Spot Red Sea - Travel Guide

Egypt gearing up for Ramadan

2010-08-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Egypt, July 15th 2010 - The Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA) held a press conference to announce the "Fawanees Ramadan Festival 2010" and the activities that will be held during the holy month of Ramadan in Egypt.

The press conference was attended Mr. Amr El Ezbi, the Chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority and representatives from the sponsors of the festival; The Ministry of Culture " Foreign Cultural Relations", The National Culture Center" Cairo Opera House, Egypt Air Company, Cairo International Airport Authority, Governorates of Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, Sawy Culture Wheel, The Cultural Resource, Egyptian Centre for Culture and Arts "Makan", Egyptian Hotels and travel agencies.

The aim of the "Fawanees Ramadan Festival 2010" will be to promote Arab tourism to Egypt and reflect the ambiance of Ramadan in the country. The ETA will be targeting visitors from The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, the United Arab Emirates & Tunisia to attend the festival.

In the press conference, Mr. Amr El Ezbi, the Chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority revealed the schedule of activities that will be held across the country along with the parties that will be participating in the festival. Outlets like Egypt air "the official carrier for the festival" will be offering special benefits to its passengers flying to Egypt on this holy month and special decorations on board to reflect the Ramadan spirit .Travel agencies and hotels have launched special packages to the families planning to visit Egypt in the holly season. Endorsing the promotions ,a huge campaign will be launched in the Egyptian and Arab media that will include advertisements and editorials, televised ads on the Egyptian and Arabic channels, website promotions, as well as featuring "Celebrities' Recipe in Ramadan" in several mainstream Arabic magazines. The Egyptian Tourist Authority will also be arranging for media trips for media from the Arab countries to cover the "Fawanees Ramadan Festival 2010".

The festival will kick off from Cairo where a parade of feluccas decorated with Ramadan themes will sail from the Grand Hyatt Hotel up to Kasr El Nil Bridge. The festival will be announced by fireworks accompanied by a folkloric show on a floating boat followed by a Ramadan-themed event at the Citadel. A public festival will also be held in Alexandria & Port Ghalib on the second day of the Bairam Feast. Several institutes such as the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria and the Ministry of Culture are also working on making the festival successful to evoke the spirit of Ramadan through which will be organizing several cultural events.

On the other hand, Ramadan tents will be arranged in Jordan, Kuwait & Tunisia starting the second week of the Holy month for ten days, to reflect Ramadan in Egypt .The tents will offer oriental Egyptian food served especially in Ramadan, along with folkloric shows such as the Tannoura dance, religious and Sufi songs and other customary celebrations.

In light of "Egypt's Spirit in Ramadan", the Egyptian Tourist Authority, under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, will launch a series of festivities starting Ramadan of this year for four consecutive years.

-Ends-

About Egyptian Tourist Authority
The Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA) was established in March 1981 according to the Presidential decree NO.134 under the auspices of the Minister of Tourism, to promote the country as a world class tourist destination. The new authority was created to manage the outcomes of the increasing competition from various touristic destinations as a result of the great growth in the travel industry and as travel and tourism marketing became an indispensable tool to develop the sector.

For more information, please contact
Noha Habib or Hala Sarieddine or Mustafa Kawtharani,
Weber Shandwick MENA
Phone: + 971 4 321 0077
Fax: + 971 4 32 11 711,
Email: noha.habib@wsmena.com / hala.sarieddine@wsmena.com
mustafa.kawtharani@ws-mena.com

Riham Wahid
Egyptian Tourist Authority
Tel / Fax: 0020-2-248 28 994
Email: riham.wahid@egypt.travel

© Press Release 2010

In Cairo, An End To The Cacophony Of Calls To Prayer by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

2010-08-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

In Cairo, An End To The Cacophony Of Calls To Prayer

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

August 5, 2010

There are few Islamic traditions in Cairo older than the ritual, five-times-a-day call to prayer. But as of next week, that call is undergoing a radical change.

No longer will the melodic call, the azan, be delivered by a sea of voices from minarets across the sprawling Egyptian capital.

Responding to criticisms that the current uncoordinated delivery lacks dignity, the government's Ministry of Religious Endowment has announced plans to broadcast a single Islamic call to prayer from a downtown Cairo studio.

That call will be transmitted through special receivers to thousands of mosques registered with the government. The mosques, in turn, are required to stop using their own callers, or muezzinine, and instead use the new call.

The hope is to bring uniformity to a ritual that some say is out of control.

"One voice will seem empty."
- Cairo resident Aya Hassan

"It's chaos, chaos," says Abdul Munam Suroji, during a visit to a hilltop park in the capital where he listened to the call. The 54-year-old Syrian tourist says the azan in Damascus sounds much better because it is a uniform call.

