CAIRO: Acting on a judge's order, Egyptian police detained the sons of former president Hosni Mubarak on Saturday along with three others in connection with insider trading charges for which the five are on trial, security officials said.
They said the arrests were ordered by judge Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh before he adjourned the case's hearings until Oct. 20. The Mubarak sons — wealthy businessman Alaa and Mubarak's one-time heir apparent Gamal — were taken to a prison south of Cairo after the hearing, according to the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The detention of the two brothers came as something of a surprise given that the trial has been proceeding without incident. It was not immediately clear if their detention has anything to do with a recent warning to Gamal Mubarak by a newspaper editor close to the government to abandon any political ambitions.
The two sons and their father were sentenced to three years in prison following their conviction of embezzling funds set aside for the restoration and maintenance of presidential palaces, using the money to upgrade their private residences. The sons were released in 2015 for time served, while Mubarak walked free last year. The trio paid back to the state the money they embezzled.
The three were first detained in April 2011, two months after a popular uprising forced Mubarak to step down after nearly 30 years in power. After a long trial, Mubarak was acquitted of killing protesters during the 18-day uprising against his autocratic rule.
The ongoing insider trading trial centers on the buying by the two brothers of a large number of shares in a local Egyptian bank that they allegedly knew was to become the target of a takeover by an Arab Gulf investor, a move that was virtually certain to dramatically drive up share prices.
One of the five ordered detained on Saturday is investment banker Hassan Heikal, son of Mohamed Heikal, a confidant of Egypt's late nationalist leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser and the author of a series of books giving insider accounts of Egypt's wars and peacemaking with Israel. He died in 2016.
Preventing Gamal from succeeding his father was among the chief motives for the 2011 uprising and the military's subsequent support for the revolt. The years that followed saw most pillars of Mubarak's regime go on trial on corruption or power abuse charges, but almost all of them have since been acquitted or walked free after repaying part or all the funds they had illegally amassed.
But while most Mubarak regime luminaries have since lived quietly on the sidelines, second-string Mubarak loyalists have found their way back to public life under the rule of general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi, particularly in parliament, a mostly rubber-stamp chamber packed with government supporters, and the media.
However, Gamal Mubarak's frequent public appearances and the relatively warm reception he has received from members of the public have drawn the ire of El-Sissi's supporters.
Yasser Rizq, possibly the closest newspaper editor to El-Sissi, sternly warned Gamal Mubarak in a May article against harboring political ambitions. He suggested that Mubarak's son may have forged an alliance with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to run for president when El-Sissi's second, four-year term ends in 2022.
Egypt court returns ex-president Mubarak's 2 sons to prison
Egypt court returns ex-president Mubarak's 2 sons to prison

- The Mubarak sonswere taken to a prison south of Cairo after the hearing, according to officials.
- The detention of the two brothers came as something of a surprise given that the trial has been proceeding without incident.
Syrian farmers pay price of worst drought in decades

- One fruit grower forced to chop down dead pear trees and use them for firewood
DAMASCUS: Syria’s worst drought in decades is taking a devastating toll on the agricultural region of Al-Nashabiyah east of Damascus.
Water reserves are down by more than 60 percent on previous years, levels in dams in March were lower than the past two years, and some areas have lost more than 70 percent of their groundwater reserves.
Farmer Mati Mohammed Nasser expects to lose his whole harvest of wheat, pears, plums and other fruit and vegetables. He usually picks about 200 kg of pears a year from trees he has raised from seedlings, but this year he will chop down the dead trees and use them for firewood.
He paid almost $2,000 to dig a deep well, but the water was only a couple of centimeters deep.
“What are we supposed to do with that?” he said. “We have lost hope. We sold everything we had and invested it into the land.”
Another farmer, Al-Nashabiyah’s deputy mayor Mahmoud Al-Hobeish, is $4,000 in debt. “People are asking for it and they know I cannot pay,” he said.
Israel-Iran air war enters sixth day, Trump calls for Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’

