Brotherhood suggests amendments; NDP puts sports on agenda; yamish market depressed
CAIRO: News of the upcoming announcement of the ruling National Democratic Party s vision on constitutional amendments is being widely covered by independent newspapers. The ruling party s annual conference is due to be held on September 19, 2006.
Under the title of The constitution that Egypt wants, independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm published the Muslim Brotherhood s vision of desirable constitutional amendments. Two of the articles that the Brotherhood has focused on as needing change, the paper said, are article 76 and article 77 of the constitution. These two articles state how the president is elected, and the number of terms the president is allowed to stay in power.
The Brotherhood demands that the articles be changed to stipulate that the president be elected by secret direct general elections. They also demand that each term be set at five years, specifying a limitation of two terms.
Amid this debate, Al-Ahram newspaper reported that, for the first time, the National Democratic Party would discuss ways to improve sports at their annual conference.
New methods to fund sports and widen the base of practicing [sports], would be discussed, according to Gamal Mubarak, quoted in Al-Ahram newspaper.
With the month of Ramadan approaching, news of the yamish (nuts and dried fruits) market received coverage as well. Al-Wafd newspaper reported a depression in the yamish market, blaming the rise in prices this year and the fact that families are currently concerned with paying school expenses.
The paper reported that Nasrallah dates are on the top of the list, sold for LE 16 a kilogram; followed by Nancy Agram dates, sold for LE 12 a kilogram; and at the bottom of the list, Olmert dates are being sold for LE 2 a kilogram.
Also in the news are reports of yet another calamity to hit the transport sector, this one having taken place in the Suez Canal.
An Egyptian dredger sank in the Suez Canal on Wednesday, killing two of the 45 crew and prompting a brief closure of the busy international waterway as rescuers searched for two others, officials said. The two missing crew were feared dead, Suez Canal Authority sources said. The other 41 had been rescued, including six who were injured in the accident near the town of Ismailia. Both dead crew members drowned, the sources said. A Canal Authority official said a technical fault was the apparent cause of the sinking in the waterway, an important international trade route and the fastest shipping link between Europe and Asia.
It is too early to tell. The picture is still not clear, Suez Canal Authority chairman Mahmoud Abdel Wahab told AFP, denying earlier reports of collision with another ship. A team of divers from the Suez Canal Authority is currently examining the area of the sinking to determine the best way to remove the ship, he told the official MENA news agency. Authorities said the canal was closed for an hour after the accident but shipping traffic had since been diverted to the waterway s western channel and was flowing normally. The eastern channel remained closed. The waterway has not been affected and traffic is moving completely normally, Yussri Abul Naga, an engineer with the Canal Authority told Egyptian television.