Egyptian officials say they have selected 30 of the best muezzinine from among the thousands in the city to take turns delivering the call to prayer starting on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan next week. The new call will be heard in a single district of Cairo, but will gradually be introduced throughout the capital and eventually to all of the 106,000 official mosques across Egypt.

Many religious scholars, including Mohamed el Shahat el Gindy, who heads the Islamic law department at Helwan University, support the decision. El Gindy said the current call is "against the spirit of azan."

Also, he added, the verses sung may differ from mosque to mosque, thereby confusing worshippers.

New Policy Meets Resistance

But muezzinine like Ehab Mohammad, who will no longer be allowed to deliver the call, are not happy about being silenced, even though he and others will continue to receive their monthly salary of roughly $55 a month.

His friend, Mohammad Fawzi, who delivers the call to prayer at a mosque down the street, says it is not just a job. He believes being a muezzin gives him and others a leg up in the next life.

"The prophet says those who lead the [call to] prayer have the longest necks and will stand the tallest on judgment day," Fawzi says. "So of course I'm against them denying us the azan."

Cairo resident Aya Hassan, a 20-year-old pharmacy student, is displeased about the ministry's plan.

"All the different voices make you feel like everyone is kneeling and praying to Allah at the same time," she says. "One voice will seem empty."

Hassan worries that residents in the city's many squatter neighborhoods could end up unaware of when to pray if their unofficial mosques are not given transmitters.

Others say the call to prayer is a religious matter and the government shouldn't be involved in changing it.

But for the religion ministry, the matter is no longer open to discussion.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128976431

Freediver smashes British depth record

2010-07-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

13 July 2010

Briton Dave King has extended, by a substantial margin, his own national record in freediving's Constant Weight category.

Diving off Dahab in Egypt on 12 July, King reached 91m in what is arguably the sport's most athletically demanding open-water category.

The dive beat by 11m the British record King set at the 2008 world championships in Sharm El Sheikh. It was his sixth national record.

In Constant Weight, the diver fins down and back up the dive line, carrying any chosen weight throughout the dive.

King used the de rigueur monofin and was submerged in Dahab’s Blue Hole for 2min 32sec.

The dive, organised by Freedive Dahab, was observed and ratified by judges from AIDA (International Association for the Development of Apnea).

King was thrilled with the result, having been out of competitive freediving for the past two years.

His last deep dive had been to 70m in November last year, while training with SaltFree at the National Diving and Activity Centre in Chepstow.

Since then, training had amounted to just a few more days with SaltFree before going out to Egypt this month, where he practiced for a week with Dahab-based instructor Brian Crossland, of Blue Ocean Freedivers.

“I now aim to dive beyond 100m, which has been achieved by only fourteen divers in the world,” said King after the dive.

He was confident at the prospect, having found the 91m dive “easy, really quick and with air to spare at the bottom”.

King’s new national record tallies with world record depths of seven to eight years ago. Venezuelan Carlos Coste dived to 90m in March 2002, Czech Martin Stepanek to 93m in May 2003.

The Constant Weight world record now stands at 124m. It was set by Austrian Herbert Nitsch in April this year, at the Suunto Dive-off competition in the Bahamas.

Source: http://www.divernet.com/home_diving_news/538747/freediver_smashes_british_depth_record.html

Cancer?

2010-06-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Is kanker nu wel zo erg ? Dit lijkt een hele vreemde vraag , omdat vrijwel iedereen denkt , dat , als de diagnose kanker eenmaal wordt gesteld, dit onmiddelijk gelijk staat met meer kans op vroegtijdiger overlijden. Maar is het wel waar , dat het stellen van een vroegtijdige diagnose kanker de kans op overlijden doet afnemen? Indien dit niet zo zou zijn is het dan niet beter om geen diagnose te stellen ? Zonder op dit ogenblik in te gaan op een mogelijke functie van kanker , wil ik eerst in de literatuur naspeuren of een vroegtijdig gestelde diagnose inderdaad het overlijden doet uitstellen. Om een vroegtijdige diagnose te stellen moet men naar de dokter. Afhankelijk van de vraagstelling, zoals preventief onderzoek zonder klachten of het klachtenpatroon , beslist de dokter met allerlei onderzoekingen zoals bloedchemisch onderzoek met traceropsporing incluis , Rontgenonderzoek zoals mammografie , endoscopieen te trachten om de vraagstelling te beantwoorden. Dit lijkt een normale gang van zaken met het nobele doel of kanker in een vroegstadium te ontdekken en daarmee levens te redden of het klachtenpatroon van de patient te behandelen.

