Raging tuk-tuk driver bashes Egypt economy, video goes viral

Raging tuk-tuk driver bashes Egypt economy, video goes viral

CAIRO

A video of an enraged tuk-tuk driver unloading on the state of Egypt’s flagging economy went viral Thursday, underlining growing popular discontent in the country over shortages of food staples and broader business malaise.

Filmed in the crowded lanes of a working class Cairo neighborhood, the video shows the driver, surrounded by crowds, slamming the government for spending money on pomp at recent state ceremonies while the poor suffer.

“You watch Egypt on television and it’s like Vienna, you go out on the street and it’s like Somalia’s cousin,” he says in the clip, originally aired on Wednesday night on the pro-government Al Hayat television channel.

By Thursday evening it had gained some 2.2 million views and 62,000 likes on one Facebook page, with thousands more added each hour to the criticism-heavy footage, rare to be broadcast on television.

In a sign of how sensitive the matter is, the network quickly pulled the video from its own media sites. Egypt has a long history of suppressing news that can be seen as damaging to its image, a trend that has intensified under the rule of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

New York man accused of keeping deer as pet

SPRINGS

A New York man is accused of numerous housing and code violations and illegally keeping a deer as a pet in his Long Island yard.

East Hampton Town police were called Wednesday after receiving a call of possible overcrowding at the Springs home.

Police say Angel Otavalo had illegally converted the basement into seven bedrooms. They charged him with failing to have a certificate of occupancy for various rooms, failing to have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and construction without a permit.

They also charged him with unlawful possession of wildlife.

Police say there were eight vehicles parked in the driveway when they arrived.

Newsday says Otavalo, who speaks only Spanish, declined to comment on the charges. He said through an interpreter that he has hired a lawyer.

Associated Press