Newsreel

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Turkish ties

PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak met with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday to discuss the latest regional developments in the lead up to the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) being held in Turkey from 14-16 June. Turkey wants Egypt's support for its nomination of Akmaleddin Ihasan for the OIC secretary-general's post.

The Turkish foreign minister also delivered a message to Mubarak from his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

Gul also answered reporters' queries regarding Istanbul's recent seizure of military equipment bound for Egypt. He said the incident should not be exaggerated, describing it as a technical problem related to discrepancies on the ship's manifest that indicated it had been transferring spare parts.

While the crew on the ship, docked in the Turkish port of Ambarli, was transferring its cargo -- which included warheads and a radio-controlled missile -- to another vessel bound for Egypt, customs officers became suspicious when they noticed that the identification numbers on some of the containers had been scratched out.

Egypt acknowledged it owned the shipment, and "Egypt and Turkey will soon resolve the issue," Gul told reporters. "It should not be blown out of proportion."

New daily

A MUCH-DISCUSSED new daily newspaper hit newsstands on Monday. Al-Masri Al-Youm (Today's Egyptian) was being promoted as a liberal, "information-oriented" publication by its financial backers, who include businessmen Salah Diyab, Mohamed Farid Khamis and Ahmed Bahgat. The paper has been in the planning stages for over a year.

Cinematic love

A FILM about a conservative Coptic father's opposition to his young son's love affair with the movies opened in cinemas across the country yesterday, following extensive speculation regarding the process by which government censors approved its release.

Madkour Thabet, the head of the censorship authority, denied rumours claiming that the Coptic Church's official approval of Bahib Al-Seema (I Love Cinema) was sought. The film is about the life of a Christian family, not the church, Thabet said, emphasising that no church approval was required.

Thabet said a committee of Culture Ministry experts, including prominent Christians, viewed the film, finding nothing offensive about its portrayal of the church.

Directed by Osama Fawzi, the film was given an "adults only" rating. Whereas several films have dramatised Islamic extremism, Bahib Al-Seema is one of few that deals with Christian fanaticism in Egypt.

Blue in town

A MAJOR British boy band, Blue, is scheduled to take the stage at Media Production City on the outskirts of Cairo on 2 July, Tourism Minister Mamdouh El-Beltagui told a news conference last week. Twenty thousand people are expected to attend, making the show one of the biggest ever rock concerts held in Egypt.

Blue, who released their debut single in 2001, shot to fame on the strength of two number one albums, three number one singles, two BRIT Awards, and five million albums sold.

El-Beltagui said he hoped the event would boost the country's tourism industry.