The Guardian Egyptian groom springs IS kidnap prank on bride The threat that Islamic State (IS) poses to Egypt has become ever more apparent in recent weeks. Isis's murder of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya last month, as well as the killing of at least 30 soldiers by an Isis-affiliate in Egypt's north Sinai desert, made the group's once-distant terror seem much closer to home. But while fear is a common response for many, one Egyptian wanted to laugh in the face of adversity. And he decided his own wedding was the best forum in which to do so. In an attempt to surprise his bride and their guests, Ahmed Shehata, a 25-year-old medical graduate, arranged for relatives to dress up as IS militants and pretend to kidnap his new wife at their wedding this week. To the soundtrack of the notorious IS anthem, masked men entered the wedding of Shaimaa Deif, a 23-year-old medical graduate, and strong-armed her and Shehata into a cage reminiscent of the one in which a Jordanian pilot was burned alive last month. Shehata's antics are among several attempts by Egyptians to use humour to undermine Isis's image. Others have uploaded Isis's anthem to YouTube, and overlaid it with incongruous footage, including that of old movie footage, belly-dancers, singing schoolchildren, and a gyrating news presenter. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/04/isis-terror-joke-egyptian-wedding-fake-kidnap The Wall Street Journal Egypt's Low-Burn Insurgency Islamic State and its jihadist allies are targeting Western-allied governments in the Middle East, and lately they've turned their bombs on Egypt. The low-burn insurgency there isn't an urgent threat to the Cairo government, but it needs watching and perhaps some American help to put down. A bomb planted under a car exploded near a Cairo courthouse on Monday, killing two people and maiming nine, according to the Egyptian government. Another bomb killed two in the southern city of Aswan on Sunday, and a similar wave of explosions rocked Giza last week. These are the latest of many attacks targeting the cities of the densely populated Nile Delta in a notable escalation of terrorism that had been mostly confined to the Sinai Peninsula. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/egypts-low-burn-insurgency-1425429029 The Irish Independent Sixteen injured in fire at Cairo convention center At least 16 people were injured when a large fire broke out at a convention center in a northeastern Cairo neighborhood, medical and security sources said. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Firefighters spent more than two hours battling the blaze, which state media said earlier had reached the main hall of the center. Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said 16 people were wounded in the fire. Interior Ministry spokesman Hani Abdellatif told state television the initial investigation showed the fire may have started in a closed office and spread through central air-conditioning vents. Read more: http://www.independent.ie/world-news/africa/sixteen-injured-in-fire-at-cairo-convention-centre-31040359.html
