Riot in Egypt after police kill pregnant woman

Human rights organizations report that Egyptian police often use torture and abuse (File) Around 100 Egyptians set fire to a police truck on a main road in central Egypt on Thursday after a pregnant woman died during a police raid on her house, police sources said. Mervat Abdu Salam, 32, stood in the way of police looking for a relative of hers in a case of theft in the town of Samalout, 200 km (120 miles) south of Cairo, they said. Police had a warrant for her brother-in-law, accused of robbery. A policeman hit her with the butt of his pistol and she fell and died, said police. Friends and residents of the town rioted when they heard of her death, pelting police with stones and setting fire to a police truck on the Cairo-Assiut highway. Police responded with tear gas. An officer was taken to hospital with injuries. Police... [read full story]