Tarek Atia's web log
Find
out how
the world media sees Egypt...
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.
Ambitious...
Egypt's Orascom Telecom submits bid for mobile
phone license in Iraq. This Forbes article provides no further
details on the issue, however.
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...
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Friday, August 29, 2003 6:00 CAIRO
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.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Wednesday, August 27, 2003 9:00 CAIRO
Goodbye Amina
Veteran actress
Amina Rizk passes away
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
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".
Mission
impossible?
President Hosni Mubarak's top political advisor Osama Al-Baz tries
to save the peace in Palestine.
Meanwhile...
Detroit's Copts
celebrate Pope Shenouda's tour
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Monday, August 25, 2003 2:00 CAIRO
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.
Ruining peace
Egypt condemns killing
of Abu Shanab
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!
Vivacious
Egyptian
Nadia Younes was amongst those who died in the Baghdad UN blast. More
about her colorful story here...
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Friday, August 22, 2003 19:00 CAIRO
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
presence of machine guns in church. The article suggests that the
release may have been the result of pressure put on Washington by
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed
Maher.
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.
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
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Wednesday, August 20, 2003 15:00 CAIRO
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.
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.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Monday, August 18, 2003 5:00 CAIRO
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.
Sad
Arafat's sister dies
at Palestine hospital in Cairo
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.
Big news!
Mido scores
Bright Star cancelled
US forces are way too overstretched
to participate in the annual exercises with Egypt this year
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Friday, August 15, 2003 7:00 CAIRO
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.
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.
Sahar El-Layaly
making news
AFP gives up the most
of the plot of the currently popular film about young marriage.
BBC spins
the same article into the idea that franker discussions of sex are
popping up elsewhere as well.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Tuesday, August 12, 2003 5:00 CAIRO
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.
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...
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.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Saturday, August 9, 2003 17:00 CAIRO
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.
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.
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.
Web
posted by Tarek Atia Thursday, August 7, 2003 18:00 CAIRO
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