In brief: Morsi’s wife tells backers to keep up their protest
Cairo – The wife of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi told thousands of his supporters Thursday to remain defiant in the face of the military-backed government’s warnings that security forces will clear the ongoing protests, promising her husband “is coming back, God willing.”
Naglaa Mahmoud made her first appearance since the July 3 military coup, which followed mass rallies demanding her husband’s removal from office. He’s been held by military authorities since then. Showing up on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid el-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, appeared aimed at galvanizing support after the group fell from power after just one year of Morsi’s rule.
Reports say crews looted Nairobi airport during fire
Nairobi, Kenya – As Kenya struggled to contain the economic damage of an inferno at Nairobi’s airport, embarrassing reports emerged Thursday that members of emergency crews looted the deserted building as it blazed.
Kenya’s NTV reported that foreign exchange bureaus at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi had been broken into and robbed during and after the fire. News agencies said ATMs and a safe also were targets of looters.
The revelations raised the prospect that the blaze could have been contained more quickly and damage minimized had emergency response teams been more focused on putting out the fire.
The blaze began at dawn Wednesday and roared through the main airport terminal, destroying it.
News of the looting came as Kenyans were smarting over the slow response by firefighters. Kenyan newspapers ran front-page photographs of security officials responding to the blaze with plastic buckets. Others tried to fight the fire with handheld fire extinguishers, according to local news reports.
Kenyan officials rushed to get the airport functioning fully once more, and announced Thursday that full operations would resume at midnight, including international flights.
A team of detectives examined the airport building and interviewed overnight staff members to try to determine the cause of the fire. Kenyan news media aired various theories on the cause: an electrical wiring fault, sabotage or an effort to destroy evidence by immigration officials running a racket to allow people into the country illegally.