Tarek Atia's web log
Find
out how
the world media sees Egypt...
JANUARY
2004
Happy
eid
800 prisoners
to be released for eid.
Soccer-mania
Egypt loses to Algeria in a strange match... IHT provides details.
Meanwhile,
Egyptian star Hazem
Emam quite vocal with the BBC about why the loss happened, quite
worried about his team's chances of advancing... which depend on Egypt beating
Cameroon.
More soccer...
Egypt's plans to host the 2006
African Nations Cup are revealed...
Meanwhile,
FIFA wraps up its Egypt inspection,
thus completing its inspections of the five nations pining to host
the 2010 World Cup, which will be played in Africa.
Plus,
South Africa a little overconfident,
perhaps?
Speaking of
SA
South African columnist says Egypt will shape
the path to be taken by the Middle East and Africa in the next
few decades.
Found at
sea
Sole
survivor in poor weather sea tragedy heading back to Egypt
after being treated in Malta
More finds
Interesting Polish-Egyptian archaeological
find near Saqqara...
Web posted by
Tarek Atia Saturday, January 31, 2004 23:00 CAIRO
Updates...
Sharm black box details emerge, investigators still puzzled...
Downed Nasr City
building owner arrested...
Interest in
local brand
Indian firm acquires
Egyptian hair care brand Touch
Mortgage on the
way?
Another milestone on the mortgage road ... major
banks form finance company to help first home buyers... but still
no details on when and how it will become real. (There's just a bit
more in this press release...)
Close-up
Two articles about the ancient Egyptian tombs on display at New York's
Metropolitan Museum of Art. The thick glass that protected them is
being replaced, and for a few weeks, visitors will be able to finally
see the wall decorations in situ. Here is AP's
take, and then there's the New
York Times, which celebrates the classic passages in The Catcher
and the Rye that take place at the Met's Egypt wing.
Iraq, Iraq, Iraq
(part x)
Crazy amount of black
market dealing in Bremer Iraqi dinars... why are people acting like
this?
Meanwhile,
Mubarak's political advisor, Osama El-Baz, has intense
warnings for Iraq's future. If the country is broken up in pieces,
it could lead to the collapse of the whole Arab world...
Plus, who was being
paid
off by Saddam?
Football frenzy
Preview of tonight's Egypt-Algeria contest
Meanwhile ESPN and
Reuters describe
the win against Zimbabwe as such: "Egypt came from behind to beat
Zimbabwe 2-1 in their opening Group C game on Sunday, displaying an
intensity not yet seen from any of the other 15 teams at the
tournament."
Web posted by
Tarek Atia Thursday, January 29, 2004 12:00 CAIRO
Another building
down....
An eleven or twelve story building in Nasr City collapses after a
fire....
It's the same
old story -- the owner seems to have put up more floors than he was
allowed to... local authorities warned him, but tragedy happened
anyway.
Most
of the residents had been evacuated because of the fire, but 8 or 9
fire and rescue personnel have been found dead so far. Several
more are believed to be trapped under the rubble -- a total of 14 may
be found dead, plus 40 or so injured.
Here
are differing reports from Reuters,
AP,
and AFP.
Yahoo provides a selection
of photos from the fallen building...
Football victory
Egypt defeats Zimbabwe 2-1
in first round of African Nations Cup, looks forward to match against
Algeria on Thursday
Meanwhile, Mubarak
meets FIFA, gives bid to host 2010 World Cup his personal
backing.
Big visit
Details from AP about Bill
Gates' recent visit to Egypt
Updates...
Egyptian charter
plane in trouble in France
Finally,
Egypt-Libya rift resolved...
Egypt abroad
Egypt's Nawal
El-Saadawi amongst top women speakers at NGO forum featuring
celebrated writer Arundati Roy
Pakistani writer
uses Egypt's peace treaty with Israel as
a model for how Pakistan should deal with the Kashmir issue
Web posted by
Tarek Atia Tuesday, January
27, 2004
16:00 CAIRO
State of the Union reactions of the Union reactions
AFP accurately reports that
"Newspapers in Egypt and Syria took pains to highlight US
President George W. Bush's omission
of any reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his State of
the Union address."
