Sarah Ahmed: First ever medallist As soon as her win was confirmed, Egyptian weightlifter Sara Ahmed, 18, broke into tears as she happily hugged her coach. She had become the first female from Egypt to win a medal at the 2016 Olympic games at Rio de Janeiro last week — Egypt's first medal in weightlifting since 1948, and the first awarded to a woman from the Arab country at an Olympics in any sport. Ahmed, who lifted 255kg in the women's 69kg weightlifting competition, finished third behind Chinese gold medallist Xiang Yanmei and Kazakhstan's Zhazira Zhapparkul, who won silver. Ahmed took up weightlifting at the age of 11. Her win should encourage more females to take up the sport. In Egypt weightlifting has been traditionally popular among men, who won medals at the 1936 and 1948 games but not since. “At every meeting with the president or the prime minister, intellectuals have inquired about the new administrative capital. Some claim that the project is the cause of all problems because it is using up too much money. Others talk about priorities. Is the economic problem Cairo is facing at present because of that project? Why has the president not taken the decision to stop it? This is a riddle that should be resolved. Is vacating the old capital a good or a bad idea? Why has the president not commented on the issue and why did the prime minister fail to answer the questions clearly? Would freezing that project resolve the dollar crisis and the economic crisis as a whole?” Mohamed Amin, Al-Masry Al-Youm An everlasting unity “The regimes in power may change, sectarian tension may rise, but the unity between Egypt and Sudan will last forever. If establishing the Great Nile Valley state, as President Nasser had dreamed after the separation of the two states in 1956, is not possible, then the least that could be done is to implement all the integration agreements signed. If there are available agricultural goods in Sudan, why should Egypt import them from another state? If Egyptian goods and medicine are available in Egypt, why should Sudan look elsewhere? If the fertile land is available in Khartoum, why shouldn't Egyptian farmers go and grow the strategic products there to cover the needs of both states?” Karim Abdel-Salam, Al-Youm Al-Sabei One law for all “The church is rightfully angry. This anger is clearly reflected in its latest statement regarding the law regulating the building and maintenance of churches. The statement reveals suppressed rage and shock of the head of the church and its followers towards the state. However, the question is not one of satisfying or upsetting Christians, but of rule of law. We are not after a law that is tailored to the needs of a party or a religious sect, but a law for all, for Christians, Muslims, Jews — or any religion in Egypt.” Newton, Al-Masry Al-Youm Tomorrow starts from yesterday “Hedaya Malak was the third person after Mohamed Ehab and Sarah Samir to win a bronze medal and bring happiness to all Egyptians. Their victory should be an indication of the importance of individual games like Taekwondo. Providing care for players of these games, searching for new talent at sports centres and honouring the victors is required.” Galal Aref, Al-Akhbar
“Watching the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil was depressing because of how rarely one saw Arab flags being hoisted on winning podiums. We just saw the flags of the US, Japan, China. Making sport heroes is a 20-year project of readying for the Olympics. Progress in the western mind is based on the logic that ‘tomorrow starts yesterday'. Unfortunately, some Arab countries believe that practicing sports is a hobby or a luxury that cannot taken seriously. If we want to win medals in 2036, we have to start tomorrow morning with a serious and scientific programme.” Emadeddin Adib, Al-Watan Egyptian Essence: More than 1.5 million encroachment cases “The Ministry of Agriculture stated that there have been some 1,563,266 cases of encroachment on state land ever since the 25 January Revolution. The ministry statement added that 317,864 cases have been removed.” Al-Ahram Facebook “Commenting on his stay in a luxurious hotel, the minister of supply said that it is a personal matter. No, dear, it is not a personal matter when you are a state employee being paid by the people. If your stay, which costs some 10 times your monthly salary, is not being paid for out of public funds, it is the right of the people to know how it is being paid for. Is the source of the money internal or external? And in either case how is it not an instance of flagrant corruption.” Shaaban Antar
“Why was that issue revealed now? There must be something more important and the issue was brought up as a cover up.” Osama Mohamed Twitter Turkeynews @Turkey Turkey, Israel kiss and make up: Turkey's parliament approved a reconciliation agreement signed with Israel which has brought to an end a six-year rift between the two regional powers. AlexVerba @13wam Turkey & Israel allied together makes the area a bit better for USA. I don't see any thin ice in this regard. Kenan @KenanRahmani Today, we remember very painful memory of hundreds of Syrians gassed 3 years ago by Assad's forces. #AssadChemicals Mai El-Sadany @maitelsadany @HowManySyrians now tweeting out the names of those killed in the chemical weapons attack 3 yrs ago. May they rest in peace.
