Miscellaneous
Burning up
(cairolive.com, August 9, 2002) Both Al-Wafd and Al-Akhbar choose to highlight -- on their front pages -- the fact that some 888 fires took place in Cairo during the month of July, as a result of the extreme heat that descended over the city that month (and which continues into August).
Most of the fires -- 639, according to the fire department -- took place spontaneously in garbage dumps around the city, while the rest were evenly spread out between homes, schools, businesses and street utility cables. 

Crime
High-stakes crash
(cairolive.com, August 9, 2002) Al-Wafd's front page features a story about how a truck driver managed to slam into the convoy of Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on Hassan Sabri Street in Zamalek one day this week.
The truck driver was apparently driving in the the wrong direction -- trying to save a little time -- when he ran head on into one of the cars in Moussa's convoy. No one was injured in the incident, and the driver was subsequently apprehended, the paper says.

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

Economy
Rejected notes
(cairolive.com, August 9, 2002) Al-Akhbar goes back to that time-tried story in its Thursday edition -- the five and ten piaster paper notes that the paper claims nobody wants to use.
Officials are quoted in the story as saying that those store owners who profess not to use the notes are merely looking for an excuse not to hand customers back their small change after a purchase.
Unfortunately, the whole affair has become a sort of vicious cycle, with store owners' refusing to accept the notes becoming a catalyst for patrons at other stores to also refuse to accept them as change back.
The 5 and 10 piaster coin versions are preferred, according to the article, and apparently, the problem is even greater in the governorates than it is in Cairo.
One reason why this is happening may be because for several years in the 80s these small-denomination notes were taken out of commission by the government, and people may still think that's the case, even though they were reintroduced into the market by the Central Bank in the mid 90s. In fact, most of the notes in these denominations that you see now are crisp and new.
The article goes on to discuss the generally poor treatment that paper notes receive in Egypt, arguing that this must end.

For more on this phenomenon click here

Ad watch
Hollywood comes to channel 2
(cairolive.com, August 9, 2002) Beginning August 16th, Egyptian TV's channel 2 has set up a lineup -- in partnership with the Pyramids Advertising Agency -- of top notch Hollywood films including The Rock, Air Force One, Face Off, Con Air, Godzilla, Armageddon, and Analyze This.
The mostly action-packed lineup will certainly provide some serious competition to private satellite channels that charge fees for subscribers.
The information appears in a large ad placed by the agency (which is part of media giant Al-Ahram) in Thursday's Al-Ahram under the headline "a very hot summer".

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