Deze vraag nu naar preventiezinvolheid stelt zich de Mayoclinic .Met een zeer uitgebereid en nog steeds lopend onderzoek tracht deze clinic te ondekken of preventief onderzoek zinvol is. Hoewel sommige onderzoekingen , zoals colonscopie als preventie voor darmkanker en andere preventieve onderzoekingen van andere kankersoorten nog lopen, is in 2004 de vraag beantwoord ten aanzien van longkanker . Het onderzoek duurde 25 jaar en daarbij werden alleen rokers toegelaten . De stelling luidde : indien wij 4 x per jaar deze rokers onderzoeken met sputumonderzoek, traceronderzoek en Rontgenonderzoek en een evengrote groep rokers als controle groep dan moet het aantal personen, overleden aan longkanker in de beide groepen een antwoord geven op de vraag of preventief onderzoek zin heeft of niet , immers 4x per jaar onderzoeken geeft een vroegtijdige diagnose en dus een vroegtijdige behandeling met als doel levens te redden. Het onderzoek liet 300 doden aan longkanker zien in de controlegroep en 333 doden in de frekwent onderzochte groep.

Dat wil zeggen , dat er meer doden vielen in de preventieve groep dan in de controle groep. Buiten het feit , dat de vraag naar de zinvolheid van preventie negatief moest beantwoord worden komt automatisch de vraag naar boven of het stellen uberhaupt van een diagnose van kanker wel zinvol is. Om deze vraag te kunnen beantwoorden zouden wij het natuurlijke verloop van een ziekte als kanker moeten weten . Bovendien gaat het erom om te zien of het stellen van de diagnose kanker wel degelijk levensreddend is, zoals de meeste mensen denken. Ook zou de vraag naar de invloed van het bewust weten van de diagnose van kanker kunnen worden beantwoord. Om echt een inzicht te hebben in het verloop van een ziekte zouden wij iedereen gedurende zijn leven moeten vervolgen , want het stellen van een diagnose geeft alleen inzicht in het voorkomen van ziektegevallen en niet alleen als een patient besluit een arts te bezoeken. Bestaan er dan gevallen van kanker buiten het stellen van de diagnose?

Bestaan er dan subklinische gavallen van kanker ? Iedere patholoog-anatoom kan bevestigen , dat bij obductie niet alleen een bevestiging wordt gevonden van de oorzaak van de dood, maar dat er een enorm aantal tumoren worden gevonden , waarvan de diagnose niet is gesteld tijdens het leven, niet omdat de diagnose door artsen niet is gesteld, maar om de simpele reden, dat de patient er geen last van ondervond en onderzoek ernaar geen zin had. Om een indruk te geven om welke cijfers het gaat van niet gediagnostiseerde tumoren werd pas een onderzoek gepubliceerd, waarbij bij overleden mannen boven de 70 jaar stelselmatig microscopisch onderzoek gedaan werd naar prostaatca. 90 % werd positief bevonden aan het hebben van prostaatca in welk stadium dan ook. Het lijkt er derhalve op , dat kanker veel meer voorkomt dan blijkt uit de statistieken . Deze uitspraak blijft staan ongeacht de kritiek , die geleverd wordt op het samenstellen van de statistieken. Als in 1950 1 op 10 mensen overleedt aan kanker is dat nu 1 op de 3.

