of Pedro Sanchez, who took office earlier this month at the head of cabinet that includes 11 women, was to train magistrates in awareness about violence against women. Noelia Garcia, 41, said she did not trust that the situation would change with a new government dominated by women. "That is not enough. There needs to be a reform of the judicial system. Judges from another era need to be replaced," she added at the Madrid protest.
|
381 |
2018-12-26
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/as-tiktok-videos-take-hold-with-teens-parents-scramble-to-keep-up
|
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Millions of teenagers seeking their 15 seconds of fame are flocking to TikTok, but many of their parents are only now learning about the express-yourself video app - often to their dismay. The social network became the most downloaded on Apple's App Store in the first half of this year according to market analysis firm Sensor Tower, beating out titans like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. The site, owned by China's ByteDance, boasted 500 million users as of June following its purchase last year of Musical.ly, which greatly expanded its reach in the US. Analysts say it filled the void left by Vine, which introduced countless numbers of teens to the creative possibilities of ultrashort videos but failed to find a sustainable business model. "TikTok capitalizes on short-term creative content that other platforms don't encourage, by their design and community," said Brian Solis at the US tech advisory firm Altimeter. "If there is one thing Silicon Valley can learn from Chinese app development, it's that it is tuned in to viral-as-a-service, meaning that their most popular apps have really been about making content and personas viral and also hyper-engaged," he said. Yet critics say its surging popularity among young girls in particular exposes them to caustic comments and other potential abuse by their peers, while offering a choice hunting ground for sexual predators. The app itself promises a video-sharing community that's "raw, real and without boundaries" and claims to be appropriate for children aged 12 and older. Parents aren't always convinced, given the numbers of young girls suggestively singing along to sexually explicit lyrics which are often degrading to women. Such videos are the stock in trade of Halia Beamer, an American 13-year-old who has emerged as one of TikTok's stars, chalking up more than five million followers. 'Dangerous characters' Media reports have documented cases of users being bombarded with disturbing comments, while others have been asked for private contact details or to post provocative images. Last summer the Indonesian government banned the app after more than 170,000 people signed a petition saying that lip-syncing in revealing outfits was not suitable for children. It was lifted only after TikTok representatives from China flew to Jakarta and promised to hire more people to weed out inappropriate content. The US internet watchdog Common Sense says the combination of mature content and privacy risks means users should be at least 16. "Because the age limit is so low, you attract a greater assortment of dangerous characters, and users lying about their age," Solis said. But raising the age limit would remove millions of people from the platform, and curb TikTok's exponential growth. In France for example, 38 percent of youths aged 11 to 14 have a TikTok account according to Generation Numerique, which tracks internet usage. Girls are by far the majority among French pre-teens, with 58 percent saying they have an account compared with just 15 percent for boys. French police warned parents last month about the dangers, saying their teens "may be targeted by indecent sexual proposals". "TikTok promotes dancing and singing in particular, things which are still pretty feminine that boys don't always dare to do," said Cyril di Palma, Generation Numerique's president. Hard choices ByteDance, whose app is called Douyin in China, says it works extensively to protect its users, with software that monitors content and "a continually growing team of moderators". But Di Palma says many parents are still unaware of the risks, "and are astonished to see their little angels in poses inappropriate for their age." The effects of early exposure to social media are so new that "parents, educators, even doctors... are either under-qualified or completely ignorant in the face of the need to guide a young generation in the dangers and possibilities of these new technologies," Solis said. William Soally, a French father whose 12-year-old daughter is a dance fan, took action after seeing alerts about TikTok among YouTube users. "I talked about it with my daughter and we decided to remove the app from her phone," Soally, 35, told AFP, acknowledging the move had initially provoked tears and worries about "a loss of social status". "The solution has to come from parents, who need to understand that the internet is not a world of Care Bears," he added, referring to the 1980s cartoon characters.
