France 24 Recent spate of violence against Egypt's Christians goes largely unpunished Violence against Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christian minority, one of the largest and oldest groups of Christians in the Middle East, has escalated at an alarming rate in the last several weeks, with little official response. Since late May, Christians in Egypt have been the victims of at least a dozen sectarian attacks, and activists and politicians say the government has done little to stop it, despite Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi's early overtures to the Coptic community and their staunch support of him. "It is escalating in a very short time," said Mina Thabet, programme director for minorities and vulnerable groups with the Egyptian Commission of Rights and Freedoms. Among the assaults was one in late May on an elderly Coptic woman in Minya, who was stripped, beaten and paraded naked because of a rumour that her son was having a relationship with a Muslim woman. Seven homes in the town were set ablaze. Victims said the police response was late and insufficient. Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20160723-recent-spate-violence-against-egypts-christians-goes-largely-unpunished The Telegraph Solar plane takes off from Egypt on final leg of world tour An aircraft powered by solar energy left Egypt on Sunday on the last leg of the first ever fuel-free flight around the globe. Solar Impulse 2, a spindly single-seat plane, took off from Cairo in darkness en route to Abu Dhabi, its final destination, with a flight expected to take between 48 and 72 hours. The plane, which began its journey in Abu Dhabi in March 2015, has been piloted in turns by Swiss aviators André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies. Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/24/solar-plane-takes-off-from-egypt-on-final-leg-of-world-tour/ The Times of Israel 12-year-old boy ‘marries' girl, 10, in Egypt A 12-year-old boy was married to his bride, 10, in Egypt over the weekend in a ceremony that was allegedly arranged because the groom's father wanted to raise some money. Fares al-Saaed, the groom, was wedded to Nancy, in a ceremony in the village of El-Maasara, northeast of Cairo in the Dakahlia governorate, the Egypt Independent reported on Saturday. A photograph of the event, showing the groom in a suit and tie holding hands with his bride, in a flowing pink dress, was published by Egyptian media. According to the report, the couple has been dubbed "the youngest bride and groom in the world" by locals, although they only signed unofficial papers and the marriage is not recognized by law. Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/12-year-old-boy-marries-girl-10-in-egypt/