Dat wil nog niet zeggen , dat kanker meer voorkomt dan vroeger, maar wel ,dat de diagnose kanker meer gesteld wordt. Wat zou het natuurlijke verloop kunnen zijn van een gediagnostiseerde kanker ? Of anders gezegd wat zou er nu gebeuren , als patienten geen behandeling krijgen ( 50 % nl krijgt wel behandeling.) ? Het antwoord op deze vraag zou dan een informatie geven over het feit hoe effectief behandelen is en hoe belangrijk het is de diagnose kanker te stellen. De Lancet vermeldt een onderzoek bij patienten met longkanker en vond : een overlevingduur van 75 dagen bij patienten met longkanker, die chemotherapie ondergingen en een overlevingsduur van 225 dagen bij patienten zonder behandeling. Dus zonder behandeling leeft u drie maal langer . Dr Hardin Jones deed onderzoek naar het overleven van patienten van borstkanker : patienten met behandeling ( chirurgisch, chemotherapeutisch of radiotherapie ) hadden een gemiddelde overlevingsduur van 3 jaar en de onbehandelde groep gemiddeld 12, 5 jaar. Een Deens onderzoek ( Ugeskr Laeger 1999 161 4001- 4004 ) bevestigde de gevonden cijfers van Jones en vonden een overlevingsduur van 10 tot 15 jaar bij geen behandeling van borstkanker. Niet alleen longkanker en borstkanker werden onderzocht , maar ook niertumoren , colonca etc ( Zie medisch dossier jaargang 11, nummer 6 pag 510 ) Hoewel dit boven vermelde artikel zich voornamelijk boog over de spontane regressie of spontane genezing van kanker en daarbij een gemiddelde vond van 24 % , blijft de vraag open of de subklinisch carcinomen ook niet gerekend kunnen worden bij de spontaan genezen tumoren. Hoewel dat cijfer natuurlijk onmogelijk bekend kan zijn duiden de bovenvermelde cijfers van 90 % van prostaatca op een zeer hoog cijfer,zodat de vraag naar een natuurlijk verloop van kanker beantwoord kan worden , dat kanker veel minder dramatisch is dan wij wel denken. Dit cijfer van 90 % van genezingen werd overigens ook gevonden door Simoncini en Hamer . Een pas gepubliceerd verhaal naar de 5 jaar overlevingsduur van met chemotherapie behandelde tumoren liet een cijfer zien van 1 % . Zonder meer komt dan de vraag naar boven waar zijn die 23 % andere ( immers spontane genezing was 24 % ) patienten aan overleden. Is die 1% 5 jaars overleving “ondanks” of “dankzij” veroorzaakt door de chemotherapie en zou die missende 23 % overledenen ook dankzij de chemotherapie tot stand zijn gekomen. ? Klopt de term therapie dan nog wel ? Overigens bleek uit een onderzoek , dat bijna 100 % van de ondervraagde oncologen geen gebruik voor hen zelf zouden maken van chemotherapie , als bij hen de diagnose kanker zou gesteld worden. Veel van de verzamelde statistische data verschillen , omdat deze data op verschillende wijzen zijn verzameld. Persoonlijke belangen van de verzamelaar spelen hierbij zeker een rol. Ook het gebruik maken van de relatieve statistiek en de absolute verschillen enorm. Als bijvoorbeeld blijkt dat een blanke persoon , die 25 jaar lang een pakje sigaretten rookt , de door te roken kans loopt van 1 % om longkanker te krijgen, dan heeft hij 99% kans om geen longkanker te krijgen. Een niet roker heeft 99,6 % kans om geen longkanker te krijgen . Je vraagt je af , hoewel ik niet rook en het vies vindt, waar die waarschuwingen op die pakjes sigaretten dan op slaan. Schrijf dan de waarheid op zoals : Als u rookt heeft u 99 % kans om geen longkanker te krijgen. Samenvattend moeten wij stellen , dat serieus onderzoek tot nu toe heeft aangetoond: 1. Preventief onderzoek leidt tot meer doden en dus beter maar vermeden moet worden. 2. Kanker is niet zo erg als men denkt gezien de hoge waarschijnlijkheid tot spontane genezing 3. Loop niet met elk klachtje naar de arts . Je zult er nooit te laat bij zijn. Bovendien zijn de onderzoekingen, die de arts dan moet doen om uw klacht te onderzoeken niet onschuldig nu bv is komen vast te staan , dat de oorzaak van borstkanker voor 90 % wordt toegeschreven aan Rontgenstralen . Dwing een arts niet tot ingrijpen als op uw verzoek PSA wordt bepaald en een verhoogde waarde wordt gevonden met als gevolg van ingrijpen kans op impotentie of incontinentie.

Translated by by ImTranslator.com ( http://imtranslator.com ).

Cancer is now so bad?
This seems a strange question because almost everyone thinks that if the cancer once diagnosis is made, it immediately equivalent to more timely risk of death.
But is it true that setting an early cancer diagnosis reduces the risk of death? Should this not be true is not it better not to diagnose? Without this time to discuss a possible function of cancer, I want to trace in literature or early gestelde diagnose indeed it does delay death.
Improving early diagnosis one must go to the doctor. Depending on the issues like preventive examination without complaints or pattern of complaints, the doctor decides to various tests such as blood chemical analysis including tracer detection, radiography including mammography, endoscopies to try to answer every question.
This seems a common practice with the noble purpose or cancer at an e! arly stage to detect and thereby saving lives or pattern of complaints of the patient to be treated.
This question is now to prevent meaningfulness takes the Mayo Clinic.
With a very broken and willing to continue ongoing research tries to discover whether early detection screening clinic useful. Although some studies, such as colonoscopy for colon cancer prevention and other prevention studies of other cancers continue, in 2004 answered the question with regard to lung cancer.
The study lasted 25 years, while only smokers were allowed. The argument was: if we have 4 times a year these smokers studies sputumonderzoek, tracer studies and X-rays and an equally large group of smokers as a control group than the number of persons deceased from lung cancer in both groups to answer the question whether preventive research purposes or not, is 4 times per year studies give an early diagnosis and therefore early treatment in order to save lives.