|
382 |
2019-04-20
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/coming-soon-to-china-the-car-of-the-future
|
Global automakers are positioning for a brave new world of on-demand transport that will require a car of the future - hyper-connected, autonomous, and shared - and China may become the concept's laboratory. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); With ride-hailing services booming and car-sharing not far behind, the need for vehicles tailored to these and other evolving mobility solutions is one of the hottest topics among global automakers gathered for this week's Shanghai Auto Show. Nearly all agree that there is no better proving ground than China: its gigantic cities are desperate for answers to gridlock and its population is noted for its ready embrace of high-tech new services. To take advantage of this, manufacturers are competing not only to sell conventional and electric vehicles in the world's biggest auto market, but also to develop new technologies and even specific interiors designed for the on-demand world. "We cannot just develop electric cars. They will have to be smart, interconnected and of course shared," Zhao Guoqing, vice president of Chinese auto giant Great Wall Motors, said on the auto show's sidelines. Discussion of China and ride-hailing inevitably involves Didi Chuxing, the country's omnipresent answer to Uber. The eagerness of Chinese travellers to hail rides with a smartphone click has unleashed a colossal market: on-demand transport reached $28 billion in turnover in China last year, or about half of global volume, and is expected to double by 2022, according to data firm Statista. Didi accounts for about 90 percent of the Chinese market. 'Enormous potential' The on-demand potential is bringing automakers and service providers together. Last year, Didi unveiled an alliance of Chinese and foreign manufacturers including Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen, dedicated to exploring ways forward. And in February, Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent joined hands with several manufacturers to develop a future platform for on-demand transport. "We can no longer be a conventional manufacturer, we must offer mobility solutions, connectivity," Stephan Wollenstein, director of Volkswagen China, told reporters. Although a relative newcomer to China's automotive market, French brand Renault is plunging ahead: its local joint venture with Chinese manufacturer Brilliance Auto delivered 600 personal minivans to Didi in February. "Didi wants to develop such vehicles with many carmakers, which are more adapted to (Didi's) business, redesigned around the passenger," said Michael Dong, vice president of Renault-Brilliance-Jinbei. For one thing, most passenger cars today are designed to squeeze in a family, and thus feature limited space in the back because that's where the kids normally sit, said Lawrence Petizon, an analyst with AlixPartners. But for ride-hailing or car-sharing, more space is needed in the back to accommodate grown-up passengers. "The family car is not the right answer," he said. Didi drivers typically supply their own vehicles, but Chinese authorities are encouraging service firms to build their own fleets, partly to spur the industry and push forward the futuristic transport concept. Some manufacturers are even dipping their toes into ride-hailing, with Germany's BMW offering a high-end service in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, and Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz doing so in Shanghai. "Admittedly, the volumes ordered are still insufficient for mass production but the potential is enormous," says Dong. Robot-taxis The idea is not confined to China. Daimler and BMW announced in February they would jointly invest "more than one billion euros" to deepen cooperation between their Car2Go and DriveNow services in Europe, in which cars are available for short-term point-to-point use. One thing that seems to certain to eventually change is how cars are bought and sold. "Car manufacturers will no longer provide customers with cars via a one-time sale, but rather with a brand that connects them to the users on a daily basis through the mobility services they offer," said a recent report by Eurogroup Consulting. This automotive evolution is expected to accelerate development of autonomous vehicles, which are already viewed as the future of overall car transport, but seem especially suited for urban car-sharing services. Valeo, the French manufacturer of ultrasonic sensors, cameras, and navigational technology, said it received orders totaling one billion euros last year related to the development of "robot-taxis". Francois Marion, president of Valeo China, said the global advent of driverless cars is just around the bend. "They will hit the road in carefully charted urban environments, with dedicated lanes on the streets, connected infrastructures guiding them, and programmed itineraries," he said of the futuristic vision. "And the companies operating them will always be able to intervene if anything happens to one of the vehicles." Valeo also is working with Meituan, China's leader in meal deliveries, to develop a robotic vehicle.
