Police in el-Qaliubia Governorate have arrested a gang of six men whom they caught stealing pylon sections ready for assembly from a power station on the outskirts of Mostorod near Shubra el-Kheima. At least they ran no danger of being electrocuted as the pylons hadn't yet been erected and wired up. (Al-Akhbar) Squeeze the cheese Detectives have arrested a former convict who tried to smuggle hallucinogenic pills to his friend who was banged up in el-Sharabia Police Station near Ramses. Mahmoud (27), who's done time for theft, turned up to visit his pal, who was suspected of drug offences. He'd brought a plastic bag with him, inside which was a carton of juice and a packet of cheese. Officers were suspicious of the soft white cheese and gave it a good squeeze, only to feel lumpy bits inside. They then discovered lots of pills. The idea was for Mohamed's friend to sell them to his fellow inmates, rather than get as high as a kite on them himself. (Al-Messa) In dread of a demolition Two brothers killed a woman who wouldn't let them drive past her home in their tractor. Their victim, a housewife called Rateeba Abdel-Karim from the village of el-Kosheh near Dar el-Salam in Sohag Governorate, died of her injuries in Dar el-Salam Central Hospital. Her killers, farmers Atef and Mohamed Asr, have been arrested. Rateeba refused to let them drive past her house, because she was afraid that they would demolish the wall round her property. The brother driving the tractor ran her over, while the other one jumped down off the vehicle and beat her with a blunt instrument. (Al-Wafd) Skulls in the suitcase We've all heard the expression skeletons in the cupboard, but what about skulls in the suitcase? This is what customs officials found in the luggage of a French passenger who'd just arrived at Cairo International Airport, having just flow in from Paris. The skulls were confiscated and, after questioning, the Frenchman was allowed into the country. (The Frenchman was questioned, not the skulls). (Al-Akhbar) The workers must have their tea On the very same day the skulls were confiscated, there was a fire in a caravan belonging to a contracting company doing some work at Cairo International Airport. Thankfully, no-one was hurt in the fire in the caravan, located behind the M?venpick Hotel, which was brought under control by firefighters from the Civil Defence Forces. The blaze was due to an electrical fault, caused when one of the workers, wanting to make some tea, inadvertently left the electric kettle on without any water in. (Al-Gomhuria) Walkie-talkies go for a walk Our third airport incident involves an Israeli man, who was about to fly home to Tel Aviv with Israel's national carrier. When customs officials searched the luggage of Ramak Shaul, a 49-year-old tour guide, they were surprised to find five unlicensed walkie-talkies and a telephone belonging to Egypt's Communications Authority, as well as four chargers for the walkie-talkies and one for the telephone. Ramak was arrested and, in the presence of the Israeli Consul, he told the Nozha Prosecutor that he'd come to Cairo as the guide for a group of tourists visiting el-Farafra Oasis and that he'd used the walkie-talkies in the course of his work. The suspect has been released on bail. (Al-Messa) Versatile vet The Ministry of Health has closed down a private veterinary clinic in el-Rehab City and referred its director and some of his staff to the Prosecutor. The director is suspected of treating people, not animals, with hepatitis C and cancer. He also made drugs for treating these patients, without getting the necessary permit from the Ministry of Health, according to Dr Saad el-Meghrabi, First Deputy in the Ministry of Health for Private-Sector Therapeutic Institutions. Dr Saad said that the suspects were rounded up as part of a continual campaign waged by the Ministry of Health against the illicit practices of certain private clinics. He added that the suspected vet had provided three other physicians with medicines that he had made. Their clinics – all located in Giza – have also been shut down. (Al-Akhbar) Flirting in the bread queue An unemployed man opened fire on a worker in the queue for bread outside a governmental bakery in Shubra el-Kheima, hitting and injuring the latter and another man who just happened to be passing by at the time. The gunman was angry with the worker, because he had been flirting with his sister. The worker, 30-year-old Kamal Ibrahim, and the passerby, a 45-year-old civil servant called Hamdi Kamel, were taken to Nasser General Hospital for treatment, while their attacker was arrested. The jobless gunman, 20-year-old Mahmoud Mahran, was arrested and his weapon confiscated. We normally associate violence