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister
Ahmed Maher told reporters "there's no doubt many were astonished
because the ... speech did not deal with the Palestinian question. But
this does
not mean there are no affirmations from the U.S. side that they are
committed to working to implement the road map and the matter remains
of concern to them."
Meanwhile... New
Muslim Brotherhood chief's political views
of the US get some play from AFP
Ill sky
Some of the effects of the weekend's bad
weather, courtesy of the BBC...
Showtime!
FIFA
is here.
Meanwhile,
Blatter's recent comments
good for Egypt, world soccer?
Twins
update
Mohamed, one of the Egyptian twins in Texas, has started walking
with assistance, this news item says.
Endless archeology
An interesting report on why Egypt needs more
museum space, and what it's doing about it...
Meanwhile,
more than 1000
artifacts found off coast...
Web posted by
Tarek Atia Sunday, January 25, 2004 08:00 CAIRO
Books...
Russian news agency highlights just opened Cairo
International Book Fair
Peace...
Egypt trying to push
for Syria-Israel negotiations...
Rights...
New rights council somewhat controversial
because of its government links
Photo...
Fake Pharaoh
beard for French model in Egypt inspired show
No photo...
Israelis not
allowed to interview Amr Moussa, reports Jazeera
Request...
Accused Egyptian
American Guatanamo translator wants to be free while his case is
investigated
Update...
Australian belly dancer appeals of new law rejected.
Web posted by
Tarek Atia Thursday, January 22, 2004 14:00 CAIRO
Big
ideas
Galliano's ancient
Egypt inspired fashion show for Dior is all the rage -- gets
rave reviews in the IHT -- and even Youssra is quoted! (I even saw
an item on it on the local news last night...)
Belly explain
IHT gets the new law straight -- "Foreigners are now legally barred from working as the
sole, headline dancers in the cabarets of Cairo and Egypt's
various tourist resorts."
Bold plan
In an interview with Islam Online, Egypt's mufti
suggests that a protocol
be drawn up to discuss the integration of Muslims in the West...
Plane
updates
Details
emerge regarding the spot checks that had been conducted at
French airports in the past on the Flash plane that fell ..
Both
black boxes retrieved -- they were "found about 30 meters
apart at a depth of more than 1,000 meters," reports IHT.
Crash
ramifications -- CNN says "concerned Swiss travelers can [now]
e-mail the government to ask whether a foreign carrier is banned
from landing in Switzerland..."
Web posted by
Tarek Atia Tuesday, January 20, 2004 09:00 CAIRO
PLANE SEARCH
CONTINUES
Both black boxes found... one retrieved,
handed over to Egypt.
Italy
capture update
A few more details
on how the two Italian Red Brigades fugitives were recently captured in
Egypt.
Fish to Europe?
Egyptian fish will soon be heading back to European plates again, now
that a ban
on them has been lifted, according to this report.
Why?
Why are Egyptians hoarding
Iraqi dinars?
Meanwhile...
8 people and a dog decide to traverse the length of the Nile by raft...
Out there
In the lead up to summer's fashion shows, word is that
one designer's main inspiration is set to be Egypt.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Sunday, January 18, 2004 02:00 CAIRO
What to expect
Interesting prelude article to African Nations soccer
cup...
Meanwhile,
FIFA team wraps up Libya visit, Egypt
is next...
Politics as
usual?
Burn's meetings in Cairo carefully documented
by AFP
Exposure
Sahar El-Layaly showing in Palm Springs at an international film
festival in the lead up to see whether it will make the top
5 nominations in the best foreign language film category at the
Oscars
Fake and real
crime?
Strange things happening with fugitives heading for
and from
Cairo
Quick decision
Muslim Brothers reach interesting compromise
on Hodeibi succession...
Mummy mania
NY Times profiles a semi retired Egyptian
mummy expert
Saqqara roars again
BBC reports on a mummified lion
find
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Thursday, January 15, 2004 03:00 CAIRO
A
quagmire if there ever was one
Is the Libya-Egypt border skewer linked
to Tripoli being upset about an angry Cairo press?