|
383 |
2019-05-22
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/boy-or-girl-hong-kong-at-centre-of-banned-china-gender-test
|
Shady middle-men are openly advertising on Chinese social media to smuggle blood samples of pregnant women to Hong Kong to skirt the mainland's ban on gender testing, an AFP investigation has found. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The business thrives on a well-organized underground network that serves the huge demand for illicit sex-selective abortion in mainland China -- driven by limits on family size and an entrenched cultural preference for sons. Chinese authorities vowed to crack down on the trade in 2015. But dozens of blood smuggling agents are openly advertising services on the Twitter-like platform Weibo and on websites, despite China's proven ability to scrub digital content. Gender testing - except on medical grounds - is outlawed in China, where sex-selective abortions have helped create a surplus of about 31.6 million men, with some 115 boys born for every 100 girls last year. A long-standing one-child policy was eased to permit two children in 2016 but gender testing continues, with many parents of daughters trying for a son the second time around. Gender testing is legal in Hong Kong, with some clinics apparently turning a blind eye to the origins of the smuggled samples. AFP / Laurence CHU Chin's surplus boys Three agents contacted by an AFP reporter posing as a customer offered to arrange in-person appointments with medical testing labs or transport blood samples to Hong Kong for around US$580, promising results starting from six weeks into pregnancy. Upon payment of a deposit, the agent sends a testing kit to the client through a delivery service. One advised using an app to hire a nurse who could come to the patient's home in mainland China to extract blood. 'Nothing will go wrong' The client sends the blood sample to Shenzhen from where it is smuggled across the border to Hong Kong. The agents did not directly address questions about how the samples would be transported, but assured the reporter they would arrive safely at their destination. "They will be taken to the lab in a designated vehicle, the samples can be safely sent over for testing, nothing will go wrong," one representative said, adding that results would be sent out in one working day. Other agents use human smugglers. In February, a 12-year-old girl headed to Hong Kong was caught at the Shenzhen border carrying 142 vials of blood samples from pregnant women in her backpack. The tests analyze small fragments of fetal DNA in a pregnant woman's blood and can detect the presence of a Y chromosome. They are also used to screen for chromosomal disorders such as Down's syndrome. AFP / ISAAC LAWRENCE Some agents use human smugglers to transport the blood illicitly over the border from mainland China to Hong Kong, where it can be tested to determine the sex of the fetus They can often accurately predict the gender of a fetus weeks before doctors can see the sex organs in an ultrasound. Some mainlanders take the legal option of traveling directly to Hong Kong for gender testing. "I have three daughters already. To be honest I want a son," a 39-year-old man surnamed Wang told AFP outside a lab in Kowloon where his wife was getting her blood tested. Wang, who circumvented the one-child policy as many well-connected or wealthy Chinese families do, said he was under intense parental pressure to produce a male heir and had made the journey from the southern province of Guizhou. "Chinese people still want to have a son to carry on the ancestral line, this is an antiquated way of thinking, but back home there are lots of people who think this way," he explained. He added he and his wife would terminate the pregnancy in China if it turned out be a girl. "Right now she's only about 50 days along, so it can be solved by taking some medicine," he said. 'Ethically unacceptable' The trade raises questions over the willingness of Hong Kong labs to ignore their own rules. According to industry guidelines, laboratory technicians should not test blood without a patient referral from a local doctor, and risk losing their license if they do. It is illegal to mail or transport blood samples out of China without a permit, but Hong Kong only outlaws importing blood samples if a person has reason to suspect that it contains an infectious agent. The city's Department of Health told AFP the number of cases it investigated every year has tripled since 2016 but none was prosecuted due to insufficient evidence. A lab that one agent claimed to be working with told AFP it does not perform tests on couriered samples and denied working with mainland middle-men. AFP / ISAAC LAWRENCE The illicit trade raises questions over laboratories in Hong Kong willingness to ignore their own rules - a patient's blood should not be tested unless the lab gets a referral from a local doctor, otherwise they risk losing their license Multiple Chinese government departments did not respond to requests for comment. Hong Kong lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki, who is also a doctor, called on the territory's government to work with mainland authorities to take down the networks. "Ethically this is completely unacceptable because this will only encourage more people to perform gender selection," he told AFP. "And in mainland China, gender selection has already led to many tragedies and a skewed population with more males than females - they are all directly affected, so how can we abide this?"