The study showed 300 deaths from lung!
cancer seen in the control group and 333 deaths in the frequent group examined.
This means that there are more deaths in the preventive group than in the control group.
Besides the fact that the question of the usefulness of prevention should be answered negatively the question automatically comes up or setting any kind of a diagnosis of cancer is useful.
To answer this question we would the natural course of a disease like cancer should know.
Moreover, the aim is to see if the diagnosis of cancer is indeed life-saving, as most people think.
Also the question of the influence of the conscious knowledge of the diagnosis of cancer can be answered.
To really understand in the course of a disease we would have to prosecute anyone in his lifetime, because the diagnosis only gives insight into the prevention of disease and not just as a patient decides to visit a doctor.
Are there cases of cancer beyond the diagnosis? Are there gavallen subclinical cancer? Each pathologist can confirm that an autopsy found not only a confirmation of the cause of de! ath, but that a huge number of tumors are found, whose diagnosis was not made during life, not because the diagnosis by physicians not has been provided but for the simple reason that the patient experienced no problems with and research endeavor useless.

To give an impression of what the figures are not diagnosed tumors has recently published a study in which men and deceased over 70 years systematic microscopic examination was done to prostaatca. 90% were positive to having prostaatca at any stage. It seems, therefore, that cancer is more common than statistics show. This statement remains regardless of the criticism that comes to compiling statistics.
If in 1950 one in 10 people overleedt cancer is now 1 in 3. That does not mean that cancer is more prevalent than before, but that more cancer diagnosis is made.
What would be the natural course of a diagnosed cancer? In other words, what would happen if patients receive no treatment (50% com will get treatment.)?
The answe! r to this question would have an information on the fact how effective treatment is and how important it is to be diagnosed with cancer.
The Lancet mentions a study in patients with lung cancer and thought a survival time of 75 days in patients with lung cancer who underwent chemotherapy and a survival time of 225 days in patients without treatment.
So you live without treatment three times longer.

Dr. Hardin Jones was doing research on the survival of breast cancer patients: patients with treatment (surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy) had an average survival period of 3 years and the untreated group averaged 12, 5 years. A Danish study (Ugeskr Laeger 1999 161 4001-4004) confirmed the figures found by Jones and found a survival of 10 to 15 years with no treatment of breast cancer.

Not only lung and breast cancer were examined, but kidney tumors, colonca etc (see medical records Volume 11, Number 6 p. 510) Although the above mentioned article is primarily bent on the spontaneous regression or spontaneous healing of cancer, while the average ! was of 24 %, the question remains open whether the subclinical carcinomas can not be expected to heal spontaneously tumors.
While that figure obviously impossible may be known to interpret the figures above 90% of prostaatca at a very high rate, so the demand for a natural history of cancer can be answered, that cancer is much less dramatic than we might think. This figure of 90% of healing was also found by Simoncini and Hamer.
A newly published story to the 5 years survival of tumors treated with chemotherapy showed a rate of 1% see. No more than the question comes up where are those other 23% (since spontaneous recovery was 24%) patients deceased. Which is 1% 5 year survival 'despite' or 'thanks' would be caused by chemotherapy and those missing 23% deaths due to chemotherapy also have been established?
Is the term therapy still is? Pointed to one study, nearly 100% of the surveyed oncologists do not use for themselves would make chemotherapy as those diagnosed with ca! ncer would be made. Many of the collected statistical data differences , because these data were collected in different ways.
Personal interests of the collector certainly play a role.
The use of relative and absolute statistics vary greatly. For example, if it appears that a white person, who for 25 years a pack of cigarettes smoked, the smoking probability is 1% for lung cancer, he has 99% chance to avoid lung cancer. A non smoker has 99.6% chance not to get lung cancer.
You wonder, though I do not smoke and dirty is where the warnings on cigarette packets, which then hit. Then write the truth as to: If you smoke, you have 99% chance not to get lung cancer.
In summary, we propose that serious research to date has shown:
1. Ups lead to more deaths and therefore better but should be avoided.
2. Cancer is not as bad as it sounds, given the high likelihood of spontaneous healing
3. Do not run with any klachtje to the doctor.
You'll never too late to be there. In addition, the investigations,
which the doctor must do to your complaint investigatio! ns are not innocent nu bv has been established that the cause f breast cancer for 90% is attributed to X-rays.
Enforce a doctor not to intervene if your request is determined and an elevated PSA value is found due to risk of impotence or incontinence intervention.

