Al-Ahram leads with news from the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C. The state-owned paper says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "obliterated peace," during his speech, which confirmed that settlement construction in Jerusalem will continue.
Al-Ahram reports that Netanyahu’s speech lasted “almost one hour,” and was met with cheers of approval from the majority of the conference’s attendees. “Jerusalem is not a settlement,” the Israeli PM announced, “it is the capital of Israel.” Netanyahu also downplayed the recent tension between the United States and Israel—caused by the latter’s announcement of further settlement construction during a visit from US Vice President Joseph Biden last week—as a case of “misunderstanding between friends.”
Meanwhile, Al-Akhbar leads with a follow-up to yesterday’s main story—the national budget for the new fiscal year. During a meeting with the cabinet, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif reportedly emphasized the urgency of finding “new sources” for funding “big projects” that the national budget is not capable of supporting. Instead, education, health, and transportation services will be “prioritized” in the new budget.
Nazif announced the construction of nine “electronic education compounds,” which would provide “specialized training in various industries, establishing a framework to be organized by the coming industrial renaissance.” The compounds will be located in governorates all across Egypt. Nazif also reportedly attributed recent economic growth to an increase in internal investments, crediting them for the overall stability in Egypt throughout the recent global financial crisis.
Al-Akhbar also designates a tiny box in the top left corner of its front page to congratulate the president for the birth of his first granddaughter, Farida Gamal Mubarak, who was born early Tuesday morning.
Both Al-Akhbar and Al-Ahram feature stories on yesterday’s meeting between Al-Azhar’s new Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb and Pope Shenouda III. Al-Akhbar includes a picture of the two religious leaders sharing a close embrace.
El-Tayeb is quoted as stating “the unity between Egyptian Muslims and Copts cannot be manipulated,” in Al-Ahram’s headline, with the paper’s report including details of Pope Shenouda’s visit to Cairo in order to congratulate el-Tayeb on his new job. Al-Akhbar’s coverage included promises by el-Tayeb and Shenouda of further collaborations and cooperation between Al-Azhar and the church. According to the paper, the pair’s combined efforts will concentrate on “the concept of national unity.”
Al-Shorouq takes a more light-hearted approach to the story with the headline “Pope teases el-Tayeb during congratulatory visit.” The teasing apparently consisted of the Pope stating to al-Tayeb: “Being Grand Sheikh is not an easy job,” before adding, “I am not trying to scare you; you are worthy of this position.”
Al-Shorouq’s lead story, however, is less light-hearted. For the second time in six months, writes the paper, Palestinian authorities have requested the UN’s Human Rights Council disregard a report on the current situation in Palestinian territories. The report, according to the Palestinian Authority, inaccurately portrays internal conflicts between the Palestinians.
Speaking to Al-Shorouq, an anonymous source within the Palestinian Authority claimed: “If the author of the report is seeking personal glory, by being a Jew who is criticizing Israel, then that is his business,” further explaining that the Palestinian’s problems lay with the fact that “the report adopts the point of view held by Hamas, and as such undermines legitimate authorities.” Representatives of the Human Right Council in Geneva have responded by describing the situation as “bizarre and disturbing,” according to Al-Shorouq.
Al-Wafd leads with the inexplicably proud headline, “We alone provide pictures of meat infected with Sarcocyst worms.” In its follow-up on yesterday’s coverage of the unfolding tainted meat scandal, Al-Wafd claims worms up to seven centimeters in length have been found in meat imported from India.
According to an unnamed “veterinary source,” the length of the worms indicates that the livestock from which the meat was produced must have been between ten to 15 years of age, which is at least six years older than hygienic purposes allow. The details of the story, however, take a backseat to the stomach-churning image printed to its left—an unnecessarily large close up of a slab of infected meat, speckled with clearly visible Sarcocyst worms. Al-Wafd says it was only able to obtain the images following a “journalistic adventure in the ports of Alexandria.”
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
