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Traffic
Azhar tunnel set to go
With its design incorporating elements of Islamic architecture and somewhat reminiscent of the ancient Cairo aqueducts, the air vents of the new Al-Azhar tunnel, pictured above, certainly stand out amidst neighboring buildings on Al-Azhar Street near its intersection with Port Said Street.
Motorists and pedestrians may have noticed the slick looking set of buildings, and thought they were part of a modern looking mosque, or some new government office.
The giant air vents are essential to the operations of the 2.5 kilometer long tunnel, which connects Salah Salem Street with Opera Square, taking motorists underneath the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, Al-Azhar University, and the Moezz li din Illah Street neighborhood of Old Cairo which is home to one of the world's richest collections of Islamic monuments.
The tunnel, set to open in October, is both part of the overall scheme meant to help improve Greater Cairo's massive traffic problems, as well an ambitious Ministry of Culture plan to turn the historic area it runs under into a pedestrian-only tourist haven.
Road tests both within the tunnel, as well as on the thoroughfares leading into and out of it, are currently taking place in an attempt to discover the possible kinks in the plan to redirect traffic downtown traffic. Downtown bus routes, especially, are being adjusted to gel better with the way the tunnel is expected to change the city's traffic flow.
Aesthetically as well, the tunnel is expected to dramatically alter the face of downtown, since it is supposed to be accompanied by the dismantling of the narrow Al-Azhar bridge that currently takes motorists above the aforementioned historic area.
Ad watch
Sunday coupons soon?
Advertising mogul Tarek Nour has done it again -- gradually moving the Egyptian consumer market closer to the conditions that exist in places like the United States. According to an ad in the papers he is the mastermind behind a new savings scheme involving coupons that you cut out from the paper and redeem for savings on products at local stores. Milk, rice, ghee, laundry detergent and soda are the first offerings, with deals like "Save LE1.50 when you buy three", designed to encourage people to use the coupons, which are valid at certain supermarkets in different parts of town.
If people use the coupons, you can expect that this will be just the tip of the iceberg -- and we may soon see tons of coupons the way we do in US papers...
New developments
A square for your name
Suez will soon have a square named after legendary comic actor Ismail Yassin, reports Al-Akhbar. The ironic thing is that the new Ismail Yassin Square is also the address of a cinema and theater that has been called Ismail Yassin Theater for some time now. The theater and movie hall, however, is being forced to drop the actor's name from its marquee, now that a court has sided with Yassin's son's charge that the venue was using Yassin's name without permission, and benefiting financially from the unauthorized association.
There are also, it should be noted, cinemas in different parts of the country named after Faten Hamam (Manial), Fareed Shawky (Abbasia), and even Mohamed Heneidi (Gamasa).
Health
New hope for dwarfs?
A medical conference exploring the latest developments in the treatment of the condition that causes people to be dwarfs will be held in Cairo on September 19-20. Scholars from Italy, the US, England and elsewhere will be presenting their research into methods to help dwarfs become taller. Al-Akhbar reports that the conference should be a boon for Egypt's 2500 or so dwarfs, who may soon have access to cutting-edge processes that involve equipment that is now manufactured in Egypt. The operation costs some LE2000-3000, the paper says.
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