Egyptian X-Files: Why do trains crash in Giza’s Ayyat?

Once again, Egypt started the news cycle of the week with bad news that made headlines around the world.

Seven people were killed and 125 injured when two passenger trains collided in Giza’s Al-Ayyat district on Sunday, 8 November, in another deadly railway accident that has renewed questions about railway safety and operational oversight in Egypt.

The collision occurred between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations when passenger train No. 134, a Tahya Misr service travelling from Giza to Fayoum, struck the rear of stationary train No. 2010, which was travelling from Cairo to Aswan.

The impact caused several carriages to derail.

The trains' collision in Al-Ayyat last Sunday 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 72 ambulances were deployed to evacuate the casualties, while nearby hospitals in Al-Ayyat, Al-Wasta and Atfih received the injured and the bodies of those killed.

Preliminary findings by the Public Prosecution indicated that the driver of train No. 134, who died in the accident, had switched off the train’s automatic train control (ATC) system, while the station controller and stationmaster at Al-Raqqa station had allegedly failed to monitor the signalling control panel.

The prosecution ordered their detention pending investigations. It subsequently commissioned a committee of engineering professors from Cairo University to conduct a comprehensive technical examination of the railway's operating and safety systems, signalling equipment and the circumstances surrounding the collision.

Days at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo: The Yemeni sarcophagus

On the occasion of the renewed war between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, as well as Cairo's decision to send military troops to Saudi Arabia if requested — a controversial decision in itself — and the attempts to put diplomacy ahead of war, there is nothing better than sharing an amazing piece I came across at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo (EMC).

I visited the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in Tahrir Square in July 2023, after reading an announcement on the museum's official Facebook page that this artefact had been selected as its Piece of the Month.

It was a huge surprise to discover this piece at the museum in the first place, let alone in Egypt.

Warning: This was one of my worst artefact-photography experiences at the EMC. Aside from the reflective glass covering it, the sarcophagus was placed right at the entrance, facing the sun when I visited.

The artefact is a wooden sarcophagus belonging to an ancient Yemeni merchant who died in ancient Egypt.

More specifically, it is a wooden sarcophagus, without its lid, belonging to a Minaean merchant from the Kingdom of Ma'in.

Watch this interview: Dr Amani Al-Tawil on Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt

Watch this interview with Dr Amani Al-Tawil, a renowned Sudanese and African affairs expert, and Dr Rabab Al-Mahdy on the podcast El-Hal Eah? (“What is the Solution?”).

Aired last October, the podcast is produced by Alternative Policy Solutions (APS), a public policy research project at the American University in Cairo (AUC).

The interview is subtitled and dubbed in English.

It is long, substantial and absolutely loaded with insights.

Dr Al-Tawil is an expert on Sudanese affairs and director of the African Programme at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

She is also a member of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs and the board of the Center for Sudanese Studies at the Institute of African Research and Studies at Cairo University.

I won't exaggerate when I say she is one of the few genuine experts on African and Sudanese affairs.

I once read that, in another parallel Egypt, Dr Amani Al-Tawil would be our ambassador to Sudan.

And Egyptian Americans made it to Capitol Hill — in the loudest, most historic way!

4 November is a unique date in modern Egyptian history.

It was on this day in 1922 that a young Egyptian boy stumbled upon the first step of a staircase in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, leading to the rediscovery of a lost king who would become one of the most famous pharaohs in Egyptian and world history: King Tutankhamun.

It was also on this day in 2026 that Egyptian Americans made history, winning seats in the US Capitol in one of the most important and controversial elections of the 21st century in the United States.

US voters elected Democrat Dr Abdelrahman El-Sayed to represent Michigan in the US Senate. El-Sayed made history as the first Muslim and the first American of Egyptian origin to become a US senator, after standing his ground and even firing back at the US president himself.

US voters also elected Democrat Dr Adam El-Hamawy to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District. El-Hamawy is the first American of Egyptian origin ever elected to the US House of Representatives.

El-Sayed secured more than 2.5 million votes, winning 52.5 per cent of the vote against Republican Mike Rogers, who received 45.5 per cent.

I don't care what is said about Abdul, but it is enough for me that he reportedly made AIPAC spend between $22 million and $32 million trying to defeat him, whether in the Democratic primaries or the midterm elections.

I don't understand why or how, because, realistically speaking, it will take more than Abdul to stop the United States' blind support for Israel.

Watch: Our Badawy visits Iran and Hormuz during the war — and it is not what you imagine.

Before Trump nukes Iran or the Democrats, whichever comes first!

Egyptian travel vlogger Ahmed Badawy’s latest videos from Iran have gone viral in Egypt and across the Arab world.

Despite the absence of official diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran, Badawy travelled to Iran using his Egyptian passport to see the country and its people following the 10,000 US and Israeli missiles that hit the country. He also made his way to the island of Hormuz.

Badawy holds another passport, a French one, but identifies himself as Egyptian. It was a wise decision to travel using his Egyptian passport rather than his French one.

Egyptian-Iranian relations have been drawing closer, with almost weekly telephone calls between the two countries’ foreign ministers — a level of engagement we have not seen since the days when Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi married Princess Fawzia Fouad of Egypt in 1939.

Badawy and a friend arrived in Tehran on 3 October 2026, travelling via Turkey aboard Iranian airline Iran Airtour.

He documented the trip in his first video, titled "Inside Tehran After the US Bombing… The Reality Is SHOCKING".

You can also watch it with English translation and dubbing — his first time trying this feature.

Needless to say, the video has attracted plenty of comments and remarks.

One of the most striking observations is that, judging from the footage, Tehran hardly looks like the capital of a country at war and under four decades of economic sanctions.

Egypt plans tougher online regulations despite existing cybercrime law

As if the witch hunt against independent news websites and fact-checking services such as Matsda2sh and Mada Masr over the past three weeks were not enough, the government appears to be preparing a new Digital Safety Law alongside proposed amendments to the Penal Code that would increase fines for crimes involving rumours and false news.

The proposals follow what the Cabinet described as a review of measures to address harmful practices on social media.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet reviewed in its weekly meeting a report outlining recommendations by a committee formed under Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s Decree No. 2417 of 2026 to examine legislative and technical measures to address harmful online practices and safeguard Egyptian family values and social cohesion.

The report proposed establishing a national digital safety framework to strengthen the state's role in regulating the digital environment, overseeing platforms and managing systemic risks associated with their activities.

A key recommendation is to strengthen the technical capacities of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), the Supreme Council for Media Regulation and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to monitor and respond to violating online content.

Under the proposals, the NTRA's Content Unit, which currently serves as the state's channel for dealing with digital platforms and implementing removal and blocking decisions issued by the media regulator, courts and other authorities, would be developed into a fully integrated national technical centre.

Watch this : CAIRO , the city and challenge

It’s been a while since I watched a short documentary that moved me like this.

You must watch “Cairo.” This short documentary captures the feelings many Egyptian photographers and videographers have towards their beloved city.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been approached by concerned citizens asking to see “my permit” to photograph in Cairo or questioning whether I’m allowed to take pictures at all. I can recount the feeling that it is dangerous.

I share the same feelings and passion as Ahmed Alaa, the director of this short film.

“So if you do not let us film it today, who will know it tomorrow?”

Alaa’s words hit like salt on an open wound.