International news dominates today with the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski yesterday and the start of Sudanese elections today.
Al-Akhbar leads with a headline that the Polish president and his wife died in a plane crash in western Russia, adding that 100 other passengers died on the flight. Al-Ahram, which dedicates a small spot to Kaczynski’s death on its front page, put the number at 96, while international news sources currently state 97 died.
Al-Ahram leads with assurances from the Sudanese National Elections Commission that it is adhering to the policies of a free and fair election given the widespread presence of local and international observers to monitor the voting process. The paper quotes observers saying that the victory of incumbent President Omar al-Bashir has become almost certain after the withdrawal of most of his rivals. Voting begins today.
Al-Shorouq, however, quotes an assistant to the Sudanese president saying that the elections will witness large-scale fraud, and that Sudanese officials are waiting to “find out how rigging the final phase of the election will take place.”
All three state-run papers report on First Lady Suzanne Mubarak’s opening of the Royal Jewelry Museum in Alexandria. The museum had been renovated and modernized. Mrs. Mubarak is also quoted as calling for cultural bridges between countries during a celebration of a 500,000-book donation to theBibliotheca Alexandrina from the French National Library.
Al-Dostour leads with a headline quoting the World Health Organization: "Half a million Egyptians die from heart disease annually, and 64,000 from cancer." The report further states that 23,167 patients died out of a total of three million patients that underwent treatment at state hospitals during the last year. Of the many other statistics reported, Al-Dostour’s article says that Egypt has undergone the highest international increase in deaths from cosmetic surgery, with 14.3 percent of the 7904 who underwent such surgery dying.
Al-Dostour also reports on the arrest of a number of members of the 6 April Youth Movement yesterday. The 6 April members were protesting assaults against their colleagues at a demonstration last Tuesday, where 92 people were arrested. Despite a decision to release them, five people still remain in custody.
Al-Shorouq leads with pessimism over the start of negotiations between Nile Basin countries today in Sharm el-Sheikh. The paper says negotiations will start amid an air of pessimism and quotes Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasr Eddin Allam saying talks may take more than five years.
Egypt’s newspapers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhorriya: Daily, state-run
Rose el-Youssef: Daily, state-run, close to the National Democratic Party’s Policies Secretariat
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouq:Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Youm7: Weekly, privately owned
Sawt el-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