in queues for bread with frayed tempers when someone pushes in or the baker says that he's run out after people have been queueing for hours in the hot sun. But pretty young girls sometimes get molested, especially when the queue turns into a throng and, in the press of people, they often cannot tell who has groped her. (Al-Wafd) Watery violence A young man from Abul Nomrus in 6th October Governorate has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Ibrahim Mohamed, a street salesman, tried to kill one of his neighbours, Essam Abdullah, a car spares dealer. Ibrahim shot him but he survived. It all started when Ramadan, Essam's brother, was washing his car outside his home and he got into an argument with Ibrahim and his father, because some of the water trickled down the path and into the flat of the suspect's father. He and his son started arguing with him and it began to get nasty. Ibrahim rushed indoors and came back with his shotgun, with which he tried to blast Ramadan. He missed, hitting his brother, Essam, who was standing nearby, in the stomach instead. He was taken to Om el-Masriyeen General Hospital for treatment, while Ibrahim has been arrested. (Al-Messa) A little something There was drama in the Bahteem district of Shubra el-Kheima when a coffee shop owner was caught with his pants down with a lady who wasn't his wife in the flat where the latter lives with her husband. The suspect managed to flee, but the neighbours and the lady's husband, chased him, naked, down the street, caught him and handed him over to the police. The streaker had been in bed with the woman, when they were rudely disturbed by her husband coming home earlier than usual. The waiter rented one of the ground floor flats in the same building from the woman's husband and used it as a coffee shop. After work each night, he'd pop up to their flat, while her husband was still out working. The neighbours began to notice that these nocturnal visits were rather lengthy and that proved to be 41-year-old Mohamed Ahmed's downfall. Before it all came to an end, he'd been in the habit of giving her a little something towards the monthly rent every evening and a little something else too… (Al-Wafd) Safia's story “When I had my first crisis, I went to see the doctor. He told me I needed a heart operation and a couple of stents inserted into my coronary arteries. But of course the problem was the money," says Safia Mohamed, a poor woman of small stature in her sixties, as she recalls her saga trying to get treatment at State expense. "I was told I could have the operation at a hospital in Helwan. It would cost LE6,000. The State would pay half and charitable people the rest. So I had the operation, but then the company I worked for said I wasn't strong enough to work for them anymore. So I started going to the court in Giza, making tea for people working there or attending trials, as well as running errands for them like making photocopies. "But the medication I needed cost LE250 every fortnight. I also needed to go and see a doctor but an appointment these days costs LE50. I still felt ill, so I decided to apply for more treatment at State expense. This time, I was told to provide a birth certificate. I went to the Dar el-Mahfouzaat [Governorate House] near the Citadel to get a copy of my certificate, but they told me that it had got burnt in a fire," she says. Safia's problems really started thirty years ago, when her husband died, leaving her with their six children to bring up, two girls and four boys. The eldest was only seven years old. Her husband worked as a builder and she was widowed when he fell to his death from some scaffolding. Safia got some compensation from her late husband's boss, but she soon spent it all on food for all those hungry babies. Loyal to her dear husband's memory, Safia, like many widows originally from the countryside, didn't want to remarry. Her job as a cleaner with the company only earned her LE135 per month, hardly enough to rent their humble home on Dahab Island near Maadi. Life has become so expensive and difficult for her, even though her two daughters have got married and four sons are working. Her children have so little money themselves, that they can't help their mother. They really need money from her. Safia's sons are unable to get married because they can't afford it. The problems of treatment at State expense have been discussed at length in the past few weeks. Basically, the Government wants to reduce the free treatment it gives to patients; as it is, the free treatment doesn't go far enough, and in a lot of cases it's not the most needy – poor, kindhearted, patient people like Safia, whose faith in God sustains them – who benefit. (Al-Masry Al-Youm)
