In brief
May Day and a very long weekend
(cairolive.com, May 1, 2002) Wednesday is May Day and a national holiday in Egypt. Eastern Easter is Sunday and Sham El-Nessim, a national holiday dating back to Pharaonic times, is Monday. Many people have decided to take Thursday off as well, in order to enjoy a very long weekend. The weather is also helping out, with mild temperatures and a clear breeze dominating the skies.

Politics/headline news
Tough talk
(cairolive.com, May 1, 2002) Wire reports are calling President Hosni Mubarak's May Day speech yesterday a strong statement expressing Egypt's displeasure with US policies in the region. "All promises and assurances were ignored and the big powers instead concentrated on security issues and neglected their pivotal role in preparing a suitable atmosphere for political negotiations," Mubarak said of the US's role in attempting to secure a just conclusion to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Mubarak indicated that support for the US's war on terrorism was waning as a result. For the full AP story click here.

New developments
Popular resistance
(cairolive.com, May 1, 2002) Al-Ahram reports that The Cairo Biennale committee has decided not to include an American artist in the competition's judging committee as previous arranged, as a form of showing Egyptian artists' displeasure with US support for Israel. 
In another related development, Al-Akhbar reports that port workers in Damietta refused to unload a shipment of Israeli goods from an Israeli ship. The paper reports that the ship then traveled to Alexandria, where dock workers there also refused to unload the ship's contents. The tiny item does not provide further details of what happened to the ship or its contents.

Movies
The Minister's story
(cairolive.com, May 1, 2002) Ahmed Zaki has begun filming his new film "Maaali Al-Wazeer" (His Excellency the Minister), which tells the fictional life story of a man before, after and during his time as a cabinet minister. The much-ballyhooed film will be the one of the first films produced by the Media City's Cinema Production Unit, and Zaki's first film since the successful Days of Sadat. It also stars Libliba.

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