Shoukri attends anti-IS conference FOREIGN Minister Sameh Shoukri met US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference held by the US-led coalition formed to fight the militant group Islamic State (IS). Prior to their meeting in Washington, Shoukri reiterated Egypt's key role in battling the “terrorist” group IS, reported Egypt's state news agency MENA. “Egypt knows the challenges IS poses not only in the region but in the whole world,” he said. “Egypt also appreciates the ties with the United States [that have existed for] over four decades.” Several defence ministers from countries participating in military strikes against the group in Syria and Iraq also took part in the summit along with the foreign ministers of the anti-IS group alliance. Egypt is a major supporter of the coalition against the IS group. Kerry urged members of the coalition to increase information-sharing and get more creative in the fight against IS, as the group seeks to boost recruitment by adopting new languages and moving into new areas, Reuters reported. Kerry said the coalition was making progress in fighting IS and that the number of the group's fighters were estimated to be down by about one-third. A victory in liberating the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from IS would mark “a critical turning point” in the fight, he said. But further efforts were needed, Kerry told about 30 defence and foreign ministers in Washington who gathered to discuss the effort. For instance, he said, it was critical to break down structural barriers to allow more sharing of information about threats posed by the group.
Explosion in North Sinai AN EXPLOSION hit an armoured personnel carrier, injuring three policemen in North Sinai's Arish on Monday. The vehicle was rocked by a roadside bomb, sources and eyewitnesses told the press. Egypt's army has been fighting a militant insurgency in North Sinai that has killed hundreds of security forces. A state of emergency that was originally imposed in specific areas of North Sinai in August 2013 has been extended for another three months starting 29 July.
Security official dies in car crash CAIRO's provincial security official General Gamal Said died in a car crash Saturday en route from the North Coast to the capital. Said's vehicle crashed on the Alamein Road while he was returning to Cairo after his summer vacation. Details of the accident are still unclear. Said, whose position is directly below Cairo's security director, was also an aide to the interior minister. Deadly road crashes take place on a near daily basis in Egypt, notorious for poor road safety, badly maintained infrastructure, and loosely enforced traffic regulations. The country's Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said in December that over 2,800 people were killed in road and train crashes in Egypt in the first half of 2015.
Minors engaged TWO children from Daqahlia governorate no more than 12 years old were engaged last week. Controversy erupted following the circulation of engagement photos of the couple on social media, drawing attention to the under-reported phenomenon of child marriage in Egypt. A member of the Egyptian Coalition for Children's Rights (ECCR) Hani Hilal said the incident is two crimes in one, according to Egypt's penal code. The first is informal child marriage and the second is the exploitation of children. Hilal added that the parents might face a fine that ranges from LE50,000 to LE200,000 and a minimum prison sentence of five years. “The current laws are not being applied because the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood is operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Solidarity. It should be an independent institution that operates directly under the supervision of the prime minister,” Hilal said. He added that Dar Al-Ifta, the authority for religious verdicts in Egypt, does not have a unified opinion regarding the verdict on child marriage. This allows preachers in remote areas and Upper Egypt to claim that child marriage is acceptable. In response to the incident, MP Aneesa Hassouna filed an urgent statement to Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and the ministers of social solidarity, religious endowments and interior about the marriage of minors in Egypt.
