Sports
Egypt beats Tunisia
The Egyptian national team boosted the country's spirits and its own hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup, currently taking place in Mali. After a 1-0 loss to Senegal in the tourney's opener, the Pharoahs played a strong second game, leaving their Tunisian opponent scoreless while they soared ahead 1-0 thanks to  a goal by Hazem Imam twenty-two minutes into first-half play.
 Zambia is next for the team, in a fierce match to be played this Thursday.
With the Ibrahim Sa'id scandal being dealt with at home, another side story has emerged amongst the team in Mali. Al-Wafd's front page features a story about coach Mahmoud El-Gohary warning his players not to let thoughts of contracts from European clubs cloud their vision and performance at the tournament. There have been scattered reports that representatives of teams like AC Milan and other top European clubs are scouting the tournament, trying to lure Egyptian and African players to the continent with big contracts. Saturday's Al-Ahram, meanwhile, features a story exploring why so many Egyptian players' attempts to play abroad have failed. Amongst the reasons cited by the experts, including the players' agents themselves -- are the language barrier, and a lack of understanding of the detailed rules of the contracts that have been signed. For their part, the players say it's not their fault they haven't been able to acclimate to their new teams abroad.
(January 26, 2002)

Politics/headline news
All the way to China
President Hosni Mubarak is in China for talks with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. "Three days in China: Agreement on a complete strategy for Egypt-China relations" proclaims Akhbar Al-Youm's front page regarding the visit, which featured negotiations to help transfer some of China's skills in high-tech to Egypt, as well as the formation of an Egyptian-Chinese businessmen's association.  A four-page supplement in Al-Ahram covers many aspects of the Chinese-Egyptian partnership in its differing manifestations. The supplement also features an advertorial indicating that Cairo is set to get its second Chinese floating boat on the Nile.  The Nile Dragon will join the SS Peking as the city's second boat-themed Chinese restaurant -- a testament to the growing popularity of Chinese food amongst Egyptians, who for the most part hadn't even heard of it two decades ago. The new venue features not one, but four restaurants, says the advertorial, including something called the Supermodel Cafe. The LE30 million  joint Chinese, Egyptian and  Saudi venture is part of the same franchise that brought the already-popular-in-the-gulf  Gulf Royal Chinese restaurant chain to Egypt.
(January 26, 2002)
                                                                                                                                      
New developments
Pre-paid free internet?
Columnist Salah Montasser highlights a reader's suggestion in a recent column -- why doesn't the phone company produce pre-paid cards for domestic phone use specific to the internet, now that it's been labeled free. Free Internet means users only have to pay for the cost of a local call, but Montasser's reader says cards will help patrons keep track of how much they are spending, lest they forget themselves while surfing the net only to discover, months later, a huge bill, and then complain that the phone company ripped them off.  Domestic calling cards already exist, but none are specific to the new free internet. The idea may actually be on the mark, since some parents are weary of the free moniker inspiring their children to heavily use the service. Nobody wants a rehash of the usual plethora of complaints the phone company faces whenever the bill for a new service comes home.
(January 26, 2002)

Events/exhibitions
Dedicated to Mahfouz
Writer Naguib Mahfouz's 90th birthday has been inspiring celebrations across town. First it was the American University in Cairo, then Cairo U, and now, the Cairo Book Fair is dedicating a hefty portion of its second-week  program to feting the ninetieth year of Egypt's famed Nobel Laureate. A commemoration was held at the Book Fair on Friday, and Mahfouz and his characters will be the main topic of discussion at symposia and roundtables throughout the week. Samples of his work, translated into all languages, will be available, and a series of several films adapted from his novels will be shown.
Don't miss Dardasha's triumphant and tragic wanderings at this year's Fair.
(January 26, 2002)

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