Miscellaneous
New media everywhere
(cairolive.com, November 14, 2002) Both a new newspaper and a satellite TV channel have jumped onto the Egyptian media scene in the past few weeks, and both are making somewhat of an impact.
On TV the new Melody hits channel not only features the latest songs, but gives viewers the chance to actually choose which songs they want to see. To select a video, all you have to do is call a certain number from your mobile phone (and pay per minute of course) for the right to help determine which songs the channel plays. Word is that the channel may soon also allow some videos to be dedicated to a friend or relative for an extra price.
On paper, meanwhile, Al-Waseet, a free weekly advertising tabloid, has been appearing on Cairene's doorsteps every Friday for the past few weeks. Consisting entirely of ads, the paper has been advertising itself heavily on TV and in Al-Ahram, whose stranglehold on print advertising (especially on Friday) it is clearly aiming to break. Al-Waseet is part of a region wide network of free weekly ad papers with offices in most Arab capitals. In Egypt it claims to have a circulation of 700,000 copies.

Traffic
Tragic metro
(cairolive.com, November 14, 2002) The Egyptian underground metro was always the bright star of the country's public transport network, but according to a recent article in Al-Akhbar, things may have changed. The large feature indicates that a lot of people are starting to complain about the metro's performance these days. Passengers, apparently, have been pining for the "metro of yore".
Amongst their complaints: That it is not as punctual as it used to be, mainly because of the driver's "mood," that it needs repair, and that the ticket machines are not working. The article concludes that people are waiting to see how the authorities will respond, although for the time being things only seem to be getting worse.
Meanwhile, another feature story -- this time in Al-Wafd -- reports that the Metro authority is thinking of extending a new route from the Pyramids to the Ring Road. According to the paper, the government says that this new route may cost around LE9.7 billion and if it is completed successfully could help in solving the ongoing traffic problem.
When people are provided with more alternative routes, pressure on the streets should definitely decrease, but these two articles make one think: shouldn't the government try to solve the existing problems before adding to them?

Environment
An annual affair?
(cairolive.com, November 14, 2002) According to last Saturday's Al-Wafd, Al-Kalyoubiya Governor Adli Hussein has decided to impose a penalty of LE10,000 on anyone caught contributing to the increase in the "black cloud" phenomenon. The "black cloud" refers to the low, noxious haze that sometimes appears over the country's skies as winter approaches, a condition generally believed to be the result of either farmers burning waste from their rice crop, or factories or individuals burning trash.
An article in Sunday's Al-Akhbar, meanwhile, says that 1,000 law suits have been filed against people who have been burning rice and each of them will be paying a fine for doing that.

New Developments
Games attract interest
(cairolive.com, November 14, 2002) It is certainly a sign of the times that Egyptian newspapers would take interest in a recent youth computer game competition. Monday's Al-Akhbar featured a major story on the winners of the Mubarak Cup for Computer Games. 1200 shabab participated in the competition, aiming for prizes of LE10,000, LE5,000 and LE3,000 for first, second and third place respectively. The three winners explained that what drove them to participate in this competition is their love for computer games and that it is a big step for Egypt to start considering these games as more than just a thing young people do to pass time.

For links to these articles and much more from the world of Arabic media go to www.zahma.com!

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