|
384 |
2020-04-28
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/as-virus-cases-rise-uae-adjusts-to-a-new-normal-in-pandemic
|
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - In a Dubai industrial park, workers weld, drill and build what one entrepreneur sees as key to the near future of this desert city-state amid the coronavirus pandemic: disinfection gates. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Husam Zammar's company builds such gates for government and commercial clients. He believes the new safety measures will find wide acceptance, just as metal detectors did after the 9/11 terror attacks. "If we consider two people, one has a knife and one has coronavirus, the second one is a hundred times dangerous than the first one," he said. Fear of the virus is palpable in Dubai and elsewhere in the the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms where foreigners make up 90 percent of the population. Yet even as confirmed coronavirus cases spike, the UAE is opening up its cavernous malls and restaurants in a gamble to stimulate its economy while still trying to fight off the pandemic. That's led to a new normal here of temperature checks, social distancing monitors at supermarkets and marked-off empty seats on the city's driverless Metro. But crowds already have come to the malls and others are leaving their homes after weeks of a lockdown, eager to party in a city known for its nightlife and increasing the risk of the virus spreading. In lifting more stringent restrictions, the UAE cited the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began late last week. Dubai also lifted a weekslong quarantine order on a neighborhood along the Dubai Creek that's home to many low-wage workers late Sunday, saying it had detected no new coronavirus cases there for two days. But the detection rate for cases continues to spike due to mass testing. Authorities say more than one million tests have been administered - a number expected to rise. On Monday, Abu Dhabi's Department of Economic Development ordered companies outside of free zones to test all their employees. So far, the UAE has reported over 10,800 confirmed cases of the virus with 82 deaths. Recent days have seen numbers rise around 500 daily, in part as the testing reaches the UAE's population of low-paid laborers, who remain particularly at risk as they can live with up to 10 people in a single room like in other Gulf Arab countries. The UAE isn't yet like Wuhan, China, from which the first cases of the virus emerged. There, biosecurity checkpoints are everywhere that spray people with disinfectant or have them walk through a box of grey decontaminant gas like an airlock. Similar gates or tunnels have been constructed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Kenya and elsewhere, aimed at killing traces of the virus on people's clothes or their body. Hoping to fill an anticipated demand in the UAE, Zammar's firm Guard ME constructs the gates out of metal frames, galvanized steel and temperature-checking equipment from China. Someone trying to enter a business or office with such a gate first must undergo a temperature check, then walk through a fog of disinfectant created ultrasonically. While that won't detect an asymptomatic carrier of the coronavirus, it still will offer people peace of mind, said Zammar, a Syrian entrepreneur based in Dubai. "In the next two or three months, we will [feel] that if they didn't check your temperature, there is some problem in this building," he said. In all of China, each person also has a "health code" that uses geolocation and other mobile phone data to assign an infection risk by color, with red resulting in a 14-day, closely monitored quarantine. In the UAE, such mobile phone apps remain voluntary. However, images from Zammar's gate or a helmet-based temperature checker now used by Dubai police could be fed into a facial-recognition database. The UAE already has such a database from its national ID card system, which residents use for fast immigration clearance at Dubai International Airport. That fuels worries about privacy and surveillance in the UAE, which has been internationally criticized for targeting journalists and human rights activists and was linked to a suspected spying app. Still, the country is slowly opening up as people in masks and gloves now go to the mall. Barber shops have also reopened, with scissors and hair clipper attachments individually sterilized and wrapped like surgical tools. What this all means for Dubai's nightlife and bar scene, a crucial economic driver, remains in question. A famed Irish bar chain in the city-state called McGettigan's quietly opened its main location in Dubai's Jumeirah Lakes Towers neighborhood on Friday, but soon saw a line of people queuing up to enter. The bar closed early, before a 10 pm nightly curfew. And like other bars in Dubai, it hasn't been serving alcohol since the 24-hour, police-enforced lockdown lifted. Signs out front tell customers that masks "must be appropriately worn at all times." The company said in a statement that it's complying with the guidance from local authorities. "The health and safety of our customers is the priority - from temperature checks to social distancing of tables, sanitization of the venue and all other regulations," it said. ___ By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press writers Sam McNeil in Beijing and Fay Abuelgasim in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. Image: In this Monday, April 27, 2020 photo, an Associated Press journalist examines a gate system made by Guard ME that conducts temperature checks and fogs disinfectants on users, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
