“The American radar is screening Mubarak’s health,” declares Al-Wafd opposition newspaper’s front page. The news item reports on a Washington Times article on the American administration’s concern about Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s health and the possible scenarios that may take place after his death.
Israeli claims regarding a deterioration in the president’s health have been refuted officially by Egypt. The Washington Times article is reported in Al-Wafd as saying that Gamal Mubarak is expected to take over the lead from his father, but that Mohamed ElBaradei is also considered to be a potential candidate for the presidency.
Meanwhile, Egyptians are waiting for ElBaradei’s final say on whether he will run for elections or not, continues the article, which is also mentioned in Al-Shorouq newspaper. Apparently ElBaradei’s presence in Egypt for five months has been ample time for him to announce where he stands regarding the elections. The Washington Times article adds that the “honeymoon between ElBaradei and his supporters is about to come to an end.” Moreover, it is expected that ElBaradei will enjoy high popularity among Egyptians when compared with Mubarak himself in the coming elections, according to Al-Shorouq newspaper.
State-owned and independent newspapers’ front pages feature news on students’ acceptance into universities. According to Al-Akhbar, there has been a three percent decrease in the grades required for students to be enrolled in different colleges. Medical schools have been accepting students with a minimum of 94.8 percent and engineering schools have been accepting students with a minimum of 88 percent.
“We should not be decreasing the minimum averages for students with low grades–we neither sell certificates nor commercialize them,” said Hany Helal, Minister of Higher Education, quoted in Al-Shorouq. Helal said the design of a new system for high school education in Egypt is nearly complete, but will not be applied before the academic year 2011/12.
To help improve the current situation, Ahmed Zaki Badr, Minster of Education, has given students of the first stage of thanaweyya amma the chance to to re-select their electives between October 2010 and February 2011, according to Al-Akhbar newspaper.
Popular Egyptian Islamic scholar Khaled el-Guindy has recently called for approval for Christian students to be enrolled at Al-Azhar University alongside their Muslim counterparts, but Al-Azhar scholars have refused his call, according to Nahdet Misr newspaper. Soaad Saleh, the dean of Al-Azhar University, refused the request, saying that students must be Muslim to study at Al-Azhar, should memorize the whole of the Quran, and should have a good knowledge of the life of the Prophet Mohamed.
Al-Ahram writes of “the biggest agreement between the Ministry of Petrol and British Petroleum,” in one of its headlines. Yesterday in a meeting between Ahmed Nazif, the Egyptian prime minster, and the managing director of BP Global, a contract was signed for oil exploration in Egypt with total investments of US$9 bn. “This is considered the largest investment ever made in the petroleum field in Egypt,” said Sameh Fahmy, Minster of Petrol, as quoted by Al-Ahram newspaper.
And finally, the Lawyers Syndicate has ended its strike until a court verdict is announced next month in the case of two lawyers sent to prison for attacking a prosecutor a month ago, according to Al-Shorouq. The strike started in response to the five-year prison sentences handed down to the two lawyers for attacking a police prosecutor in Tanta.
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
