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Traffic
Ramp opens up corniche
The upgrade of the 15 May Bridge is continuing as scheduled, with the new ramp onto the bridge from the Nile Corniche downtown set to be officially inaugurated today. The ramps onto the bridge allowing both directions of Nile-side traffic an alternative way to head for Mohandiseen should help clear much of the congestion downtown, or so city officials hope.
Politics/headline news
Wacky weather
The weather has been all over the place this week, with heavy winds and dust storms giving way to bright and sunny, clear skies, and a little bit of rain in between. The sudden chilly winds at night confirmed for many the fact that winter is still far from over. Meteorologists had been predicting the wavy weather for some time now, and this week they seem to have hit their mark.
Surour weighs in behind the duals
Parliamentary speaker Fathi Surour joined the debate on the political rights of dual nationals, telling Al-Akhbar that those with both the Egyptian and another nationality have the same rights as those with just the Egyptian nationality. Surour's comments were put on the front page of the paper, seemingly as a statement in support of those parliamentarians who are dual nationals.
Sports
Zamalek seals lead
Soccer club team Zamalek is way ahead of the pack in the Clubs league as it finished up its 20th week of the season. Zamalek beat Mansoura 2-0 to top the league with 49 points. Zamalek's arch-rival Ahly is 4 points behind, at 45.
Television
No free-TV world cup?
It looks like the TV Union might not be airing next year's soccer World Cup matches. Egyptian viewers have become accustomed to seeing premier sports contests on free-TV, but recently, the TV Union has not been able to afford the rising prices of broadcasting such premium events. Al-Wafd has decided to be the early warner on this big issue, running a story on its back page claiming that the TV Union will not be able to afford the LE50 million required to show the matches live. Whether or not ad revenues would be enough to cover the expense is something we're sure to see a lot of debate on over the next year.
Crime
Mobile smuggling madness continues
The crime pages featured two more stories of attempts to smuggle large numbers of mobile phones and their accessories into the country. An Egyptian-American arriving from Dubai was caught trying to bring in 168 mobile phones without paying the required customs duties on them. He had hid the LE200,000 booty in secret compartments of his bags. Meanwhile a German man, part of a tour group, attempted to bring in 33 phones, which he had wrapped around his waist. The papers say that both would-be smugglers agreed to pay the customs duties in exchange for having the smuggling charges against them dropped.
Miscellaneous
Sheep payment plan
Matrouh governorate employees will be able to buy their Eid Al-Adha sheep on an easy installment plan this year, according to a tiny item on the front page of Al-Akhbar. The price of the sheep will be divided into 9 easy payments, to be extracted from their monthly salaries. The Muslim holiday is set to take place on March 5, and is always accompanied by the sacrifice of a sheep and donation of part of its meat to the poor.
Movies
Nothing like the classics
Plans are in the works to re-make the classic tragic Arabic film Doaa Al-Qarawan. According to Al-Wafd, Ahmed Mazhar, the original film's star, thinks it's possible for his role as the rich man who seduces his maids, to be recreated by one of today's young actors, but that the complex role played by Faten Hamama (a maid seeking revenge but then falling in love with Mazhar) would be much more difficult. Mazhar also says that the new film should not attempt to produce a new soundtrack, since the original one, by a Greek composer, is perfect. Meanwhile, Al-Wafd also says that the TV Union's Production Sector is trying to convince both Faten Hamama and Ahmed Ramzy to try and recreate their comeback success in the Ramadan soap opera Wagh Al-Qamar, by acting together in another soap, but that as of now, has had no luck in convincing them.
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Wednesday 14/2
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