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A massive advertising campaing urges Athenians to leave their cars and get on public transport during the Games.

Measures to ease the flow of traffic on the Greek capital's notoriously clogged streets are taking effect on August 1.

The new Athens tramline started operating July 19 between the city centre and the Greek capital's southern, seaside suburbs where a host of Olympic tournaments take place. Strained by the overload caused by thousands of enthusiastic Athenians rushing to take a ride, tram coaches have suffered several breakdowns. They also often bumped into cars as drivers are still unaccustomed to the tram's presence on Athens' streets.

The left lane of the city's key arteries will be exclusively reserved for vehicles bearing Olympic accreditations while the right lane will be reserved for public busses and trams, the Greek city's unruly drivers and taxis are restricted to the roads' middle lane on pain of draconian fines.

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Iraq Bids On Next Olympics

I wonder if it is true. The article was published in 2002.

My favourite part:

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Promising "the Mother of all Olympics," Hussein assured the IOC that the facilities would be in place to stage the events. "Some of them we have even as I speak to you," he declared. "Consider the Saddam Hussein Memorial Stadium-we can seat more than 100,000 of our citizens to witness mass executions with no problem.

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