|
385 |
2020-05-14
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/dentists-re-open-in-france-after-two-month-lockdown
|
PARIS (AP) - Anyone who suffered through France's two-month lockdown with a toothache or other oral affliction of a non-emergency nature has a hope of licking the pain. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Dental practices around the country are cautiously reopening and accepting appointments after the French government eased restrictions on some businesses, services and public activity. Yet getting back to work in the age of coronavirus requires caution, especially for over 40,000 dentists in France who are among the health professionals at highest risk of becoming infected. Because respiratory droplets are a way the virus spreads among people, dentistry demands protecting patients and especially practitioners. That means not only disinfecting tools and surfaces, but layer upon layer of extra screens, wraps, gloves and masks. The World Health Organization has recommended specialized face masks for health care providers performing medical procedures such as ventilation and intubation that produce fine, airborne particles, which might transmit the coronavirus. Drilling teeth for fillings is also known to generate aerosolized viral particles. Paris dentist Sabrine Jendoubi said the trade-off for safety is the discomfort of additional head and body wear. "A surgical suit is something that we wear in the operating theater. Today, we wear it for everything." Jendoubi said. Of the various filtering face masks certified to protect against viruses in the air, she finds the FFP2-rated model "the most complicated, as it's really tight." "It filters out every virus and bacteria, so it's quite heavy to wear but it protects us and the patients," Jendoubi said. The additional precautions are also an added expense. An operator of medical clinics and offices in France, Doctocare, said it is costing 50,000 euros (US$54,000) to supply each of the company's centers with the hygiene and protective equipment recommended by the French government. "We will communicate to the government these difficult adjustments in terms of profitability, but for now we're focused on this public health issue," Carine Benharrous, director of dental operations at Doctocare, said. The limited distance between the faces of dentists and their patients also is a potential concern, as some experts have theorized that people who get a bigger infectious dose of the coronavirus may become more seriously ill with COVID-19. In Britain, all routine dental care has been suspended except for telephone consultations and prescriptions. While dentists in Denmark are returning to their offices, they are wearing protective suits and plastic face shields while tending to patients lying with their mouths wide open. Cleaning teeth to remove plaque is being done by hand instead of with ultrasonic devices that would increase the risk of producing spit. Yet in some European countries, dental practices never closed because of the virus. Dentists in Italy, one of the nations hit hardest by infections and virus-related deaths, reduced their services to take only urgent cases in person, managing other patients by telephone. Proof that a pandemic wasn't an excuse to avoid an Italian dentist chair was an April 23 photo on Twitter of US Ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich wearing a protective hairnet and paper drape. "A trip to the dentist in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic," Gingrich tweeted with emoji of an Italian flag and smiley face in sunglasses. ___ By THOMAS ADAMSON and NICOLAS GARRIGA Adamson reported from Leeds, England. Jan Olsen in Copenhagen, Nicole Winfield in Rome and Maria Cheng in London contributed. Image: In this Wednesday, May 13, 2020 photo, dentist Sabrine Jendoubi, left, and her dental assistant Margot Daussat inspect the teeth of patient Veronique Guillot, during a dental appointment, at a dental office in Paris. Those with toothache that suffered through France's two-month lockdown, finally have hope to end the pain. Dental practices are cautiously re-opening and non-emergency dentist appointments are now permitted around the country, as the French government eased confinement restrictions from Monday. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
|
386 |
2020-06-19
|
https://www.egyptindependent.com/india-china-himalayan-standoff-deadly-for-cashmere-herds
|
SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Antagonisms between Indian and Chinese troops high in the Himalayas are taking a dire toll on traditional goat herds that supply the world's finest, most expensive cashmere. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); This week, a deadly brawl between Indian and Chinese soldiers caused the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley, an achingly beautiful landscape that is part of a border region that has been disputed for decades because of its strategic importance as the world's highest landing ground. The months-long military standoff between the Asian giants is hurting local communities due to the loss of tens of thousands of Himalayan goat kids died because they couldn't reach traditional winter grazing lands, officials and residents said. Nomads have roamed these lands atop the roof of the world, around the undemarcated borders with China and Tibet, for centuries, herding the famed and hardy goats that produce the ultrasoft wool known as Pashmina, the finest of cashmeres. Cashmere takes its name