In
brief A cold turn
Fall has officially arrived in Cairo -- with a sudden
downturn in daytime temperatures joining last month's
drop in nighttime temps. At an average of 22-25
degrees centigrade by day it's not cold by any
standard but most people have begun wearing long
sleeves both in the morning and at night. Blankets are
certainly a necessity now, and walking barefoot at
home is at your own peril.
Commentary Anthrax mail makes the toons
A cartoon in Al-Ahram features three mail slot boxes
on the street corner. The cartoon is titled "No comment".
On the first mail box drop slot it says, "Normal
Mail".
On the second box it says "Express Mail".
On the third mail slot it says, "Anthrax Mail".
No comment, indeed.
Sports Ahly on its way to Africa semis
Ahly tied the Tunisian Turgy club in a match Al-Akhbar
called "modest" at Cairo Stadium on Sunday night. Both
teams will advance to the semifinals of the Africa
Championships (Ahly -- as the Egyptian league champion
- is representing the country in the continent-wide
tourny), where they will again face each other on 18
November, but this time in Tunisia. The winner there
will face the winner of the other semifinal -- between
Angola and South Africa -- in the African final.
Traffic Azhar loading zone by night
Once the area around Al-Azhar has been turned into a
pedestrian only zone, which should be soon now that
the much-anticipated Al-Azhar tunnel is complete,
delivery trucks will be allowed in from 12 midnight to
6 am. Business owners in the district have been
concerned about how they will bring their products,
etc in and out of the area. In any case, the
government is offering business owners double the
space they currently have in another district if
they'll agree to move. The goal is to make the area as
commercial rather than industrial as possible. The
Cairo governorate also announced that there will be
electric cars to take the elderly and handicapped to
and from the pedestrian-only zone.
