What a load of rubbish The good people of Ezbet el-Noura in el-Khosous, Qaliubia Governorate are suffering from a huge mountain of rubbish that is growing ever higher, neatly filling the gap between two blocks of flats. El-Khosous Town Council has ignored the problem for years, while residents constantly complain of the rodents, insects and appalling smell. It's also a terrible fire hazard. Hussein Samir, one of the suffering residents, says that everyone dumps their rubbish on the mountain that has sprung up in the vacant lot between two buildings in Masgid el-Ansar Street, off el-Sheikh Mansour Street. Hussein, who says that the rubbish now reaches the level of the second-floor flats nearby, complains of the wild dogs that thrive on the garbage, terrorising passersby. "We've complained to the Town Council and also Qaliubia Governorate, but all to no avail. We asked an official on the Council to provide us with the name and address of the man who owns the land on which the trash has grown, but he never bothered to find out. "Months later, we eventually found out and gave the owner's details to the Council, but it's yet to take any action. Meanwhile, the garbage keeps on piling up, day by day. When will the Council and the Governorate actually do something? Only when someone gets killed or injured by the rubbish," says Hussein, who can now almost touch the rubbish from his balcony. (Al-Gomhuria) Burglary backfires A burglar sneaked into a three-storey villa in Ashmoun, el-Menoufia in the depths of the night and stole LE6,000 and a mobile phone from one of the bedrooms. He was about to leave, when a young woman living there woke up. He ran up onto the second floor and jumped out of a window. His fall was broken by a concrete stanchion with rebars sticking out of the top, part of a building under construction. In fact, one of the rebars went straight through his hand and he was left there dangling from the stanchion. The pain was excruciating and his agonised screams aroused the whole neighbourhood. An ambulance was summoned and the crew managed to unpin him. He was bleeding heavily and this one-handed crucifixion, if you can call it that, would have killed him if he'd stayed there much longer. The suspect, an ex-convict is now recovering in hospital, under police guard. (Akhbar Al-Youm) Not a bright idea If you think that it's not a bright idea to sell drugs outside court, then an unemployed teenager called Eid Sayyed would surely agree with you. Eid (19) was spotted by detectives trying to sell bango to suspects, who'd just been driven to North Giza Criminal Court from nearby prisons and police stations for their trials. Eid has been arrested. (Al-Massa'ia) When the cats are away When they went off to work that morning, they left their two daughters, aged four and seven, on their own in the flat. Left to their own devices, they decided to make a swing. They managed to sling a rope round the ceiling fan and then tied the two ends together and used a pillow as a seat. The younger daughter sat on the makeshift seat, while her big sister turned on the fan. It began to whiz round, swiftly wrapping the rope round the little girl's neck. A few minutes later, Dina Saleem had died of strangulation. When their parents got home from work, Dina's elder sister told them what had happened. The Prosecutor is looking into the case and the seven-year-old's story. Dina died so tragically in the family's flat in Senouris, Fayoum Governorate. (Al-Akhbar) Prospects for a great wedding The police were called by residents of Ezbet el-Hajj Khalil near Talkha, Daqahlia Governorate, when four men started arguing in a car parked in a street in the village. Officers arrested of them. The first three, all workers from Sherbeen, were named as el-Sayyed Farouq (24), Baher Ahmed (18) and Mansour Ahmed (26). They were angry with the fourth man in the car, Gaber Youssri (28), a wedding party organiser, whom they were trying to force some blank cheques. El-Sayyed was angry with Gaber because he'd become sexually involved with his (el-Sayyed's) sister, Shaheeda, as a result of which she was now pregnant. El-Sayyed rented the car from a showroom, as he thought it would be a suitable place to have a little chat with Gaber, in a bid to force him to marry Shaheeda. They told him that they were going to a wedding party in Sherbeen and asked him whether he'd like to join them. Gaber said yes and off they drove, stopping in the village, where the argument erupted because el-Sayyed's prospective brother-in-law refused to sign the cheques. The Mansoura Prosecutor is looking into the matter. If Gaber does the gentlemanly thing and decide to marry and take responsibility for Shaheeda and their unborn child, it should be a great bash – after all Gaber is a wedding party organiser. (Al-Massa'iya) A