Dr. Jan van Hemert, Ph.D.

Jan van Hemert, Ph. D. was born in 1939 in the city of Rotterdam in the
Netherlands. After finalising his studies and medical specialisation in
Neurology and Neuro-Physiology, he became affiliated at the "Vrije University"
as trainer of medical doctors and co-assistants. In addition, he was
associated to the "Boerhave" method at the University of Leiden. Prof. Dr. Van
Hemert was a successful medical director of several clinics based in Haarlem,
the Netherlands.

His interests however, went beyond neurology and he conducted research in
the fields of Spasm, sickness of Parkinson, Epilepsy, Psychopharmacology,
Stammer, Hyperventilation and condition improvement. He also became an
expert in the areas of Chiropractic therapy, Neutral therapy, Auricle Therapy
en Geo-biology. His school developed a new variety of the application of the
"Lecher Antenna" and is right now in the process of developing a telegnostic
device to establish quicker diagnosis in a non-invasive way with the co-
operation of the University of Palermo in Italy.

In 2006, he took the initiative to establish the first EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
for HOLISTIC MEDICINE in affiliation with the DUC University in the
Netherlands, providing post graduate education in Holistic Medicine. He also
established a research center and laboratory in his place of residence, being
Egypt. His present research is mainly focussed on the applications of holistic
medicine and he is currently writing a manual for theoretical medicine based
on the quantum theory and the intentionality within medicine. Jan van Hemert
is also part of a group international medical doctors who are active in the
campus medicus of the American Hospital in Rome.

Summer Fun

2010-06-07T01:06:00.000-07:00

As the school year starts to come to a close, parents are beginning to wonder how they are going to keep the kids busy for the next two months without breaking the bank. Helping kids beat summer boredom can be a tough chore for any parent. Luckily, there are many ideas and options for creating a full summer activity schedule for your kids.

Visit the Local Library
Summer time is a great time to make a reading list and lose yourself in a good book.
Hurghada Library downtown
El Gouna Library
Sharm* (Sharmers, do you have a public library?)

Day at the Beach or water park
There is nothing more fun or relaxing or fun for the family than a trip to the beach. It’s very easy to spend an entire day exploring the beach and playing in the water. Please list your favorite beach here and give tips on prices, etc. What about the water park? Is it only for tourists, or can residents also enjoy?

Catch a Movie
During the summer it can be hard to beat the heat! The times for the movies may vary to find out your local movie theater schedule contact them directly or visit their individual website for a list of movies, times, and prices. It’s a great way for kids to get the “big screen” experience on movies you may have missed the first time around.

Summer Camp:
French school Hurghada
Les Pettites El Gouna
Little Pharaoh Sharm el Sheikh

Saving the world’s reefs with Red Sea coral

2010-05-24T03:46:00.000-07:00

By Thomas C. Mountain
Online Journal Contributing Writer

May 17, 2010, 00:12

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ASMARA, Eritrea -- The world’s coral reefs have been severely damaged going back many decades. Knowledge about the problem goes back decades as well. This writer helped put on the “Coral Reefs in Crisis” conference in Dec. of 1971 while still in high school and it has only gotten worse for coral reefs since.

These days, there has been widespread incidences of what is known as “coral bleaching,” where high water temperatures end up killing coral reefs.

Most corals reefs in the world cannot survive in water much over 26-27c/85-86f.

As a result large chunks of the Australian Great Barrier Reef have been severely damaged. Major damage has also been done in the Caribbean region and in parts of the Indian Ocean as well. Even the Northern Hawaiian Islands Marine Preserve in the Northern Pacific has been heavily damaged in places by high water temperatures.

Coral reefs take many thousands of years to develop and are an essential part of the ocean environment. A growing movement around the world has begun to demand that the destruction of the world’s coral reefs be addressed by their governments.

One solution to this problem that has begun to get some serious attention in the scientific community is using heat tolerant coral from the Red Sea to replant the world’s coral reefs. Coral has become heat adapted in the very warm waters of parts of the Red Sea over millennia, until today Red Sea corals on the Eritrean coast grow in water up to 33c/98f.

The need to develop heat tolerant Red Sea coral reef nurseries has only just begun to take seed in the scientific community. Phillipe Cousteau briefly visited Eritrea’s Red Sea coast a couple of years ago and was delighted to see pristine coral reef complexes such as his grandfather and father observed many decades ago around the world, which, in nearly all cases, now are only a memory. He spoke about the possibility of using Eritrean corals to replant the world’s reefs and took samples of the corals to see if this could be done in his laboratories.

The destruction of the worlds coral reef’s was one of the main themes of the world tour that brought him to Eritrea’s Red Sea coast as a part of the BBC/Discovery series “Oceans.”

