Health
Girls and the sheesha
(cairolive.com, August 30, 2002) You know society really considers something a problem when it starts to produce campaigns to help prevent it.
A tiny item in Wednesday's Al-Akhbar indicates that "girls smoking sheesha" has become just that. The International Egyptian Anti-Addiction Association, apparently, has begun just such an effort, attempting to co-opt journalists and other media personalities, as well as psychiatrists, in a campaign called "Shame and girls and sheesha".
The idea is to encourage the production of research studies on the phenomenon, as well as video and audio cassettes emphasizing the association's messages in this regard.
The association is giving out prizes and honorary memberships to the best efforts it gets...
The relatively-new phenomenon of "girls smoking sheesha" has been extremely well-documented in the press over the past few years with many an "Oh my goodness what is happening to us?"-style feature appearing everywhere you turn.

New developments
Civic prize
(cairolive.com, August 30, 2002) Qalyoubiya's governor has announced an idea he has to help encourage women to vote, according to an item in the papers. The governor has agreed to give women who apply for a national ID number -- with the intention of using it to participate in political life -- a grant of five Egyptian pounds as a measure of encouragement. 

Education
Leeway for research
(cairolive.com, August 30, 2002) Although President Hosni Mubarak's Tuesday speech to university students in Alexandria made big headlines in the local and international press as a result of the president's harsh warning to the US regarding a war with Iraq, (see Egypt Headlines...) other parts of his meeting with university administrators did not receive as much attention.
The small print, however, indicates that in a meeting with the heads of Egyptian universities and professors, the President urged universities to vastly increase their participation with other universities and think tanks abroad. He also urged policy-makers to consider giving individual universities more autonomy to take their own decisions in financial and other matters. 

Travel
A useful pursuit
(cairolive.com, August 30, 2002) An ad in the papers indicates a new experiment in publishing -- guidebooks for international destinations in Arabic.
A new book called "Daleel London" (London Guide) is out in the market. Written by as Soufyan Hammoudi Abbas, it features the same sort of useful information that foreign guidebooks offer: hotel listings, restaurants, apartment, shopping, doctors, hospitals, maps, tourists sites, as well as culturally specific subjects like mosques. The guide purports to be useful for both tourists and London residents alike. 

DON'T MISS...

Disclaimer and Terms of Use
© Copyright 1996-2005 cairolive.com. All Rights Reserved

Read Tarek Atia's web log
Find out how the world media sees Egypt...

UPDATED DAILY!

The ultimate
East-West
world-view

 
Instant Arabic headlines