July 2014

2 Abdullah Morsi, the youngest son of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, is sentenced in absentia to a year in prison with labor and fined LE 10,000 for hashish possession. The 20-year-old was arrested with a friend on March 1 after security forces searched their parked car and found two cigarettes containing hashish, but were later released on bail. On July 19, Abdullah was arrested as a fugitive on a train to Beni Sueif, with security sources telling local media that Morsi was trying to flee the country. [caption id="attachment_85538" align="alignright" width="300" class=" "] 4[/caption] 4 A hike of up to 78% on fuel prices is announced in a step aimed at shrinking the budget deficit. The hikes raised prices on octane gasoline, diesel and natural gas. 10 A 4,000-year-old ancient Egyptian statue of Sekhemka sells at a Christie’s of London auction for £15.7 million. Egyptian Ambassador Ashraf Elkholy condemns the sale, saying the piece should be on public display and that the statue could now end up in a private collection. 19 Twenty-one military border guards are killed in El-Wadi El-Gedid near the Libyan border. An army spokesman announces terrorists are behind the attack, in which a weapons storage facility was blown up, killing the soldiers and two of the militants, and wounding four others. 19 Zamalek wins the 2014 Egypt Cup Final, beating Smouha 1-0. 28 Fawzia Salama, writer and TV show host, dies at age 73. Born in June 1941, Salama studied comparative literature before relocating to London where she worked at the BBC Arabic radio service and was editor in chief of Sayyidaty magazine and Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper. She also presented Kalam Nawaem (Women’s Words) with Nashwa Roweiny. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013.