Unfortunately, it seems information about another example of what Eritrea has to offer the world is being ignored, or worse, suppressed. The world’s coral reefs are dying and the powers that be are keeping the best chance to avert this disaster from happening, from even being known about, all due to some very nasty big power chauvinism. Reducing malaria mortality and HIV/AIDS infection rates, conquering climate change and now saving the worlds reefs, it would seem that the world has much to learn from Eritrea, one of the smallest, newest, most underdeveloped countries on the planet. It is criminal how the Western media, in collusion with their governments, are doing their best to prevent this from happening .

If you want to know more about how Red Sea coral can save the world’s reefs a good place to start is with the “Oceans” program earlier mentioned.

And stay tuned to Online Journal for more news about the Horn of Africa that the so-called Free Press in the West refuses to cover.
Thomas C. Mountain was, in a former life, an educator, activist and alternative medicine practitioner in the USA. Email thomascmountain at yahoo.com.

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Chance to join Red Sea dolphin study

2010-05-24T03:31:00.000-07:00

HEPCA is looking for individuals and groups to join the first ever dolphin research expedition in the Red Sea. The series of four expeditions this summer is part of the Red Sea Dolphin Project, the first research plan completely dedicated to the study of the dolphins of the Red Sea, and documenting their abundance, distribution and ecology.

A limited number of places are available and those fortunate enough to take part will be part of a unique interactive and scientific based experience observing and studying the dolphins aboard the new dedicated HEPCA long-term research platform: the Red Sea Defender vessel.

Participants will be involved in many different activities including close observation of dolphins in the open sea and inside reefs, data collection about marine organisms such as corals, molluscs, echinoderms, fish, turtles and dugongs, and searching of dolphin feeding grounds at night using our dedicated towed hydrophone. Each expedition offers the unique chance to work in close contact with HEPCA’s international research team, learn about marine ecosystems and marine life, as well as acquire specific skills in research methodologies and dive practices.

Places are available on a first come first served basis on the following dates:

Team 1 – 06 – 16 June
Team 2 – 17 – 27 June
Team 3 – 01 – 11 August
Team 4 – 12 – 22 August.

Places start from as little as 1,500 Euro pp.

Contact us now to join the researchers aboard the Red Sea Defender vessel for 10 unforgettable days! This is a rare and extraordinary experience where HEPCA staff engage you in exciting team work allowing you to share their passion and knowledge in bringing awareness to the Red Sea by promoting sustainable tourism development for the region.

For more information please contact:

Marina Costa
HEPCA Senior Marine Biologist
Tel: +2 065 344 50 35/ 065 3447728
Email: booking@hepca.com
www.hepca.com

Carrefour complies! March 26, 2010

2010-04-05T02:47:00.000-07:00

In the last 24 hours, Carrefour Egypt has issued a statement announcing that they have stopped shark sales!

This result is testament to the many individuals and organizations that added their names in support of this cause and is real evidence that community initiatives addressing the threats to our environment can be successful. This is a small but significant step in the quest to protect our environment, health and prosperity.

The words of the statement issued on behalf of Carrefour Egypt assert the role we can undertake to protect our environment:

"We testify that we are not selling any shark or baby shark in our Stores. Few weeks ago, we - Carrefour Egypt - sold some quantity of shark mistakenly in one of our stores, as some of our employees take it for another kind of Mediterranean fish.

As Carrefour Egypt is highly supporting the environment aspect and respecting the rules of the Environmental Protection and Conservation Associations, we immediately stopped selling the shark and applied all the corrective measurements in all our stores in Egypt.

With this official statement we confirm that we are not selling any shark in our stores anymore."

We thank Carrefour for complying so promptly and thank all those who added their voice to this campaign. HEPCA will continue monitoring any such trade activities in Egypt. We urge the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries to take serious actions against all illegal shark fishing activities and show more commitment to the protection of these vulnerable species

STOP SHARK SALES CAMPAIGN

2010-03-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA), has recently launched the campaign, Stop Shark Sales. The first phase of the campaign is Stop Shark Sales at Carrefour Egypt. The following statement explains the rationale behind the campaign and what is at stake. We hope that your organization can publicize this important cause and bring light to the risks associated with shark overfishing consumption and trade.

Please read the following statement and check our website, the campaign’s facebook group, and the online petition. Also please find attached a zipped file containing several resources and links providing background data on the issue, a picture of sharks being sold at Carrefour- Maadi, the campaign logo and banner, as well as the HEPCA logo.