As usual
Internal Iranian disputes over changing street name... will not
affect decision, Tehran
city hall says.
Meddlesome
procedures
Sad and surreal story
of increased security procedures in the US causing Muslims unforeseen
troubles. An Egyptian's story opens the piece.
Meanwhile, there's a
ministerial gazelle snafu
at Cairo airport...
New route
Air Arabia adds Alexandria
to its Egypt itinerary.
Murky ties
Vague CNN report of an Egyptian in the US's trouble
with the law.
Updates...
Norway embassy reopens
Sober Reuters account of
potential succession
at the Muslim Brotherhood following leader Hodeibi's death.
... and submarine robot Scorpio
begins searching the sea for the charter plane black box today. It
will be joined by Super Achille on Thursday.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Tuesday, January 13, 2004 11:00 CAIRO
Plane
updates...
Insurance will be providing $350,000
for each victims' families...
A more
advanced robot should help investigators retrieve black box when it
arrives next Thursday...
Downed plane's fuselage
probably intact...
Meanwhile...
No frills Middle East
airline makes first flight to Egypt -- not to Cairo, but
to Assuit
Grin and bear it
Egyptians trying to go to the US are not upset about the new
tougher fingerprinting restrictions,
according to this MSNBC report.
Alert
Terror threat at Norway embassy
in Cairo?
Iran, Iran, Iran
A Reuters feature calls warming of Egypt Iran ties a case of
"Middle
East Giants Come Together"... The most interesting parts
of the article appear on its second page -- as to why the
reconciliation is coming now, and how the US might react to it.
Meanwhile, a site
called Iranmania reports -- based on an Al-Hayat article -- that
Egyptian investors are planning to invest some $500
million in Iran.
Maamoun Hodeibi dies...
... and 25,000 show up for Muslim
Brotherhood leader's funeral...
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Sunday, January 11, 2004 01:00 CAIRO
Debating
Iran
As the debate over how soon Egypt-Iran diplomatic relations will
be restored goes on, Reuters' take is that
restoring the ties might result in the handover
of some prominent al-Qaeda suspects...
Meanwhile, here's an AP
photo of the controversial Tehran street
whose name will be changed to Intifada...
Big embassies
Even after the huge, planned US embassy in Baghdad is staffed, Egypt's
US Embassy will still have the most personnel, according to the Washington Post.
Team on the way
More details on the FIFA
inspection team coming to Cairo on January 23 to explore
Egypt's bid to host the World Cup. The team includes members from
Chile and France.
Debating hijab
Islam Online reports on a
Press Syndicate rally
that took place this week against the mooted French anti-hijab law...
LATEST
PLANE UPDATES
First black box found,
but too deep underwater to find without more specialized
equipment...
2nd
black box also located, but also too deep... investigators have
two to three weeks to recover it, this article says.
Fall out from the crash... banned
planes may be put on watch list
Air travel is actually
getting safer,
says this Christian Science Monitor report...
French-American
dual citizen and family perished in crash...
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Thursday, January 8, 2004 13:00 CAIRO
LATEST
PLANE DETAILS
--Norway service company
says plane was OK
at last check
--Swiss charges inspire
much debate
over plane's safety record
--Aviation Ministry "categorically
rejects"
--Most detailed
story from the International Herald Tribune
--Black
box signal heard...
--Bulk of wreck
almost found...
--Shark
reports false, according to a story in The Independent
--Lots of Yahoo pics
of Sharm post crash
OTHER NEWS
Another coach gone
Egyptian Olympic coach not
the only one sacked last week..
Not funny
Largely anonymous news item from The Australian claiming Egyptian
on board a KLM flight made an insensitive
hijacking joke and is now in custody in Italy
Better ties
BBC says Mohamed
El Dourra to replace Khaled El-Islambouli as Egypt and Iran
renew ties? Why all the fuss right now?
More...
Kamal El-Sheikh -- the prince
of directors -- dies at 85.
Egypt
stock market -- along with rest of Middle East bourses -- up
as the New Year begins...
