Family hopeful teen will be released from Egypt jail

The sister of Ibrahim Halawa, the Irish teenager held in an Egyptian jail, has said she has renewed hope that her brother will be freed after the sudden release of another foreign citizen who was his cellmate.

But Nosayba Halawa said repeated delays in 19-year-old Ibrahim’s trial made it impossible to know the view of the Egyptian authorities.

Ibrahim has been in jail since August 2013, when he and his four sisters were among hundreds arrested after anti-government demonstrations were broken up with violence in Cairo.