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Sports
Might as well try
In a last bid to garner another chance at making it to the
2002 World Cup, Egypt has submitted a formal
complaint to FIFA, the international soccer governing
body, regarding its final qualifying match against
Algeria. Last Saturday's match, which ended in a
devastating 1-1 tie, was an intense contest punctuated by
an overly rowdy Algerian home crowd.
Now Egypt is saying that the atmosphere at the match
was inconducive to fair play, and that it should be
replayed on neutral ground.
Egypt has bitter memories of a similar situation several
years ago during Egypt's qualifying match with
Zimbabwe in Cairo. That contest, won by Egypt, was
ordered replayed on neutral ground by FIFA because of
crowd violence. Unfortunately, however, Egypt did nt
win in the replay and thus did not make the World Cup
that round.
In this case, even if FIFA decides the match should be
replayed, it will still be extremely difficult for the team to
qualify, considering group leader Senegal's 5-0 victory
over Namibia. That means Egypt would have to defeat
Algeria by at least 3 points in order for its goal
differential vis-a-vis Senegal to place it at the top of the
group, and thus qualify for the prestigious international
tournament.
A very difficult proposition indeed, but certainly worth a
try.
Miscellaneous
1000 books from Iran
During his recent visit to Cairo to take part in a seminar
on Egyptian-Iranian relations, assistant Iranian foreign
minister Sadeq Kharazzi announced that his country
would be giving the new Bibliotecha Alexandrina, an
ambitious project revitalizing the legacy of the great
ancient library of Alexandria, 1000 ancient Iranian books
and texts. A ceremony was held at the library this week
wherein the books, of a cultural and religious nature,
were formally presented to the library.
Iranian-Egyptian relations have been strained for over
20 years after Iran cut off ties with Egypt as a result of
its peace treaty with Israel. Only recently have there
begun to be steps to restore economic and cultural
links, at least, between the two countries. Political ties
remain stalled -- one of the major symbolic stumbling
blocks being the Tehran street named after Khaled
Eslambouli, the assassin who gunned down late
president Anwar Sadat.
Traffic
Do Alex corniche's cat's eyes work?
Now that Alexandria's scenic corniche boulevard has
been widened, reports Al-Akhbar, motorists have been
driving at high speeds, putting their own and others'
lives in danger. As a result, the paper says, the
governorate has decided to place small metal 'cat's
eyes' in strategic locations on the ground along the
corniche in an attempt force cars to slow down.
However, according to the paper, motorists have been
complaining that the cat's eyes only serve to ruin their
cars' tires. In fact, word has spread that the only way to
avoid the damage is to drive past the cat's eyes even
faster than normal, thus making them speed enhancers
rather than the reverse.
Economy
Spending figures released
The latest figures on Egyptian spending habits have
been released by the government. The figures were
garnered via a survey of some 226,000 people for the
1999-2000 fiscal year. It turns out that Egyptians spend
a total of LE56 billion on food. A whopping LE4 billion is
spent on cigarettes and smoking. Educational
requirements consume some LE6 billion of income,
while spending on cafes, restaurants and hotels
reached LE2.6 billion. Spending on housing, meanwhile,
took up LE18.6 billion, and clothing LE12.8 billion.
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