- US moves additional fighter jets to region
- Trump says whereabouts of Iranian leader Khamenei are known
JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON/DUBAI: Iran and Israel launched new missile strikes at each other on Wednesday as the air war between the two longtime enemies entered a sixth day despite a call from US President Donald Trump for Iran’s unconditional surrender.
The Israeli military said two barrages of Iranian missiles were launched toward Israel in the first two hours of Wednesday morning. Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv.
Israel told residents in the area of Tehran to evacuate so its air force could strike Iranian military installations. Iranian news websites said explosions were heard in Tehran and the city of Karaj west of the capital.
Trump warned on social media on Tuesday that US patience was wearing thin. While he said there was no intention to kill Iran’s leader “for now,” his comments suggested a more aggressive stance toward Iran as he weighs whether to deepen US involvement.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” he wrote on Truth Social, referring to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “We are not going to take him out , at least not for now ... Our patience is wearing thin.”
Three minutes later Trump posted, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!“
A White House official said Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone on Tuesday.
Trump’s sometimes contradictory and cryptic messaging about the conflict between close US ally Israel and longtime foe Iran has deepened the uncertainty surrounding the crisis. His public comments have ranged from military threats to diplomatic overtures, not uncommon for a president known for an often erratic approach to foreign policy.
Britain’s leader Keir Starmer, speaking at the Group of Seven nations summit in Canada that Trump left early, said there was no indication the US was about to enter the conflict.
Trump met for 90 minutes with his National Security Council on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the conflict, a White House official said. Details were not immediately available.
The US is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three US officials told Reuters. The US has so far only taken defensive actions in the current conflict with Iran, including helping to shoot down missiles fired toward Israel.
Regional influence weakens
Khamenei’s main military and security advisers have been killed by Israeli strikes, hollowing out his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process.
With Iranian leaders suffering their most dangerous security breach since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the country’s cybersecurity command banned officials from using communications devices and mobile phones, Fars news agency reported.
Israel launched a “massive cyber war” against Iran’s digital infrastructure, Iranian media reported.
Ever since Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and triggered the Gaza war, Khamenei’s regional influence has waned as Israel has pounded Iran’s proxies — from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq. Iran’s close ally, Syria’s autocratic president Bashar Assad, has been ousted.
Israel launched its air war, its largest ever on Iran, on Friday after saying it had concluded the Islamic Republic was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.
Netanyahu has stressed that he will not back down until Iran’s nuclear development is disabled, while Trump says the Israeli assault could end if Iran agrees to strict curbs on enrichment.
Before Israel’s attack began, the 35-nation board of governors of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years.
The IAEA said on Tuesday an Israeli strike directly hit the underground enrichment halls at the Natanz facility.
Israel says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in coming days.
But Israel will struggle to deal a knock-out blow to deeply buried nuclear sites like Fordow, which is dug beneath a mountain, without the US joining the attack.
Iranian officials have reported 224 deaths, mostly civilians, while Israel said 24 civilians had been killed. Residents of both countries have been evacuated or fled.
Global oil markets are on high alert following strikes on sites including the world’s biggest gas field, South Pars, shared by Iran and Qatar.
Iran celebrates state TV presenter after Israeli attack

- “This dust you see in the studio...” she began, her finger raised, before being interrupted by the sound of yet another blast
TEHRAN: Facing the camera with a defiant gaze, her index finger raised in the air, Iranian TV presenter Sahar Emami became an icon in her country after an Israeli attack on the state broadcaster.
“What you can see is the flagrant aggression of the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian broadcaster,” she said on air Monday as several explosions were heard in the background.
“What you just heard was the sound of an aggressor against the motherland, the sound of an aggressor against truth,” added Emami, who is known for her impactful interviews with government officials.
“This dust you see in the studio...” she began, her finger raised, before being interrupted by the sound of yet another blast.
The journalist, clad in a black chador, rushed out of her seat and disappeared from view.
The destruction in the studio, which quickly filled with smoke and dust, was broadcast live before the transmission was cut.
Emami, who Iranian media say is in her 40s, is a familiar face to viewers in the Islamic republic after some 15 years on air with state television.
She resumed the broadcast just a few minutes after the attack, as if nothing unusual had happened.
The broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital Tehran with its recognizable glass exterior was badly damaged in the fire that broke out as a result of the Israeli attack.
Official media shared images of charred offices and studios no longer usable.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday denounced Israel’s “cowardice” in striking the state television building, in an attack that the broadcaster said killed three people.
“The attack against the Iranian broadcaster demonstrates the Israelis’ desperation,” Araghchi said.
Conservative newspaper Farhikhtegan said on its front page on Tuesday: “Female journalist’s resistance until the last moment sends a clear message.”
Ultraconservative publication Kayhan said: “The courage of the lioness presenter surprised friends and foes.”
The government put up a banner in Tehran’s central Vali-Asr Square honoring Emami, showing her image paired with a verse from the Persian poet Ferdowsi that celebrated the courage of women “on the battlefield.”
The state broadcaster has aired the clip of Emami during Monday’s attacks multiple times since then, celebrating its presenter.
State TV meanwhile mocked a reporter for the London-based Iran International TV, which is critical of the Iranian government.
In footage from a live broadcast, the reporter in Israel is seen rushing to a bomb shelter after warnings of incoming missiles from Iran.
Iran asks its people to delete WhatsApp from their devices

