Politics/headline news
Raging on aid
(cairolive.com, August 23, 2002) Al-Wafd goes ultra nationalistic about the US aid and Saadeddin Ibrahim issue, headlining its Thursday newspaper's front page with the opposition party's official spin on the matter at hand. "Rejecting US aid... a national duty," the paper quotes party chairman No'man Gomaa, arguing that several other Egyptian political parties feel the same way.
The brouhaha all began with a White House announcement last week indicating that president Bush would reject any additional aid to Egypt because of human rights issues like the sentencing of sociologist Saadedin Ibrahim.
Ibrahim is an Egyptian-American think tank director accused and convicted of both tarnishing Egypt's image, as well as receiving funds from abroad without government permission, charges human rights groups say are politically motivated.
The US press has long been asking the administration to condition the money Egypt receives from the US on Egypt's compliance with US wishes in matters such as these.
Although Bush's statement only deals with additional funds requested by Egypt, and not the $2 billion the country receives each year thanks to Camp David, al-Wafd's coverage of the issue is a no-holds barred call for Egypt to discontinue receiving any US aid at all - in order to avoid such demands on its national sovereignty.
To help make such a proposition more palatable, one of the articles included in the paper's coverage of the issue -- headlined "US studies make certain: America is the primary beneficiary of the aid"-- is about how much of the development work bought by the aid package is conditioned on the use of US goods or services.

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

Commentary
Street shoes
(cairolive.com, August 23, 2002) Al-Akhbar's photographer Makram Gad El-Karim is given a third of the features page in Thursday's paper for a photo essay about street and sidewalk shoe vendors.
The photos are extremely striking -- providing a bird's eye view of streets packed with vendors till the street itself can hardly be seen. Each one spreads out his blanket, furnished with shoes, blocking both pedestrian and automobile traffic, and forcing people into performing a sort of twister-like dance between the haphazard displays.
The language used in the piece is interesting. The photographer says the vendors have become like "settlers" on the street. He says they make it difficult for customers to reach the real stores, both physically and metaphorically. For not only are they blocking the way, but the cheap prices on their poor quality merchandise seem attractive at first, until customers discover they've actually bought some of the shoddiest goods around.
The vendors he interviews for the article indicate that they wouldn't mind setting up shop in a better place -- like a flea market that could be set up in any unused downtown space -- if one was made available.

New developments
Mall technology
(cairolive.com, August 23, 2002) The makers of Egypt's malls, like those who drive other Egyptian businesses, don't seem to have "overkill" in their dictionaries. The evidence: yet another computer mall is opening up, according to an ad in Al-Ahram.
This one is called Technology Mall and it's located next to Serag City Mall at the end of Makram Ebied Street in Nasr City. Like most computer malls scattered around town it features dozens (in this case over 50) outlets mostly all selling the same selections of peripherals and machines.

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