Population explosion
That's the root of problems like the current bread shortage, Mubarak says.

A day of politics
The US vetoes the Arafat resolution in the UN, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa weigh in with their reactions in this Washington Post piece.
In a Sharq Al-Awsat interview picked up by the agencies, Maher has advice for both sides. He tells the Palestinian resistance to stop killing innocent women and children, and Israel to stop consistently breaking international laws.

A strong card
Salama Ahmed Salama's astute reaction to the Arafat expulsion brouhaha makes the Bahraini press.

A slightly better job
AP does a eulogy for Sadat's peace efforts on Camp David's 25th anniversary... 
Meanwhile, former US President Jimmy Carter, one of the architects of that treaty, says that current US president George W Bush would need at least 13 days of concentration on this issue alone to forge a similar deal between Israel and the Palestinians. 

Anniversaries come and go
Reuters does a superficial analysis of Camp David 25 years later...

Meanwhile... Arab News tries to figure out why the Israeli diplomatic mission in Cairo is so huge. This editorial says there's some snooping going on.

Globalization at work
Egypt soccer league sponsorship is part of mobile giant Vodafone's global plan, this article makes clear.

''Monumental error''
That's what President Hosni Mubarak says kicking out Arafat would be.

Would Mubarak visit Israel?
Only if it would help, he tells an Italian paper.
Meanwhile, Mubarak -- in Italy -- says Egypt doesn't fully trust Arafat, but it would be wrong to dismiss him altogether, like the US and Israel have done.

World must speak up, Egypt says
''We condemn Israel's actions against civilians. Destroying homes and killing people with aircraft in streets crowded with civilians is a crime,'' Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said of Saturday's attack on Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Change of heart?
Has Arab League said okay to Iraqi seat in Cairo?

Meanwhile... Reuters reports that "Security guards thwarted an attempt by two Libyan youths to assault Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal Monday at his hotel in Cairo."

Reefs in trouble?
A new report, published in last week's Science magazine, deals with 14 major tropical reef systems, including some in the Pacific, Atlantic, the Red Sea and off Australia.
It concludes that "reefs will not survive without immediate protection from human exploitation" across wide swaths of ocean.
I guess that's what they call tourism's double edged sword...

Too risky
Egyptian government says no to request for security labor in Iraq....

Religion and politics
"More important than the government implementing sharia (Islamic law), people themselves should follow the requirements of sharia in their everyday lives," Sabir said...
Part of a thoughtful Reuters look at religion and politics.

Update: Now the Al-Azhar cleric who issued the fatwa against the Iraqi Governing Council is going to be investigated, according to AFP. (see "Confusing Fatwa", below)

Confusing fatwa
The Azhar clerics who issued a "fatwa" on the Iraq Governing Council are to be called to task, Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi says.

More on the same from AFP -- plus dispelling rumors that the cleric who issued the harsh fatwa had been fired.

Raw politics
El-Hakim was critical of US in last interview -- a final hour interview in Al-Ahram is picked up by the majors.

Ambitious...
Egypt's Orascom Telecom submits bid for mobile phone license in Iraq. This Forbes article provides no further details on the issue, however.

More Islamists arrested
This time it's dozens from al-Gamaa al-Islamiya

Meanwhile... Brotherhood's Hodeibi sends a letter to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, part of which is reprinted by AFP

Mission impossible?
President Hosni Mubarak's top political advisor Osama Al-Baz tries to save the peace in Palestine.

update:
Vivacious Egyptian
Nadia Younes was amongst those who died in the Baghdad UN blast. More about her colorful story here...

Tragedy in Baghdad
Egyptians among dead in Iraqi capital's UN blast

Meanwhile... an analyst from Al-Ahram points to Al-Qaeda in this AP blast whodunit...

Also in Iraq... Most of the Egyptian Copts arrested by US forces in Baghdad have been released. The problem was the presence of machine guns in a church. The article suggests that the release may have been the result of pressure put on Washington by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher.

Ruining peace
Egypt condemns killing of Abu Shanab

Egypt wants Garang to reconsider...
Foreign Minister Maher says the Sudanese rebel leader's  "positions ... are not facilitating the negotiations" leading to peace in Sudan.

Ambitious plans
Saadeddin Ibrahim gives first major interview after reopening of Ibn Khaldoun center to Sarah El-Deeb of AP. Says he's considering opening up a sister center in Baghdad -- he'll go there in September to gauge the possibility.
Also says he will monitor 2005 elections...
In general says he has decided not "to keep a low profile. If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem."
Meanwhile... In a Washington Post editorial, a US AID manager urges the US to practice "tough love" on Egypt when it comes to civil liberties.

