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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Fikri the first
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters
EGYPTIAN Karim Fikri, 17, stunned the karate world by winning two gold medals at the international karate championship held in Germany last week. "I never imagined that I would win these two gold medals since most of the players are older," Fikri said. "These two medals have given me the incentive to do better in future championships," he added. "My biggest dream is for karate to become an Olympic sport and for me to win a gold medal for Egypt." Fikri trains in Spain where he says he can acquire more experience by playing with competitors from several foreign countries. His parents foot the bill for their son's expenses abroad. Fikri crowned his success on the mats by getting 99.1 per cent in his high school class.Philippoussis out of Davis Cup
AUSTRALIA'S Mark Philippoussis will be sidelined for at least six weeks, ruling him out of this month's Davis Cup tie against the United States, after injuring his knee at Wimbledon. Philippoussis was forced to retire from his Wimbledon quarter-final clash with Pete Sampras last Friday when he hurt his knee after having taken the opening set.Armstrong sets an example
AMERICAN Lance Armstrong, in his first Tour de France since fighting off a near-fatal cancer, staged a fantastic comeback by winning the Tour's 6.8-km prologue. In just over eight minutes and two seconds, the Texan became the first American since Greg LeMond in 1990 to hold the race leader's yellow jersey.Italy in repeat victory
ITALY repeated their 1983 victory over Spain when they took the men's European basketball championship for the second time, winning 64-56. The Italians, who also beat the Spanish on French soil 16 years ago, won a largely one-sided final at Bercy.New Euro pole vault record
UKRAINE'S Angela Balakhonova set a women's European pole vault record and edged closer to Australian Emma George's world mark at the Stade de France. Balakhonova vaulted 4.55 metres to score an overwhelming victory ahead of second-placed Tatiana Grigorieva of Australia, who cleared 4.41.Jordan's youth minister quits
JORDAN'S Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Kheir Mamsar, in charge of the country's preparations to host the Pan-Arab sports tournament, submitted his resignation to the cabinet, officials said. It was not immediately clear what prompted the junior minister's action, the first public dissent within the ranks of the government appointed only one month after King Abdullah's accession to the throne after his father's death last February. Mamsar visited Kuwait last month to try to persuade the Gulf Emirate to reconsider its decision not to participate in the Pan-Arab Games if Iraq were present. Amman is to host the games next August. The minister said at the time that he would resign if Kuwait refused to heed Jordan's plea to take part. Later, Kuwait agreed to a symbolic presence -- a minister attending the opening ceremony -- but insisted it would not participate in the actual games because of the presence of Iraq which invaded and occupied the emirate for seven months until being driven out in 1991.Tottenham signs Perry
TOTTENHAM Hotspur has said it has signed Wimbledon central defender Chris Perry for around £4.0 million ($6.31 million). "It's a fantastic opportunity for me to come to a massive club like Spurs," said the 26-year-old, whose international prospects could get a boost by his teaming up with regular England defender Sol Campbell at Tottenham.