charming man “Help me Sheikh Rifae! Help me Sheikh Ali! Come to my aid!" says Am Khamees, as he tries to charm a snake out of someone's home in Sohag Governorate. Khamees Mohamed Ahmed, to give his full name, is Sohag's most famous snake charmer. Wherever he goes, this 50-year-old is followed by swarms of children, fascinated by this man who can charm snakes out of people's homes and wrap them round his arm with impunity. Am Khamees stresses that it's not a job that any Tom, Dick or Harry can do, as it's something he's inherited from his forefathers. Professor of Sociology at Sohag University Madiha Abada says that the profession of snake charmer is widespread in Upper Egypt, with most of its practitioners haling from the Ghagar and Nour tribes. Madiha says that the charmers make a lot of money without having to knock themselves up in the slightest. The Professor adds that these two tribes originated in Rumania and other countries. El-Ghagar were originally gypsies, hence the name (ghagar in Arabic means gypsies). When it comes to their lifestyle and their marriages, they have different customs from other Egyptians. Meanwhile, Dr Elia Aziz, head of Sohag University's Veterinary Department, says that the snakes you find in the fields and people's home in Upper Egypt are innocuous. The dangerous ones live in the mountains. He describes snake charmers as impostors. As for Abdel-Razeq Radwan, the headman in the village of Awlad Gabara near el-Aseerat in Sohag Governorate, he says that some of these characters are thieves – they charm the valuables out of people's homes, he claims. Abdel-Razeq also claims that the charmers sneak a snake into the house of someone who's called on their services, then emerge victorious, merely holding the serpent that was tucked under their galabia. Despite what Dr Elia says about snakes only being dangerous in the mountains, something that happened a few years ago would belie that. Am Khamees wrapped a snake around the neck of a woman in a village near el-Manshaat. The serpent bit her and she died. Am Khamees was arrested and sent down for 12 months by Sohag Criminal Court. Despite that setback, Am Khamees soon bounced back and he's still as charming as ever. (Al-Wafd) Bedawi and the burning bees Five homes and ten livestock pens in the village of el-Kharat (‘The Turner') near Tima in Sohag Governorate were destroyed in a blaze caused by the sparks from a blowtorch that the owner of an apiary was using to burn the wasps that were attacking his bees. The sparks ignited his beehives and swiftly spread to some nearby palm trees and from there to the homes and pens. Twelve fire engines fought the blaze and managed to extinguish it within three hours. The good news is that, despite the material damage, no-one was killed or injured in the incident. The beekeeper who accidentally set fire to his hives was named as Bedawi Mohamed (37). The apiculturist was caught out because it was a very hot day and a strong breeze blew the sparks onto the tinder-dry hives. (Al-Masry Al-Youm) A moral mobile message In two separate but similar cases, Boulaq Abul Ella Court of Misdemeanour has sentenced a woman and a kebab seller to a month in prison, having found them guilty of insulting people via their mobile phones. In the first case, a 33-year-old printer called Amir went to the police when the woman, his maternal cousin, Asmaa, started sending him obscene text messages. He couldn't understand why she should make all these sexually explicit comments. Some men might enjoy that sort of thing from a young lady, but obviously not our Amir. In the second incident, a 31-year-old lawyer called Ramadan went to the police when the kebab maker, Mohamed (also 31), started sending him insulting messages. (Thankfully there was nothing sexual about them). The kebabagi had taken on the lawyer to defend him in some cases filed against him, which involved Mohamed having to pay some fines. The lawyer did what was asked of him, but, some time later, Mohamed started sending him nasty messages. Again, Ramadan was baffled as to why. When arrested, Mohamed denied sending the text messages, but he did admit that he and Ramadan had argued, because he thought the lawyer was neglecting his work. Anyway, these two cases send a clear message – a moral, not an electronic one. (Al-Messa Al-Asbouiya) This week's medical negligence We move from legal negligence to medical negligence, with a worker called Gamal Mohamed accusing the Director of the Nile Health Insurance Hospital of negligence leading to the death of his wife. Howeida Ragag (31) was suffering from a number of complaints when she was admitted to the hospital in Shubra el-Kheima for treatment. She died there and it appears that medical negligence and lack of care were to blame. (Al-Messa) E-mail: [email protected]
