Encroaching on Egypt's waters EGYPT said on Saturday that Turkish seismic survey plans in the eastern Mediterranean could encroach on Egyptian waters where Cairo has exclusive rights. Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the survey overlaps with Egypt's exclusive economic zone, constituting “a violation and an attack on our sovereign rights”. It did not give details but said the potential encroachment came under point eight of the Turkish advisory issued last month. Seismic surveys are part of preparatory work for potential hydrocarbons exploration. The announcement of the survey escalated tension between Turkey on one side and Greece and Cyprus on the other, amid conflicting claims to offshore hydrocarbon resources. Egypt is a regional rival of Turkey and has close relations with Greece and Cyprus.
Reopening churches EGYPT's Coptic Orthodox Church announced on Saturday that its churches gradually reopened starting on Monday after a closure of nearly four months in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Starting 3 August, churches were allowed to hold masses, prayers and funerals with no more than one individual on every bench in the church. “Masses can be performed every day except on Fridays”, a statement by the Church said. Funeral prayers of those who died from the coronavirus will be held at burial sites, not in churches, to preserve general health, the statement noted. The Church said the decision to gradually reopen churches came after the decrease in the rate of virus deaths and infections during the past few weeks.
Exam results FINAL results of this year's high school exams (Thanaweya Amma) are expected to be announced 6 August, head of the high school exams department and deputy education minister, Reda Hegazi, said. More than 650,000 high school students sat for exams from 21 June to 21 July amid strict precautionary measures to rein in the spread of the coronavirus. Thanaweya Amma exams were postponed for two weeks over the coronavirus outbreak. Calls to replace exams with an online research project were rejected by Education Minister Tarek Shawki. The minister, however, offered students the option of delaying taking the exams to the next academic year. Thanaweya Amma grades determine which universities and faculties students enter.
Expat assaults THE MINISTRY of Manpower said on Sunday that an Egyptian national was shot dead in Jordan by a Jordanian citizen. The incident is the latest in a series of assaults on Egyptians in other Arab countries. According to a statement by the ministry, a 30-year-old Egyptian, Amir Samir Ibrahim, was shot and killed by a Jordanian in a neighbourhood in Amman. The ministry said the shooter was arrested but did not provide further details. The Egyptian ambassador in Amman is currently in contact with Jordanian authorities to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting. The incident took place just one week after two Egyptian workers were shot dead by a Saudi citizen at the site of one of his construction projects. The Saudi assailant turned himself in to the police and confessed to the shooting. The shooting in Saudi Arabia came a few days after Kuwaiti authorities arrested a Kuwaiti citizen for assaulting an Egyptian expat working as a cashier in a store in Kuwait. A two-minute video that went viral on social media showed the Kuwaiti man slapping the Egyptian worker three times before other store workers and customers intervened on the expat's behalf.
Zamalek building evacuated RESIDENTS of a landmark 12-storey building in Brazil Street in the Zamalek district were forced to evacuate their homes last week after the ground started sinking, causing the building to lean. Deep cracks in the building's pillars also started to appear. The front yard and fence of the adjacent Bahraini Embassy were also affected. Some people blamed the ongoing construction works in the neighbourhood to extend the Cairo underground's third line for the incident. Zamalek residents have been opposing the construction of an underground metro station in their district, deeming the construction as a threat to the safety of old buildings. The Egyptian National Authority for Tunnels denied that the land subsidence was the result of the metro's construction. Specialised engineering teams were dispatched to the location to evaluate the situation and study ways to maintain the safety of the building. Transport Minister Kamel Al-Wazir said on television that residents were given LE30,000 each as compensation to help them find temporary residences for one month until they return to their apartments once repair work on the building is completed.
Doctor of the poor dies MOHAMED Mashali, better known as “the doctor of the poor”, died last week at the age of 76. The cause of death was a sudden drop in blood pressure. Since he started his medical career, Mashali treated patients for a markedly low fee. He was keen on treating poor patients for free. Mashali was buried in his home village in Itay Al-Baroud, in the Beheira governorate, with family members and friends attending the funeral. Mashali studied at Qasr Al-Eini's Faculty of Medicine, specialising in internal medicine and infectious diseases. In 1975, he opened a clinic in Gharbiya, charging just LE5 for a medical examination. He did not accept donations, asking donors to allocate such sums for the homeless, orphans and the needy. Following his death, hundreds of posts on social media paid tribute to Mashali. Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb mourned Mashali, praising the doctor as a symbol of humanity.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 6 August, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