More from the BBC on Mubarak's
views on the France headscarf issue
NDP wins most
of the seats in draft dodging MP by-elections...
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Tuesday, January 6, 2004 13:00 CAIRO
CRASH UPDATE
The Telegraph reports that
a massive power failure is now believed
to be the cause of the crash...
Meanwhile, reports are also emerging that the company's planes
had previously been banned in Switzerland due to serious safety
concerns. Depending on the report, France was either aware or
unaware of the Swiss claims. Egypt is waiting for solid evidence of
them. This
BBC report has more...
A Reuters story by a reporter named Opheera McDoom
focuses on the scuba diving still going on in the Red Sea resort of Sharm
El-Sheiukh as recovery operations take place to remove debris and parts of human bodies from the crash
that may still be
in the water. McDoom quotes
someone named "Mogli
Mohamed" as saying that debris from the crash may travel
up the coast to Dahab. The story also says carnivorous fish like sharks may
be eating some of the body parts.
An AFP story provides more bloody
details of the search for victims.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Monday, January 5, 2004 11:00 CAIRO
The crash
Charter
flight crashes after takeoff from Sharm El-Sheikh.
All 141 passengers on board believed to be dead...
Entire French
families died as the Air Flash plane descended into the Red
Sea. AFP reports that "the incident is absolutely not the
result of a terrorist act, but is linked to a technical failure of
the plane," according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed
Maher.
The plane had a a problem at
take off and the pilot turned back but failed to make it. Six
complete bodies were recovered; the rest was shards and debris.
More from AFP.. "Civil
aviation officials said there were 133 French tourists on board, as
well as one Japanese and a Moroccan, both women. The remainder
comprised the Egyptian crew flying the plane and a relief crew. One of
the victims was the crew's chief flight attendant, Nermin Mohammed, who
was pregnant and who had married just six months ago, according to her
mother, who joined other sobbing relatives at Cairo airport."
It was the third Boeing crash in
less than nine months...
This Reuters story provides more
information on the plane -- which had been regularly
maintained in Norway, as well as the possibility that French investigators
will join their Egyptian counterparts in trying to find out exactly
what happened.
Another AFP story indicates that
France has opened up preliminary
investigations for manslaughter, and provides details about the crisis
center established in Paris to help the victims' families.
A Guardian story from Paris also
provides even
more tragic details about the families' reactions, including that
one of the passengers tried to call her relative in Paris on a mobile
phone.
This quote is also quite
telling: "Bernard
Chabert, air correspondent for the radio network Europe 1, said it was
'a good little company' that operated two 10-year-old Boeing
737s."
The search for the black
box and other details from the rescue operation are in this ABC
story.
Another story tries
to place the crash in the context of a world
on edge because of heightened security and terrorism fears...
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Sunday, January 4, 2004 13:00 CAIRO
Out in the open
When President Hosni Mubarak told an Egyptian radio interviewer on
Thursday January 1, 2004, that "[Succession talk] is nonsense...
the regime in Egypt is republican, there is no hereditary transfer of
power... This... will not happen in Egypt," the news was
immediately carried around the world.
First reported by Egyptian news
agency MENA, the story was picked up in practically the same way by AFP,
Reuters
and the BBC.
The quotes are also -- quite
significantly -- splashed on the banner headlines of Friday's El-Ahram
and El-Akhbar...
Still
trying
Presidential advisor Osama El-Baz to Palestine to try
and stop threat of Israeli unilateral withdrawal
Head scarf
REACTION:
Australian web site reports that Hosni Mubarak backs
Tantawi's headscarf comments
Meanwhile,
Islam Online quotes several Egyptian Islamic scholars as being totally
opposed to what Tantawi had to say
Crackdowns
One of Britons in delayed Hizb u-Tahrir case urges Blair -- who is
holidaying in Egypt -- to call Hosni Mubarak and tell him to Egypt
should drop
the case, which he calls a "farce".
Meanwhile, five
Russian Muslim students in Cairo arrested -- charges are still not
clear...
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Friday, January 2, 2004 16:00 CAIRO
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