Wheat for gas
The governments of Egypt and Ukraine are negotiating to reach a deal to exchange Ukrainian wheat for Egyptian natural gas which will be exported through a pipeline that passes through Syria and Turkey to the Balkans, Valerie Grygorash, head of Ukraine’s trade mission in Egypt, said. High wheat prices have strained
Prison riot
At least 25 men were injured in clashes between warders and prisoners in Assiut last Monday after one prisoner died in solitary confinement, the government said. The death of the prisoner, named by the Interior Ministry as Ali Mohamed Abdel-Salam, led to uproar among the other prisoners, who took three officers hostage and seized their weapons, police sources added. Clashes continued inside the prison building for several hours with Police using tear gas and live ammunition to subdue the prisoners and restore control. The injured included 21 prisoners and four warders. Police sources said earlier that the clashes began when a group of armed men attacked the prison from outside and managed to take weapons into the building, apparently as part of an attempt to free prisoners. Those sources also named the dead man as Hani Rifaat Ghandour, rather than Ali Abdel Salam. But the Interior Ministry said in a statement the incident began with a brawl between four prisoners armed with table cutlery. Police intervened to separate them and decided to punish them with 48 hours in solitary confinement. Abdel-Salam died while undergoing the punishment and a rumour spread among the prisoners that he died because an officer assaulted him.
Food aid
The Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with Africa (EFTCA) is sending urgent food aid to countries of the Horn of Africa and the
Sentences for cheats
A Minya court last Monday handed 14 officials and parents prison sentences for up to 15 years for involvement in leaking Thanawiya Amma or secondary school certificate examinations in a scandal that rocked the country. The exams determine a person’s future in as far as it is the key to enrolment in Egyptian universities. The court found the accused guilty of “having organised leaks, which damaged the principle of equal opportunity between students,” in the English Language and Maths exams. Ezzat Khalil Mansour, head of Minya’s Examinations Committee, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and dismissed from his job. His friend Ayman Rabie got a 10-year prison sentence for having bought the exam papers for EGP300 ($55) and subsequently selling them. Other defendants included a policeman, a headmaster, and parents who bought the leaked exam papers were sentenced to three to five years in prison and fined.
Third line
The go-ahead for the operation of the giant driller tasked with carrying out the first stage of the third
Czech garden