Egypt jails 21 girls over pro-Morsi demonstration

November 28, 2013

girls

Cairo, Nov 28: A court in Egypt has sentenced 21 female supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi to 11 years in prison.

They were found guilty of multiple charges, including belonging to a terrorist group, obstructing traffic, sabotage and using force at a protest in the city of Alexandria last month.

Seven are under 18 years of age and will be sent to a juvenile prison.

Human rights groups criticised the sentences, with one campaigner describing the verdict as madness.

The women and girls had taken part in an early morning demonstration in support of Mr Morsi.

Relatives say it was the first protest by the group, called the 7am movement, and that it was peaceful.

One family told the BBC their 15-year-old daughter was only passing by on her way to school.

A defence lawyer said the women expected to be sentenced to a month in jail at most.

But the BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo says that instead they have been given longer jail terms than police convicted of killing or seriously injuring civilians.

The court also sentenced six Muslim Brotherhood leaders to 15 years in prison for inciting the protest.

One report said the men had been tried in absentia.

The verdicts come after the arrest of dozens of secular activists in Cairo, including another group of women who say they were beaten, harassed and left stranded in the desert.

They were demonstrating against a stringent new law which all but bans public protests, part of a crackdown the interim authorities have portrayed as a struggle against "terrorism".

Also some 17 clerics linked to the Islamist movement to which Mr Morsi belongs were arrested in the Nile Delta town of Gharbiya, the state news agency Mena reported.

They are accused of using mosques and sermons to incite unrest against the army and police.

Mena also said that eight people would be put on trial on charges of abducting and torturing a lawyer during the 2011 uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.

The defendants include Mahmoud al-Khodeiry, a former judge close to the Brotherhood, Osama Yassin, who served as youth minister under Mr Morsi, and Ahmed Mansour, a presenter for al-Jazeera television.

Hundreds of people have also been killed in clashes since security forces cleared two sit-ins in Cairo by people demanding Mr Morsi's reinstatement in August.

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KT
April 16,2020

Dubai, Apr 16: Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO), unveiled a series of outdoor ads that form part of its new campaign to encourage the community to stay home.

Featuring the slogan 'For My Sake #StayHome for Us', the campaign depicts stunning artwork developed in collaboration with Emirati artist Maitha Demithan. The ads have been displayed on billboards, lamp posts and digital screens across Dubai.

The campaign reinforces the importance of staying at home in line with the strict restrictions on movement put in place by Dubai's Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management as part of intensified measures to combat Covid-19.

Nehal Badri, Director of Brand Dubai, said: "The outdoor campaign, displayed in prominent locations across Dubai, was designed to illustrate the importance of staying at home during the current sensitive period. Using Maitha Demithan's stunning creative artwork, we sought to send out a clear message to the community that staying at home is vital to safeguard the wellbeing of our loved ones. 

This project is one of a series of initiatives launched in collaboration with UAE-based artists to raise awareness about the need to unite efforts to protect vulnerable people from the risk of infection."

Emirati artist Maitha Demithan said: "It has been a privilege for me to work on this project and an honour to serve my country through my artworks. The three portraits featured in the campaign create a triptych that represents the people who are the most vulnerable to being infected by the virus. During such difficult times, art can play a crucial role in raising awareness on how to stay safe, but most importantly it can keep everyone inspired. I encourage all my fellow artists and the creative community to continue practicing social distancing and stay connected by using their creativity and innovation to raise awareness during this period."

Brand Dubai partnered with several media outlets, including Media 24/7, Arabian Outdoor Media and Hypermedia to launch the outdoor ads. The ads are displayed on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Marina.

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Agencies
July 22,2020

Riyadh, Jul 22: Saudi King Salman held a cabinet meeting via video call from hospital in the capital Riyadh on Tuesday, a day after the 84-year-old monarch was admitted with inflammation of the gall bladder.

Three Saudi sources said the king was in stable condition.

A video of the king chairing the meeting was broadcast on Saudi state TV on Tuesday evening. In the video, which has no sound, King Salman can be seen behind a desk, wordlessly reading and leafing through documents.

The king, who has ruled the world’s largest oil exporter and close US ally since 2015, was undergoing medical checks, state media on Monday cited a Royal Court statement as saying.

Three well-connnected Saudi sources who declined to be identified, two of whom were speaking late on Monday and one on Tuesday, said the king was “fine”.

An official in the region, who requested anonymity, said he spoke to one of King Salman’s sons on Monday who seemed “calm” and that there was no sense of panic about the monarch’s health.

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Agencies
June 22,2020

Riyadh, Jun 22: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MMRA) in Saudi Arabia has announced the continuation of the ban on providing Shisha (hubble-bubble), and the closure of children's play areas in restaurants as a precautionary measure for protecting the health of citizens and residents from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 infection.

The new stage, in which the Kingdom is beginning to coexist with the virus, focuses on the concept of "social distancing" that has emerged since the start of the coronavirus crisis throughout the world,

It stipulates leaving at least 2 meters between one person and the other in public places to prevent the transmission of infection, in addition to covering the mouth and nose by wearing a facemask.

It also specifies complying with the preventive protocols in workplaces, stores, shops, mosques and tourist attractions, with human gatherings not to exceed 50 people, as a maximum.

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