- Iran has blocked access to various social media platforms over the years but many people in the country use proxies and virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access them
Iranian state television on Tuesday afternoon urged the country’s public to remove the messaging platform WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging the app — without offering specific evidence — gathered user information to send to Israel.
In a statement, WhatsApp said it was “concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.” WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning a service provider in the middle can’t read a message.
“We do not track your precise location, we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another,” it added. “We do not provide bulk information to any government.”
End-to-end encryption means that messages are scrambled so that only the sender and recipient can see them. If anyone else intercepts the message, all they will see is a garble that can’t be unscrambled without the key.
Gregory Falco, an assistant professor of engineering at Cornell University and cybersecurity expert, said it’s been demonstrated that it’s possible to understand metadata about WhatsApp that does not get encrypted.
“So you can understand things about how people are using the app and that’s been a consistent issue where people have not been interested in engaging with WhatsApp for that (reason),” he said.
Another issue is data sovereignty, Falco added, where data centers hosting WhatsApp data from a certain country are not necessarily located in that country. It’s more than feasible, for instance, that WhatsApp’s data from Iran is not hosted in Iran.
“Countries need to house their data in-country and process the data in-country with their own algorithms. Because it’s really hard increasingly to trust the global network of data infrastructure,” he said.
WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Iran has blocked access to various social media platforms over the years but many people in the country use proxies and virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access them. It banned WhatsApp and Google Play in 2022 during mass protests against the government over the death of a woman held by the country’s morality police. That ban was lifted late last year.
WhatsApp had been one of Iran’s most popular messaging apps besides Instagram and Telegram.
’What are these wars for?’: Arab town in Israel shattered by Iran strike

- The level of destruction from the missiles has been unprecedented in Israel, even after 20 months of continuous war in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks
TAMRA, Israel: An Arab town in northern Israel paid a heavy price for the ongoing air war between Iran and Israel when a ballistic missile slammed into a home there, killing four people and upending life in the small community.
Hundreds of sobbing residents crowded the narrow streets of Tamra on Tuesday to watch as the wooden coffins adorned with colorful wreaths were carried to the town’s cemetery.
To some, the Iranian strike highlighted the unequal protections afforded Israel’s Arab minority, while to others, it merely underscored the cruel indifference of war.

Raja Khatib has been left to pick up the pieces from an attack that killed his wife, two of his daughters and a sister in law.
“I wish to myself, if only the missile would have hit me as well. And I would be with them, and I wouldn’t be suffering anymore,” Khatib told AFP.
“Learn from me: no more victims. Stop the war.”
After five days of fighting, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds more wounded by the repeated barrages launched from Iran.
Israel’s sophisticated air defense systems have managed to intercept a majority of the missiles and drones targeting the country.
But some have managed to slip through.

With some projectiles roughly the size of a train carriage and carrying a payload that can weigh hundreds of kilograms, Iran’s ballistic missiles can be devastating upon impact.
A single strike can destroy large swaths of a city block and rip gaping holes in an apartment building, while the shockwave can shatter windows and wreak havoc on the surrounding area.
The level of destruction from the missiles has been unprecedented in Israel, even after 20 months of continuous war in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

Along with Tamra, barrages have also hit residential areas in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa.
As the coffins made their way through Tamra on Tuesday, a group of women tended to a relative of the victims who had become faint with grief, dabbing cold water on her cheeks and forehead.
At the cemetery, men embraced and young girls cried at the foot of the freshly dug graves.
Iran has continued to fire daily salvos since Israel launched a surprise air campaign that it says is aimed at preventing the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran denies.
In Iran, Israel’s wide-ranging air strikes have killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Despite mounting calls to de-escalate, neither side has backed off from the fighting.
In Israel, frequent air raid alerts have kept residents close to bomb shelters, while streets across the country have largely emptied and shops shuttered.
But some in the country’s Arab minority have said the government has done too little to protect them, pointing to unequal access to public shelters used to weather the barrages.
Most of Israel’s Arab minority identify as Palestinians who remained in what is now Israel after its creation in 1948. They represent about 20 percent of the country’s population.
The community frequently professes to face discrimination from Israel’s Jewish majority.
“The state, unfortunately, still distinguishes between blood and blood,” Ayman Odeh, an Israeli parliamentarian of Palestinian descent, wrote on social media after touring Tamra earlier this week.
“Tamra is not a village. It is a city without public shelters,” Odeh added, saying that this was the case for 60 percent of “local authorities” — the Israeli term for communities not officially registered as cities, many of which are majority Arab.
But for residents like Khatib, the damage has already been done.
“What are these wars for? Let’s make peace, for the sake of the two people,” he said.
“I am a Muslim. This missile killed Muslims. Did it differentiate between Jews and Muslims? No, when it hits, it doesn’t distinguish between people.”