The Menoufia accident continued to dominate the airwaves last night with El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 3:20) and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 8:49) both giving it screentime. El Hekaya’s correspondent revealed five other accidents occurred on the same road where last week’s fatal crash took place yesterday morning alone. Meanwhile, cabinet spokesperson Mohamed El Homsani told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal that the Transport Ministry would “accelerate timelines and secure the needed resources to finish road maintenance as soon as possible.”

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

El Wazir promises rapid fixes: Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir pledged urgent action to overhaul the regional ring road where the accident occurred, according to a ministry statement. El Wazir ordered his deputy to oversee a full upgrade of the entire 400 km route and instructed the Roads and Bridges Authority to increase safety measures day and night and coordinate with the Interior Ministry to drug test truck and microbus drivers nationwide.

ALSO ON THE AIRWAVES- Regional diplomacy in focus: Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed regional developments with Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 2:01), noting that the conditions for reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza are “more favorable now” as international actors, especially the US, increasingly recognize Egypt’s view that all regional issues are interconnected and that true security requires solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Abdelaaty said the current agreement under discussion includes a first phase featuring a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages and the entry of humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza, with hopes this will pave the way to implementing the second phase of the January agreement and a sustained ceasefire.

Tags: