Boosting ties A JOINT Egyptian-French aerial drill – the first of its kind involving French Rafale jets – has been successfully completed. The exercise was intended to bolster security and stability in the region, according to a statement issued by the armed forces. The drill included combat sorties and joint air operations defending vital targets and attacking hostile ones, as well as lectures on pre-flight tasks. The military exercise was watched by commander of the Egyptian Air Force Marshal Mohamed Abbas, the deputy French ambassador to Egypt and the French military attaché. 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Sentence upheld A MILITARY misdemeanour appeals court has upheld a five-year jail term against former Central Auditing Authority chief Hesham Geneina. Geneina received the sentence for spreading false news. Geneina's lawyers say they will appeal the judgement before the Military Court of Cassation. Geneina was arrested in February 2018 following an interview he gave to Huffpost Arabic. He told journalist Moataz Wadnan, who is now in detention, that former armed forces chief of staff Sami Anan kept documents abroad implicating senior regime officials in crimes. The armed forces accused Geneina of seeking to “sow doubts about the state at a time when it is engaged in a counterterrorism operation in North Sinai”. During the investigations Anan refuted Geneina's statements. Anan is serving a ten-year jail term for violating military regulations by announcing his intention to run in the 2018 presidential poll against President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. 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A journalist freed A GIZA misdemeanour court ordered the release of journalist Ahmed Gamal Zeida on LE 10,000 bail on Saturday. Zeida, who faces charges of publishing false news, was detained at Cairo International Airport on January 29 after arriving from Tunisia on a short visit to finish procedures for joining the Press Syndicate. Syndicate board member Amr Badr says Zeida's membership has been approved. Zeida was detained on 13 February pending investigations. 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Investing in education A GLOBAL forum for higher education and scientific research will be held at the new administrative capital from April 4 to 6. The forum will convene under the title “higher education and scientific research, between the present and the future” and address a number of important topics, including maximising the return on investment in higher education and scientific research, directing scientific research to serve sustainable development and ways to utilise technology to enhance the work of educational and research institutions. The forum will also include sessions on curriculum development and offers an opportunity for the exchange of international experience in the fields of education, scientific research and innovation. 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Banning Momo DAR AL-IFTAA, the Islamic institution for issuing fatwas, has released a statement warning against the Momo challenge, a social media game that has made headlines for reportedly driving children to suicide. Dar Al-Iftaa called upon concerned authorities to criminalise the game and urged parents to monitor what their children do online. The challenge, which is similar to the “Blue Whale” game, reportedly encourages children to harm their loved ones, put themselves in dangerous situations and even commit suicide. The game's logo, a distorted female face, is taken from a sculpture by Japanese artist Keisuke Aisawa who is unconnected to the game.
