In Egypt, 2 Die as Truck Slides off Ferry, Plunges into Nile

The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP
The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP
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In Egypt, 2 Die as Truck Slides off Ferry, Plunges into Nile

The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP
The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP

At least two people died and eight were still missing Tuesday after a small truck they were riding in slid off a ferry and plunged into the Nile River, said authorities in Egypt.

The accident happened just outside of Cairo on Monday, in the town of Monshat el-Kanater in Giza province, the office of the public prosecutor said in a statement.

The statement said the driver lost control of the truck while the unlicensed, rickety ferry was transporting it across the river. The truck was carrying 24 workers, including children, returning home from a farm where they worked, it said.

Fourteen were rescued, and rescue workers were still searching for the missing, it said.

Authorities have arrested the truck diver and three ferry workers, and were searching for the ferry's owner, the statement said.

Ferry, railway and road accidents are common in Egypt mainly because of poor maintenance and the lack of regulations.



Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.