Strange days
Reda Hilal, a top journalist with Al-Ahram, has been missing since last Monday. 
The journalist's strange disappearance has prompted much speculation -- some of it centered on the writer's pro-Western views, as in this item from AFP. 
Now that coverage of the incident in the Arabic papers has intensified (see zahma.com), you can be sure to see more global coverage of the mysterious case as well.

Explanations
BBC gets thoughtful about allegations of anti-Semitism in the Egyptian press. Prominent media personalities Mohamed Salmawy and Abdalla Schlieffer are interviewed extensively on the subject, and the writer concludes that no real anti Semitism exists -- just a politicized way of looking at happenings on the Palestinian- Israeli front.

Sad
Arafat's sister dies at Palestine hospital in Cairo

More on unified sermons...
The question of whether or not the government is going to unify Friday sermons is still getting its fair share of press. In the latest entry, Religious Endowments Minister Zaqzouq denies that any such plan is in the works... This Middle East Online article also adjusts the number of mosques under direct government control to 82,000...

Update:
AFP's take on the "1 sermon, 88,000 mosques" article that's making the rounds reports that it's actually about 71,000 mosques, and that the government is still considering the idea.

Is this true?
Reports says that 88,000 Egyptian mosques will all be given the same Friday sermon to be read by the government, in order to avoid preachers going off on extremist-tinged tangents... 

Peace process
Stop talking about Azzam, Maher tells Sharon, reports the Times of Oman 

Welcome to the club?
Moussa says League is willing to meet new Iraq council.
His spokesman says no such meeting has been requested.

Meanwhile... Kissinger's role in the 1973 War

Major PR effect
Time magazine op-ed contributor argues that Egypt's weight in the Israeli ambassador debate is quite significant.

Two way trade
Interesting export -- handmade furniture from Egypt to grace dormitory in Arkansas... 
Meanwhile, India anxiously awaits an FTA with Egypt. Once again, the motivation is increased tea sales...

Social dynamics
In this economic analysis from Business Week, McDonald's in Egypt is used as an example of how US brands are faring globally in such turbulent geopolitical times -- apparently, people were embarrassed to eat at McDonald's during the attack on Iraq, so they ordered delivery instead!
Interestingly enough, the info comes from Egypt's representative at the UN.

Hyundai to go
The labor strike is over at Hyundai headquarters in Korea. That may mean, according to an AP report, that the lack of parts problem at Hyundai plants in Egypt may soon be resolved.

Meanwhile... According to the Asia Times, tiny 115cc Indian motorized scooters are now set to hit the Egyptian market.

Angry reaction
Al-Ahram now says that US's decision to display Uday and Qusay's bodies reveals American hypocrisy -- considering the fact that the US had previously criticized Arab channels for showing American POWs.

Jordan speaks for Egypt?
The Jordanian foreign minister says Egypt and Jordan have agreed in principle to return their ambassadors to Israel, but that there must be improvements on the ground first. In another article, however, Egyptian Foreign Minister Maher says no decision on the matter has been taken yet.
Meanwhile, Mubarak says Sharon is the only one who can make peace with the Palestinians.

A little more politics
AFP nearly republishes in full Al-Ahram columnist Salama Ahmed Salama's recent rant against the slow progress of change ailing the country's political scene.
The article duly notes the unusual harshness of the criticism, and tries to argue that a new climate of permissible open criticism has been ushered in.

Holiday mode
How Egyptian papers reacted to the photos of Uday and Qusay...

Questions, questions
Does Iran have Ayman El-Zawahiri in custody, and will they soon be giving him back to Egypt?

Interview with American lawyer of imprisoned Egyptian sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, just after two of the most serious charges against her were deemed too vague.

PLUS: Karam Zohdi says sorry. How Sadat's assassin has become a media darling...

Meanwhile...
a little less diplomacy
Thai students will no longer be given scholarships to study in Egypt after a top Thai official made a disparaging remark.
Defense Minister Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya alleged that 10 per cent of Thai foreign exchange students in Egypt were being recruited into extremist groups. The remarks landed an immediate cut off of Egyptian scholarship offers.
The Thai defense minister now wishes his remarks had been censored.  
He says he made the remarks at a private gathering (an address to more than 500 armed forces staff officer students and officers at the Army headquarters on July 11), and that he was unaware there were reporters present.
"The issue is sensitive and affects relationships. The defense minister is very unhappy that it was reported without censorship,'' the Bangkok Post reports a spokesman as saying.

Work slowdown
AP does a quirky story on the situation with Iraqi embassies in the Middle East, using Egypt as its focal point. The fact that the embassy is not really doing business has put many Iraqis abroad in limbo. 

A little business
$14 million textile deal signed with Chinese company, and 12 Kuwaiti companies on Egyptian black list.

Photo opp
Maher and Abbas seem extremely happy at this press conference in Cairo yesterday...

