Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
Traffic in Suez Canal resumes after stranded ship refloated
Shipping traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal resumed on Monday after a giant container ship which had been blocking the busy waterway for almost a week was refloated, the canal authority said. The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. Live footage on a local television station showed the ship surrounded by tug boats moving slowly in the centre of the canal on Monday afternoon. The station, ExtraNews, said the ship was moving at a speed of 1.5 knots. “Admiral Osama Rabie, the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), announces the resumption of maritime traffic in the Suez Canal after the Authority successfully rescues and ...
Egypt says plans railway lines extending to Libya, Sudan
Egypt’s transport minister Sunday announced proposals to construct a railway line to reach the Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa, and to extend a line in the north to Libya’s Benghazi. The announcement came as part of Egyptian government efforts to overhaul the country’s transport system, including an ailing railway network with a poor safety record. The government decided on “a number rail transport projects that could be carried out in cooperation with investors,” Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir told a news conference in Cairo. They include “building an Aswan-Toshka railway line that will extend to the city of Wadi Halfa in Sudan,” he said, referring to locations in Egypt’s south and a city just across the border. He also said there were plans to extend the Marsa Matrouh-Salloum line, in Egy...
Egypt’s army ‘rational’ among strongest in region – president
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that the Egyptian army is one of strongest in the region but it is “a rational army,” the Egyptian presidency said. Sisi’s remarks came during his inspection visit to the air forces combat units in the Western Military Zone, accompanied by the defense minister and the chief of staff, said Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady in a statement. The Egyptian president said that the Egyptian army “protects rather than threatens,” stressing that it is able to protect the country’s national security inside and outside the Egyptian borders, according to the statement. Egypt‘s Western Military Zone includes the borders with neighboring war-torn Libya, which has been mired in a civil war since late 2014. Get more stories like this on Twi...
Egypt editor detained outside Cairo jail
Egyptian security services on Sunday detained the editor-in-chief of prominent independent news outlet Mada Masr, its lawyer said, the latest in a crackdown against journalists. Lina Attallah was arrested outside Cairo’s Tora prison as she was interviewing rights activist Laila Soueif, mother of jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah who recently began a hunger strike. “The prison security guards asked Attallah to show her identification card and later called her in for an investigation that lasted three hours,” lawyer Hassan al-Azhari told AFP. He said she was later taken a police station and was expected to appear before the prosecution Monday morning, adding the reason for her arrest and charges remained unclear. Later on Sunday, Mada Masr tweeted that the prosecution ordered Attallah’s rele...
