DON'T MISS...

Movies
Mirna and Suad
During an interview on the arts pages of Al-Akhbar recently, young actress Mirna talked about a film she did with the late Suad Hosny. Al-Ra'i wal Nisaa was one of the last films Hosny performed in, with Mirna playing the role of Hosny's daughter. The interesting twist in the story is that this was Mirna's first film role, and Hosny's last. It was also the only time Hosny, who had no children of her own, played the role of a mother. Mirna says Hosny told her she reminded her of herself when she was younger, mainly because they had both started acting when they were little girls, and had begun by singing and dancing. When asked which of her generation's actresses best resemble Honsy, Mirna said that since Honsy was such a multi-faceted, multi-talented performer, you would have to combine the talents of several different young actreses to even come close to Hosny's prowess.

Television
Ramadan in progress
The countdown and build-up to the next Ramadan TV extravaganza has begun in earnest, with an item in the papers boasting that the TV Unions production sector was preparing some 36 TV series, variety programs, and films. Of those already completed, the most promising seem to be Yehia El-Fakharani's Lil Adala Wogoh Kiteera (Justice Has Many Faces) and Salah El-Saadani's Awraq Misriya (Egyptian Papers). Al-Aqdar, a Pharoanic drama that was trying hard to fit into last Ramadn'sd schedule, will also be showing this year. A historic drama chronicling the life of intellectual Qasim Amin is also in production.


New developments
The similarities between Luxor and Versailles
It looks as though the French town of Versailles and the Egyptian city of Luxor might soon become sister cities. According to Al-Akhbar, Versailles and Luxor's city councils have signed a protocol of cooperation whereby the two towns exchange cultural, social, and technical expertise, especially with regard to training youth in the arts and crafts. The impetus between the match, the paper says, is that just as Luxor was the home base of ancient Egyptin royalty for thousands of years, Versailles was also the headquarters of French royalty , albeit much later and for a shorter period of time. Then again, not many countries can compete with Egypt in that respect. Many Egyptian cities have participated in similar sister city programs, one of the most prominent being Alexandria and the US city of Baltimore.

Sports
Loss to Morocco makes it tough
Egypt's national soccer team was defeated by Morocco 1-0 in a tough match on Saturday night. The World Cup qualifier took place on the Moroccan team's home turf, where a large number of Egyptians fans had traveled to watch the match and cheer on their team.
The goal scored by Morocco came near the end of the first half, which, like the entire match, was pretty much dominated by Egypt. The only problem was that the team's midfield attacks were not accompanied by successful forays into the goal.
The loss makes Egypt's chances of advancing to the 2002 World Cup even tougher -- with just two matches to go, a victory against Morocco would have made things that much easier. Now, Egypt must first of all win its next two games -- but not only that, the team must also hope that Senegal beats group leader Morocco, and loses against Namibia.
The odds are certainly not in Egypt's favor, but there is still that slight chance. Egypt's performance against Morocco showed that the team can be tough, and consistent, but still needs quite a bit of work on the final part of its attack. That, and a lot of luck -- something which, as of now, hasn't been very forthcoming.





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