Journalists released BUSINESS news company owner Mustafa Saqr and journalists Islam Al-Kalhi and Hassan Al-Qabbani were released on Monday after spending between six and 18 months in detention. Saqr, Al-Kalhi and Al-Qabbani returned home after the state security prosecution granted them conditional release pending further investigations. The three face charges of joining a banned terrorist group, misusing social media and spreading false news. Saqr was arrested in April 2020 on charges of joining a banned terrorist group. Al-Kalhi was arrested in September 2020 while covering the Monib protests following the death of a 26-year-old detainee in police custody. In accordance with probationary measures that came with his release, Al-Kalhi will remain under house arrest until the possible renewal of a new period of detention. Al-Qabbani, detained in November 2019, will also be under house arrest as part of his probation. Releasing the three was viewed as a positive step that could be followed by releasing others, especially after Press Syndicate Chairman Diaa Rashwan promised on his Facebook page that there would be "good news related to our detained colleagues". Rashwan is running for another term in polls that were delayed until 19 March after failing to meet the required legal quorum for turnout. Rashwan denied the release had any connection with the timing of the polls, stressing that his efforts to release detained journalists had not stopped during the past two years, naming some of those who were released during his term in office.
$440 million for railways THE WORLD Bank's board of executive directors has approved a railways loan to Egypt worth $440 million. The loan will improve the safety and the quality of service of the railways, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat announced on Saturday. The Egyptian National Railway Authority contributed to the project with $241 million. In the last several years, the railway sector has faced multiple obstacles that necessitated quick reform in operation, maintenance and customer service. The loan will focus on modernising the signalling system for the Cairo-Giza-Beni Sweif line of the railway network. The money will also introduce an upgraded safety management system to improve safety procedures for passengers and workers. "We are keen and committed to support this vital sector which provides services especially to low-income citizens," said Marina Wes, World Bank country director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti.
Egyptian surgeon honoured in UK EGYPTIAN surgeon Ahmed Al-Shawadfi has been nominated by the UK Ministry of Health for the British Society for Organ Transplantation Award in recognition of his work in the UK where he has transplanted organs from deceased donors to patients still alive. The award is granted every two years to honour the best doctors in the UK. Before working in Britain, Al-Shawadfi taught for six years at the Department of Liver Institute in Menoufiya University. Talking to Al-Hayat Al-Youm talk show, Al-Shawadfi said he felt the award should go to the team that assisted him. The British Society for Organ Transplantation is one of the largest medical societies dedicated to the health of the digestive system and publishes the largest scientific journal of gastrointestinal endoscopes.
Shot in Saudi Arabia AN EGYPTIAN worker in Saudi Arabia was shot dead on 5 March by a Saudi national who also shot the victim's nephew following an altercation over a fee for loading vegetables. The victim, Ashri Mohamed Hassan Moawad, worked in Al-Owais markets in Riyadh. From Minya governorate in Upper Egypt, Moawad died before reaching hospital. The victim's nephew is currently receiving treatment in a hospital in the Saudi capital. Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates' Affairs Nabila Makram contacted the Egyptian embassy and consulate in Riyadh where legal details are being followed up. Makram stressed confidence in the progress of the investigation and the legal procedures in Saudi Arabia.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 11 March, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