Discrimination?
Egyptian born FBI agent files high profile complaint against the FBI -- says they wont promote Arab Americans, and that had they let him, he would have helped more with pre and post 9-11 investigations.

Obituary
Abdel-Halim Moussa -- the former interior minister who tried to negotiate with Islamic militants -- gets a major obituary on CNN.

Strange request?
Did the US ask for Egyptian peacekeeping troops in Iraq? This article claims it did, but also posits that that would be a very difficult proposition for Egypt to accept, since it would appear to legitimize the US occupation of Iraq.

5 million expected
Tourism drop for 2003 not as bad as expected, minister announces.

PA Blessing
Arafat says "without the efforts of Egypt, the Palestinians would never reach a Hudna (ceasefire) with Israel"

Tea to the rescue
Egypt makes the headlines again as an African-Indian tea war heats up...
In this article from an African paper, Egypt is heavily feted for being a top Mombasa tea buyer.
Meanwhile, another very specialized article makes clear that India is looking to Egypt as a potentially big tea customer for its own market.
In fact, India is actively trying to grab a share of the tea business Egypt is doing with Africa (as celebrated in the article above) for itself -- by offering perks that would compete with inter-African trade's COMESA-based benefits.

Error-prone item on Egypt's reaction to the new Iraq council
El-Akhbar's editor is called Jalal Duridar instead of Galal Dweidar. The item also obviously appeared before Egypt released an official statement on the council, as it says no statement had yet appeared.

No clash
Islamic nations should "wholeheartedly open our arms to the people who want peace with us, and reject violence against the innocent, says Al-Azhar's Tantawi at an Islamic conference in Malaysia.

Not likely
Finally, an interesting and figure-rich take -- courtesy of Gulf News and the Arab Advisors Group -- on the mixed up situation with mobile operators.
An advisory report draws a link between the weaker pound and the viability of a third GSM operator -- the would-be Wataniya network from national phone company Telecom Egypt -- actually being able to do business in the current economic climate.

Luxor resolved?
AP reports that "a suspected planner of the 1997 Luxor massacre that killed 62 people ... was handed over by Uruguayan authorities to Egyptian police Thursday."

Heavy involvement
Although Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he hoped the peace process was successful, he also admitted -- on Monday -- to having many serious doubts about its viability. "I don't want to be pessimistic, because I want peace to be established in the region. But I have many doubts, and I hope that the Israeli government follows and frees prisoners and settles all these problems," he said.
AFP calls Syrian President Bashar El-Assad's Cairo meeting with Mubarak a "lightening visit". Including Syria in the steadily growing peace process seems to have been the main item on the agenda.
Egypt, meanwhile, is still actively involved in the Palestinian track of the peace process. By Wednesday Palestinian officials were telling the press that "the Egyptians are here to calm things down and help the truce endure." One of the items under contention is Palestinian prisoners, an issue Egypt is helping negotiate, although this article does not provide much other detail. 

African champion
With Bush off on an African tour, the Associated Press takes a look at US presidential visits to Africa over the past 60 years or so. Interestingly -- Egypt has hosted the lion's share of these visits -- 10 since 1943.

June 30
Annan praises re-opening of Ibn Khaldun Centre in Egypt

Egypt not one of 35
""We made a commitment that Americans accused of such crimes will only be tried in an American court," Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters on Thursday.

A case of EGYPT-AID?
Several recent articles have appeared in different global online sources revealing the role Egypt plays in the development of other nations in Africa and Asia. 
This story in AllAfrica.com reveals that Egypt is training policemen in Mozambique  in anti-terror techniques.
Meanwhile... Sri Lanka is pretty excited about the MOU signed with Egypt to pave way for religious training and educational grants.
Also... Egypt's successful tourism recovery (after being on travel advisories because of terrorism) is cited as a model for Kenya now that terror's blight has hit there.
Attempts... Egypt and Sudan to work together to become regional oil powerhouse?

Stuck in the middle?
The sum up of the modified foods --- botched FTA matter, according to the EU Observer
"According to the Financial Times the Egyptian authorities had been shocked by the way the US presented its case.... One official is quoted as saying "The way it was announced was like a war with the EU, and we cannot go to war with the EU," he said. "It is 40 per cent of our trade.""

The real reason?
Is Egypt's withdrawal from a controversial US biotech foods case against Europe the key to the sudden downgrade from its quest for a Free Trade Agreement with America? This Washington Times article suggests it might be

Refusing to sugar coat
US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick pours reality on Egypt's hope for a US FTA:
"We see glimmers of light [in Egypt] but I'm not going to sugar-coat it for people. Egypt has some work to do," said Mr Zoellick. "We know Egypt is the traditional heart of the Arab world. But this isn't going to be handed to them just because Egypt is a big and important country."

Deviant thought on trial?
Al-Ahram Weekly looks at the controversial court case involving 3 UK citizens and a banned group called Hezb u Tahrir. The Weekly comments on the spotlight that's been put on the case, quoting one of the defendant's mother: "The prosecution did not think the British authorities would pay any attention to the case since the defendants are Muslims, and they are very surprised at what has happened."
The international press has indeed been covering this one heavily. An example of that can be found in this article in a Scottish paper.

Meanwhile... Will an Egyptian al-Qaeda big wig being held in Iran soon be extradited to Egypt? Not likely, this article says...

Negotiator informed
Egypt briefed on Palestinian ceasefire plans

1 billion
That's how much Shell will be investing in Egypt in the next few years

Urban refugees
That's what the 30-40,000 Sudanese refugees in Cairo are called by the Voice of America article, which also features a debate on whether or not refugees are good for an economy... 

Egypt's efforts fruitful?
This AP report makes it seem like Hamas is close to accepting a ceasefire, partly as a result of Egyptian mediation efforts.

Update... Just a wee bit of additional information (not much mind you) in this Cellular News piece about Egypt Telecom's interest in buying shares in Vodafone Egypt

Strange solution...
Egypt Telecom plans to try and purchase 16 per cent of Vodafone Egypt off of Vodafone international, reports Al-Ahram... The going price is estimated at LE50 per share.

This would be the solution that we have been hearing about for the past few weeks... considering the fact that the national phone company seems highly unwilling to actually start its own mobile network, even though that's what had been planned all along, it already has the license, and the president said it must....

Mombasa tea party
Egypt buys a lot of tea at the Mombasa auction...

Another big meeting in Sharm
This time it's the World Trade Organization, and they're talking about subsidies and medicine...

Meanwhile, at the special Davos summit in Jordan, Foreign Minister Maher says Egypt will continue trying to broker meetings between Palestinian factions seeking a cease fire. He says, however, that Egypt's work is made more difficult by Sharon's intransigence, and his continuing insistence on targeted killings...

Trial on
The trial of the three Britons accused of reinvigorating the banned Hizb u-Tahreer movement in Egypt is set to restart soon...

The times are a changin...
Interesting Boston Globe column by a man who has visited Egypt sporadically over the past few decades and noticed the political changes that have taken place. Basically, he only quotes a couple of experts but comes up with a fairly accurate analysis: that there is no denying the overwhelming role moderate Islam plays in Egyptian society today. What that role will become in the future largely depends on how the government reacts to the changes now. Will it become more extremist? Will it become co-opted? Will an alternative be provided? These are all questions that will probably be answered in the next few years...

Calling for peace
"Bush," reports AFP, "said he had asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak 'to work with the Palestinian Authority to consolidate their security forces under prime minister (Mahmud) Abbas' to improve their abilities to dismantle terrorist groups."

Meanwhile...
A US arms control official discusses regional nuclear proliferation with Foreign Minister Maher, but the issue of Israeli nukes is conveniently skirted around by the US.

"Let’s start with whatever we can start with"
Saadeddin Ibrahim is optimistic that democratic reform is impending in Egypt and the Middle East. His views, he readily admits, may land him back in prison. 

The Christian Science Monitor, meanwhile, also does a story on democratization and human rights, using Ibrahim as its focal point. After reading the article, it remains unclear as to whether the embattled sociologist is being allowed to reopen the Ibn Khaldum Center. The way he explains what's going on is as follows: "There is the old guard, left over from the authoritarian Nasser years... And there are new forces that are trying to join the world and to liberalize ... society, but that young wing backs down when there is a confrontation."

The same story also rounds up other human rights news, like the new laws passed by parliament promoting human rights, and the banning of two NGOs...

Aiming for peace
Suzanne Mubarak launches an international women's peace movement in Switzerland. She says she doesn't want the organization to be just for first ladies -- that it must also work at the community level.

Gamaa rift?
Reuters makes a big deal out of one sentence in a released militant's interview with al-Hayat. 

Dealing with the US occupation... Egypt appoints new charge d'affaires in Iraq

The headlines says it all...
"Egyptian Mediators Fail to Persuade Palestinian Militants ," writes the Washington Post.
This Knight Ridder report claims the Egyptians will be back in 48 hours to see if the Palestinians have changed their minds.
Haaretz, quoted by Bloomberg, as well as CBS, were all optimistic until the last minute...
In general, Egypt's efforts have been put it in a very good light in the United States, despite, at least for now, their inability to actually get the Palestinian factions to cease fire, as this article in USA Today makes clear.

Chief mediators
No details yet on the substance of Egyptian efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Palestine. Two assistants to the intelligence chief visited both Hamas and Fatah on Sunday, with reports that a joint meeting would be held on Monday. Journalists were not told anything other than that the Egyptians had made proposals and that Hamas would consider them.
The Independent, meanwhile, quotes sources that claim they are optimistic the Egyptian mediations with Hamas will prove fruitful.

As the peace process quickly unravels
Egypt is clearly playing a very active role in light of the sudden escalation of violence between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Strong statements of condemnation were made by the president, the foreign minister and the press over the past two days, and the intelligence chief went over to try to broker a ceasefire.
Another visit is planned for next week, according to AFP.
But, as this AP report makes clear, Sharon has other plans.

Reform still hot topic
AP does a regional survey, finding reform to be an exercise in one step forward, two steps back....

Cairolive.com's Egypt headlines section surfs the net for you, searching high and low for the most useful and interesting stories out there about Egypt. Here you'll find the most discerning links to up-to-date news and entertainment -- if it's important and about Egypt on the net, we'll find it for you first every single time.

New mufti!
Ali Gomaa -- the "modern sheikh" (as described in an interview a few years ago in Nisf El-Donya magazine) ha been appointed Egypy's new mufti...

Repentant militant released
Karam Zohdi -- the Sadat assassination mastermind who has made high profile renunciations of violence -- was released from jail...

An ode to Heikal
Lebanon's Daily Star recounts the high and low points of esteemed journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal's life, as he turns 80 and considers retiring

Important decision
Children with foreign fathers and Egyptian mothers may now "seek" Egyptian citizenship. Each case will be examined to see if it meets the proper conditions, which have not really been spelled out by the media as of yet. It seems the catalyst for the decision was lobbying by the National Council of Women.

How to fly
Kites used to survey ancient sites near military area, says this National Geographic report

Censorship can be scarier
That's the conclusion to be drawn from this AP article on censorship in Egypt picked up by MSNBC.

The carnage continues
A tragic crash kills eight schoolgirls and seriously injures 12 more.

Arrested in Italy
Investigated for terror ties, the Egyptian fishermen immigrants say they did nothing wrong.

Interesting?
Egyptian Yahoo millionaire wants to be the Amazon of Egypt.

This is interesting
Egypt is making a concerted effort to attract seniors to spend their winters here, as this World Leisure News article points out.

Angling for history
A Sports Minister's sound bite -- "You dive or sail in the morning and watch the World Cup in the afternoon" -- figures prominently in this BBC piece that basically promotes Egypt's bid to host the 2010 World Cup

Monakabas dealing drugs
AFP echoes an Akhbar story on the veiled Assuit bango dealers

Tall tale?
Egyptian border patrol allow couple in because they're related to a soccer star, the British tabloid The Mirror claims

Strange days
Egyptian diplomat in Yemen gets tangled up in a botched kidnapping.

Politics and opera
A charming story about a Tennessee college student's recent visit to Egypt as part of a Model Arab League tour...

Museum upgrade
AP makes an intriguing comparison between traditional human guides and the new digital guides at the Egyptian museum in Tahrir

See cairolive.com's dispatch on the museum's centenary

Revoking the curse
Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, waxes poetic about the  "pharaoh's curse". Also called the "mummy's curse", this was allegedly a way the ancient Egyptians used to prevent people from digging up tombs. You dig up the tomb, you die. 
Hawass has always dismissed these curses as myths. This week, he's gotten massive world press after announcing that the Supreme Council of Archeology will be conducting tests on tombs to see if the "pharaoh's curse" really exists...
He still thinks it doesn't. Now, however, he wants to prove it scientifically, to show that any accidents that did happen in the past may have been caused by other factors, like diseases that develop from human mummies...

Sharif won't quit
International superstar Omar Sharif keeps getting quoted in the world press -- this time about the possibility of winning an Oscar, the Sodom and Gomorrah he saw in the Hollywood in the 60s, and much more...

Tour news
AP and CNN do Farafra.

Migrant tales
Egyptian immigrant to New Zealand makes headlines for not being able to find a job for 3 years. He has 500 rejection letters in a folder. So now he's going to try his luck in Australia...
Meanwhile, here's another sad story about an Egyptian immigrant to the States who may soon be leaving his wife and kids behind...
Meanwhile.. Egyptian sailors try to slip ashore illegally...
PLUS People-smuggling gun battle takes place in Sinai.

Court in session
Egyptian people smuggler on trial

BBC double whammy
A tiger mash and rumors of veil banning on TV.

"I'm happy that I'm not going to jail"
Egyptian international soccer star gets suspension, community service hours, for roughing up his Danish girlfriend

Flashback?
Chahine gets thoughtful about his new film, which -- strangely enough -- deals with both post-911 US as well as the US Chahine visited and fell in love with in the 1940s

Education in flux
A major Boston Globe expose on Egyptian education. This one pulls out all the stops... education is becoming more religious... grades are finessed to ensure a high passing rate.. etc.
One interesting note is that there are very few field trips in a country rich in antiquities... how true..
The award for bluntest statement of the year goes to Lila Soueif, a lecturer at Cairo University, who tells the paper that "The core problem is that the system is flawed completely, from beginning to end." 

Meanwhile... Lebanon's Daily Star deals with Thanawiyya amma suicides

Greater capability?
The Washington Times carries a UPI wire report about Egypt's vague new SAM military technology

No holds barred
A Guardian columnist takes aim at the idea of suing all Jews for stealing ancient Egyptian treasures

Must see
New antiquities museum for Alex.

A harbor underground
Interesting discoveries in the south.

Meanwhile... There's lots of evidence against the recent headline grabbing claims of a mummy being Nefertiti. This Reuters piece picked up by MSNBC presents most of it.

Sharif's comeback?
Superstar Omar Sharif is in Venice these days -- receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival, and promoting his new film, "Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Quran".
The film opened to critical acclaim; its subject matter -- a profound friendship between an older Muslim shopkeeper and a young Jewish teenager in 1960s Paris -- may raise eyebrows back home.
Sharif, meanwhile, has his mind on other things. He laments never having been in love in the "most beautiful city in the world."

Sudden decision?
Perhaps this AFP story quoting a Gomhoriya story claiming that foreign belly dancers have been banned from performing in Egypt should be taken with a grain or two of salt...

Why did ancient Egyptian languages disappear?
American scholars try to find out...

Meanwhile... Baltimore goes wild over its very own borrowed Egypt display

Racing against time?
Egypt's football league in dire straits, according to the BBC

Meanwhile... Arsenal's Wadi Degla academy opens in Egypt. Hopes to graduate future international soccer stars.

Goodbye Amina
Veteran actress Amina Rizk passes away

Bad news in Kafr El-Sheikh
Death toll from supposedly contained Rift Valley fever allegedly in the 30s, results in Saudi ban on "import of live goats, sheep, camels and gazelles from Egypt".

Meanwhile... Detroit's Copts celebrate Pope Shenouda's tour

Gotta read it to believe it
According to the Washington Times, "A dean at Egypt's University of Al-Zaqaziq is preparing a lawsuit against "all the Jews of the world," accusing them of stealing gold during the exodus."
We are probably about to see a lot of sarcastic articles about this, so stay tuned!

Street smart
Mohamed Ali, a native Alexandrian making pizzas with a gas oven in New York, charges 3-4 dollars per slice during blackout. The reason -- he can't get his cash register to open, and is thus unable to provide change.

More road carnage
Minya bus-truck crash kills 23, injures 37

Muscovites descend
"Tours to all Turkish and Egyptian resorts till mid-September have been sold out," reports UPI

Hilal waxes poetic
More details on the plans for Egypt's 2010 World Cup hosting bid

The Egyptian perspective
Al-Ahram Weekly founding editor-in-chief Hosny Guindy passed away at the age of 63 last week.
In this week's Weekly, cairolive.com founder Tarek Atia remembers a conversation with Hosny Guindy -- who was Atia's long-time editor and boss at the Weekly -- about the triumphs, tribulations and responsibilities of being a career journalist.

More wacky antiquity news
Computer generated Nefertiti!

Plus, "Amun-re!" is the name of a new Egyptian themed board game to hit massive recession game market.

Kind...
Taking care of Cairo's stray dogs...

Voiceless "Sawt El-Arab"?
Kamel Labidi rages against Arab media policy in this opinion piece in Lebanon's Daily Star.

Risky business
This strange story of an Egyptian NY cabdriver who gets jilted on a whopping $900 fare is courtesy of the New York Times.

Know when to fold 'em
30,000 euros in debt at a French casino, international Egyptian superstar actor Omar Sharif ends up head-butting a policeman.
Sharif said he couldn't remember the incident, but a French court convicted him anyway. He'll pay a fine but serve no jail time.

Another international soccer star?
Ghali signs with top European club.

Going local
McDonald's new sandwich McArabia makes CNNMoney. The claim is that it has helped Mcdonald's business in Egypt in light of boycott calls against American goods.

Unnecessary trouble
Egypt plays a side bar in the saga of the French father who was arrested for poisoning children who were competing against his own children in junior tennis championships. 
The man had just gotten back from watching one of his children play a tournament in Egypt when he was arrested.

Antiquities debacle
50 artifacts from an Alexandra underwater site are found at the airport with a mission architect posing as tourist.

Egypt unveils 2010 World Cup bid logo
Minister Hilal says that Naguib Mahfouz and Omar Sharif will be bid's ambassadors...

Facts on the ground
A researcher who spent several years in Egypt tries to prove that standardized development rankings may not really reflect facts on the ground. In this article from a newspaper in Iowa, she paints a portrait of an Egypt featuring a much higher rate of emancipation than reports would indicate.

Meanwhile... More Egyptian style architecture in Geelong!

A sad case
Food poisoning makes the Wales press.

Mad about movies
A Lebanese Daily Star article waxes poetic about an Egyptian film extravaganza currently playing at London's National Film Theatre. Musicals and dramas are on screen, wowing audiences with what the writer terms as daring cinema made all the more poignant by the fact that it is decades old.
Classic Egyptian filmmaker Salah Abu Seif is quoted in the article describing his passion for film, which involved creating " a mature cinematographic world where man’s struggle against fatal social conditions and his striving to change his destiny are expressed."
Meanwhile, modern Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine's segment in the controversial film 11 09 01 is called "fatally pretentious" by a New York Times movie reviewer.
In other film related news, we are informed by the BBC that the Egyptian screening of the popular "Jesus" film played a big role in the decision made by the group that produced the film's controversial campaign to send it to Iraq.

...and, Love-Hate personified -- According to a US documentary, Cairenes' favorite movie is Face-Off.

Strong vibes
More reactions to Hawass's bold request.

Inspired by the past?
Very interesting -- a 100km race based on a pharaonic hieroglyph is set to take place in November

Wait for Christmas
Trial delay for Hizb U Tahrir Britons

Trouble ahead?
BBC reports that Kenya wants more Nile water...

Books, etc.
Two pyramid themed books get dissed by the Telegraph, one more than the other...

Another book review of a seemingly important book about the history of the Suez Canal -- this one from the New York Times

Under the knife?
AFP concludes that "Plastic surgery takes off in Egypt as women turn to Western ideals."

And most people would say they were right...

Matrix redux
Egypt's recent banning of the Matrix sequel gets a thoughtful treatment from the Washington Times.

Mangos seized
Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, along with another top minister, had their mangos seized by customs authorities, when they tried to bring them into the country from Sudan.
The mangos were actually gifts from Sudan that had been given to the officials during a recent visit there, but bringing in mangos goes against fruit import laws.
Officials destroyed the 300 boxes of mangos weighing some 1500 kilos.

Upbeat downturn
Hossam Hassan upset about being pulled out of soccer match with Saudi -- says he doesn't want to play for Zamalek any more.

Update... Egyptian-American convicted of plotting to smuggle $600,000 from US to Egypt. Alaa Al-Saadawi now faces up to ten years in jail.

Bringing back the goods
Zahi Hawass's ambitious efforts to get the Rosetta Stone back from England -- as well as the Nefertiti bust back from Germany, and even the Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde back from France -- are detailed in this article in Australia's The Age. 
Britain is stalling, of course, but may agree to a 3-month loan of the stone.

Riskier now?
More details on the Egyptian conjoined twins in Texas in light of the failed attempt to separate the Iranian twins. Doctors who have been studying the possibility of separating the two young Egyptian boys think their youth may save them the tragic fate of the older Iranian women.
But no word yet on exactly when the operation might take place.

Mummification rules
A little bit too much gory detail in this article about mummification in Australian media entity The Age.
Meanwhile, in the States, a guy called Corky Ra is actually offering people the chance to be mummified after they die. The process costs $74,000. "Mummification seems a more civilized way to go than burning or burying," said Donna Gray, 60, of Salt Lake City, who has agreed to do it. While he hasn't yet mummified any real people "Corky" has conducted extensive experiments with the process on animals.
And... here's a look at the embalming -- partly inspired by ancient Egyptian mummification --  that was done to deceased soldiers in the US civil war.
Flashback... US television audience uncovers a mummy -- live!

Who's money is it?
The strange case of the $600,000 that an Egyptian American tried to smuggle out of the US.

Case to become more high profile?
Another Brit arrested in Hizb U-Tahrir case

Another road tragedy
Bus and truck collide, killing 15. When will the river of blood stop flowing on Egypt's roads...

Meanwhile... A Japan-Egypt medical research mission was involved in a minor collision with an Iraqi on Sunday night...

How do you say that?
Here's a very interesting tidbit, that will seem familiar to any Egyptian who has had trouble getting people in the West to pronounce their name correctly:  Hoda Kutb, a famous media personality of Egyptian origin in the United States, discusses the travails she faced in getting people to pronounce her last name properly.
In a bid to make it easier for people, she actually officially changed the spelling of her name for a while, but even that didn't work, so she has now changed it back to the original spelling...

Heart trouble
Mamdouh Mahran, the man responsible for the scandalous monk story in the paper Al-Nabaa, died while serving a three year prison term for publishing the story.

More Mido... BBC says Marseilles deal makes Mido "the most expensive Egyptian player ever."

Inked deals
Mido signs a five year deal with Marseilles, and -- interestingly enough -- says one of the main reasons he chose the French club was because of how popular it is in Cairo...
Meanwhile, according to Soccer Way, "Antonio Oliveira, who led Portugal at last year's World Cup, was named the new coach of Al-Ahli." Whether or not he will make a difference in the team's performance remains to be seen.

Tragedy in Brooklyn
Tiny Egyptian baby dies in tub

The title says it all
Egypt to Put Ancient Mummified Pets on Show

Another Egyptian cross-continental child custody case...
This one involves an Egyptian father and an American mother. The father took the kids and has led the mother on a global goose chase that has somehow ended up in Cuba, as this story in a Cuban newspaper recounts.

Cross-cultural soccer business
Egyptian Ajax star Mido's price tag to move to Marseilles is 12 million Euros, according to Middle East Online.
Meanwhile, Rami Shaaban does good work for his European team -- soccer giants Arsenal -- at Egypt's Wadi Degla Children's Football Club.

Major music piracy bust
Some 2 million illegally copied tapes are confiscated from an apartment in Giza.
The raid is considered a major step forward for Egypt's struggle to implement the rigorous standards of international Intellectual Property Rights law.
Police, to be sure, have their work set out for them, since the culture in general does not necessarily see copyright infringement as something all that bad. Illegal tapes are routinely traded, and even more popular are unauthorized mixes featuring the best songs from all the popular tapes, all in one package, usually sold by tape kiosks to special customers under the table.

Meanwhile... AFP concludes -- based on a pop music festival in Alexandria -- that Lebanese hotties like Nancy Agram and Haifa Wahba have replaced Egyptian singers -- mainly thanks to sexy videos -- as Arab pop music's top draws...

Wrong way tragedy
10 people killed in truck which tried to cross railroad tracks at a place where there was no official crossing. Train slammed into truck, resulting in the tragedy.

Checkmate
Details of a major Egyptian chess tournament make the New York Times!

They'd love to do it in Egypt
How serving in the Sinai MFOs can affect a couple's wedding plans...

Too much of a good thing?
Groundbreaking research being done in Egypt... This is from a ScienceDaily.com news release about a University of Rhode Island project, which aimed to discover how Mediterranean Sea fisheries were affected by the closure of the Aswan High Dam and the end of the annual Nile flood in Egypt.  
After a brief period of decline, and thanks to a burgeoning population, the fisheries are back. Why? The results speaks for themselves:
"...Human sewage and agricultural drainage now support the fertility once provided by the Nile"
Here's more:
"Based on population estimates, the potential release of man-made phosphorus from Cairo and Alexandria may now equal or exceed that of the historical Nile flood, and the excretion of dietary nitrogen is much larger than that delivered by the river."
Compelling, to be sure, but still hypothetical, for now. The article gets pretty scientific, but is still relatively easy to follow if you want more details.

Mido now heading for Marseille
The Ajax star keeps looking elsewhere...

Tragedy in Abu Tig
Noxious sewage fumes kill 6 villagers. Here it says the cause was a bride dragging furniture against an old floor. Elsewhere it says a housewife was trying to unclog a pipe. 

Why?
Egypt not part of 2004 Paris-Dakar?

Win either way
Shabana defeats Darwich in all-Egyptian Spanish squash final

Playing well
Egyptian squash man Karim Darwich playing well in Spain

Anwar and Cleopatra... Just two Egyptian geese loose in Philadelphia...

Tragic tales
Egyptian pizza store owner killed in bad neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, USA. El-Said Abid's philosophy was to deliver pizzas even in bad neighborhoods...
Another Egyptian immigrant to the US, Zeinhom Ramadan of New Jersey, may soon be deported even though he is a law abiding citizen. The reason -- he was late to register under the immigration service's new law

Meanwhile... Egyptian-American 9-11 fake ID seller Atriss back in the news again after media companies manage to get secret hearings released...

Why censor?
A multi faceted look at different forms of censorship with an especially harsh take on Egypt's banning of the Matrix Reloaded.

Doreen's biscuits
The Paisley Daily Express, a Scottish newspaper, recounts the tale of a Scotland-native long time Cairene named Doreen who found her favorite Scottish biscuits by chance in the super market one day. The rest, as they say, is history...

An endless quest?
Is Fayed just a little bit closer to seeing the light on foul play accusations regarding Dodi and Di's death?

A race of another sort
An item in Middle East Online provides more information on Egypt's bid to host he 2010 World Cup. The most surprising tidbit is the one that reveals how early these things are chosen. In this case, the winner will be chosen as soon as May 20, 2004. Now that Egypt has submitted a formal bid, inspectors from FIFA will be touring the country and evaluating for the next 6 months.

Soccer... Egypt gets good "bye" for 2006 World Cup

Geopolitical dance
A report from the big belly dance festival that recently took place... Al-Zaieem covered the lead up to the fest here.

Not religious
Big conference aims to eliminate female circumcision

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