from the disputed Kashmir valley, where artisans weave the wool into fine yarn and exquisite shawls that cost up to $1,000 apiece in world fashion capitals in a major handicraft export industry that employs thousands. This latest bout of friction between the rival nuclear powers is adding to pressures from climate change and longer-term losses of grazing land for the Changpa, the nomadic herders who rear the Pashmina goats. With access to the usual breeding and birthing grounds blocked by militaries on either side, newborn goats are perishing in the extreme cold of higher elevations, herders say. "Denial of pastureland has led to high mortality of goat babies. It's so scary, it has never been like this," said Sonam Tsering, the general secretary of All Changtang Pashmina Growers Cooperative Marketing Society. He said thousands of newborns died this year because most of the 300,000-strong herd of goats, which yields around 45 tons of fine feather-like wool each year, remained trapped in the extreme cold. Authorities in Leh, the capital of Indian-controlled Ladakh, would not give any information, saying they were still collecting data. But two officials with Ladakh's animal husbandry department said that according to field staff, the deaths were much higher than the usual five to 10 percent mortality rate among some 60,000 to 80,000 kids each year. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they said the Ladakh administration has barred them from speaking to reporters. Demand for the cashmere, which is painstakingly combed from the goats, sorted, cleaned and hand woven, has always outstripped supply, so shortages are a certainty, said several people working in the trade. "It's going to be catastrophic for wool production," said Namgyal Durbuk, a village official in the region. India and China fought a border war in 1962 that also spilled into Ladakh. The two countries have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early 1990s without success, as their soldiers face off along a thousands-of-miles-long, undemarcated frontier that stretches from Ladakh in the north to the Indian state of Sikkim in the northeast. For most of the year the Changpa raise their herds in the vast cold desert of the Changtang plateau of Ladakh, which straddles Tibet at over 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) above sea level. The harsh, windy climate is what causes the goats to grow their super-soft wool. But the region becomes inhospitable from December to February, when temperatures can fall to minus 50 Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit). That's when the Changpas bring their livestock to slightly lower elevations and warmer grazing lands in the Demchok, Hanle, Korzok, Chumar and Chushul areas near the disputed border with China. This year, Indian authorities barred their passage for months, several people involved with herding said. The two sides blame each other for Monday night's clash, their deadliest conflict in 45 years. Tensions have surged since August, when India unilaterally declared the region a federal territory while separating it from disputed Kashmir. China is among a handful of countries that strongly condemned the move, raising it at international forums including the UN Security Council. Indian officials have kept a near-total silence on issues related to the confrontation with China. However, a security official in Ladakh, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with government regulations, said the grazing lands are close to the contested frontier and the restrictions in place in the area are to protect herders from Chinese soldiers. Around 1,200 Changpa families have lost access to grazing lands even in the areas that are controlled by the Indian military due to the confrontation, Tsering said. But the Chinese side also is interfering, he and other herders said. "Our nomads in recent years have increasingly faced difficulty in accessing pastures in these places. Chinese soldiers have blocked them while bringing herders from Tibet into our lands," said Tsering. Phuntsog, a local farmer who uses only one name, said local elders have been complaining to the Indian government about Chinese incursions for years. "They would ignore every time. Now see where the Chinese are. Worst, these hapless, beautiful creatures which sustain our livelihood are becoming victim of this political and military game," he said. China's foreign ministry said Thursday that such allegations are "sheer fiction." "Chinese border troops have always only patrolled Chinese territories," the ministry said. Tsering said herders began losing terrain years ago, when Chinese began "snatching our pasturelands in a concerted way over the years, like inch by inch." He cited an example of a vast winter pastureland known as Kakjung, close to the Indus river. "For the past four years it's a no-go-zone for us. They [Chinese] have taken full control of it," he said. ___ By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press reporters in Beijing contributed to this report. Image: In this July 21, 2007, file photo, an elderly man belonging to the Changpa, the nomadic herders who rear the Pashmina goats, holds his Himalayan goat as his son cuts its horn that was hurting the animal's eye in Kharnak, some 185 kilometers (116 miles) from Leh, India. A months-long military standoff between India and China in 2020 has taken a dire toll on local communities as tens of thousands of Himalayan goat kids die because they couldn't reach traditional winter grazing lands, officials and residents said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.