Train manslaughter charge THE GENERAL Prosecution on Saturday referred a train conductor to an extraordinary criminal trial on charges of manslaughter after he forced two young men to jump out of a moving train, causing the death of one and serious injury of the other. A prosecution statement said an investigation found that the defendant Magdi Ibrahim intended to harm the victims. The incident began with a quarrel with the conductor after two street vendors, Mohamed Eid, 23, and Ahmed Samir, 25, could not afford paying for the ride. After they told the conductor they had no money Ibrahim forced Eid and Samir to jump out of the train. The conductor confessed to forcing the two out of the train. However, he has pleaded not guilty before the prosecution. Videos of the argument between the conductor and the vendors as well as videos taken by eyewitnesses recounting the incident went viral on social media. The videos featured eyewitnesses asserting that they saw the conductor kicking the two men out of the train while it was moving.
Speeding up healthcare THE GOVERNMENT is speeding up the implementation of a universal healthcare system. The system, launched as a pilot project in the coastal governorate of Port Said in September, is scheduled to cover all of Egypt's governorates by 2032 in six phases. Steps have been taken to roll out the system earlier than scheduled in the first stage governorates, which include Luxor, South Sinai, Ismailia, Suez and Aswan. Health Minister Hala Zayed said that a plan to upgrade 42 public hospitals and 246 health units in these governorates is being carried out. In the first stage 500,000 people have been registered. Members of parliament have been pressing for speeding up measures that would guarantee a quicker implementation of the system in the rest of Egypt's governorates, especially those most in need.
Women's health, take two THE SECOND phase of the presidency-initiated programme on women's health kicked off on Saturday in Cairo. The programme provides free tests for the early detection of breast tumours, measuring blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass in hospitals and health units. The first phase started in July in nine governorates. Alongside Cairo, the second phase will cover the governorates of North Sinai, the Red Sea, Ismailia, Suez, Kafr Al-Sheikh, Menoufiya, Beni Sweif, Sohag, Luxor and Aswan. The initiative aims at reaching 28 million women annually. It targets women above the age of 18 and will focus on reproductive health, non-communicable disease and tumours, especially breast cancer.
Electric vehicles coming IN COLLABORATION with China's Foton Company, the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production is set to build electric mini-cars, dubbed E-Motion cars, Minister of Military Production Mohamed Al-Assar announced last week. During a ceremony held to celebrate Egypt's first two manufactured electric buses, Al-Assar also announced a new plan to broaden the manufacturing of electric buses in Egypt in partnership with Foton. The electric mini-car will be released in two editions. The first can carry four passengers while the second holds three people. The ministry said the cost of the E-Motion cars is affordable but no figures have been released.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 November, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