Kindest Regards,
The HEPCA Team

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STOP SHARK SALES CAMPAIGN

Statement

Sharks are currently being exported overseas and sold on the Egyptian market, even at a multi-national hyper-market chain, namely, Carrefour Egypt! Overfishing and consumption of sharks and their fins are serious threats to human health, the environment and our economy. The goal of HEPCA’s Stop Shark Sales Campaign is to avert these impacts and encourage the community to come together to put pressure on those who fish, trade and sell sharks in order to protect our health, environment and prosperity.

Four years ago we helped to secure legislation that banned shark fining in Egyptian waters, which led to widespread condemnation of those who flouted the ban (both in fishing and selling shark meat). This led to Egypt being honoured as Shark Guardian of the Year in 2006.

In 2010 we are once again faced with the same issue as we find one of the largest hypermarkets in Egypt and a brand of international standing – Carrefour – openly trading baby sharks in their store in Maadi, Cairo. Their sale of sharks is an irresponsible act that endangers the wellbeing of their clientele and the future of our planet.

HEPCA wants the Egyptian Government to intervene to stop shark trading and to ensure a ban on the exporting of shark meat. We encourage the community to challenge those endangering us like Carrefour who do not care for the health of the citizens of Egypt nor the natural and economic resources of this country.

Shark Facts: Proof that we should lobby for a complete ban on shark trading in Egypt

Health Risk

As top predators, sharks accumulate high concentrations of toxins present in the environment in their body, often as much as 10,000 times that of their surrounding environment. Persistent toxins such as Methyl Mercury are retained in sharks, and they are far less susceptible to the toxic effects of Methyl Mercury than humans; therefore even healthy sharks contain high concentrations of the toxicant.

The effects of this toxic compound on humans are numerous. It is estimated that more than 60,000 children are born with neurological damage due to exposure during pregnancy in the United States alone, due to the fact that this biotoxin is not held back by the natural barriers in the human body. Thousands of families each year are faced with the challenge of raising a child with severe neurological damage or disability, simply because the mother or father ingested shark meat.

The effects of Methyl Mercury are not limited to the unborn, it is also considered to be a carcinogen, its impact on the central neural system is irreversible, and it is known to cause coronary artery disease and cardiac arrest, as well as trigger autoimmune diseases and immune dysfunction.

Methyl Mercury ingestion has extensively been documented to cause male infertility and spermatozoa mutation, in addition to instigating type II diabetes.

The maximum mercury intake as indicated by The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food (JEFCA) is 0.23µg/kg of body weight per day. Therefore, a person weighing 80kg can safely ingest up to 18.4µg of Methyl Mercury per day according to JEFCA. Shark meat has been found to contain as much as 4000µg/kg of Methyl Mercury! Using an average value of 1400µg/kg of shark meat, a simple calculation reveals that an average shark steak (that is 300g in the pan, served as 200g) contains 420µg of Methyl Mercury, nearly 23 times the maximum allowable limit by JEFCA; which is more than double the limit set by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at 0.1µg/kg.

Environmental Destruction

Shark populations have witnessed a dramatic decline over recent decades; some regions have recorded reductions of 80% and in some areas 90% since the 1970’s! The diminution of populations can mainly be attributed to overfishing due to the demand for sharks which has skyrocketed with the proliferation of cuisines that utilise shark meat and fins, along with the development of modern commercial fishing technologies.

The implications associated with reductions of shark populations at this magnitude are horrific. Concern for the marine world’s apex predators has less to do with sentiment and is more about waking up to the devastating impacts on marine ecosystems that have been observed around the world. The removal of sharks has disrupted the entire marine food chain, with chaotic consequences, some of which are only now becoming apparent.

Eliminating the top predator in any system creates what is called a trophic cascade. The species whose numbers sharks used to police, such as ray and skates, are now exploding in population. They in turn are wiping out scallops and other shellfish, and water quality is suffering as a result. Reefs, too, are under assault as parrot fish, which are key to controlling algae growth on reefs, are being exterminated by the fish whose numbers are no longer being regulated by sharks.

Socio-economic Impact

The potential socio-economic impact, of declining shark populations, in Egypt, and other countries that rely on dive tourism is extremely costly. The impact on the fishing industry coastal communities that rely on fishing shall be disastrous due to the disruption of the marine food web.

The estimated annual income, from the tourism industry, of a single shark, at Brothers Islands, is EGP 1,250,000 per year. Carrefour sells juvenile sharks at L.E. 30 per kg!

We have to take a stand! Please sign the online petition to help cease the sale of sharks at Carrefour, to protect our health environment and prosperity!

Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/34757.html

References/Sources:

Ahmed El Droubi

Project Manager

Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation association.
B2, New Marina, Al Sakkala
Hurghada- Red Sea- Egypt
P.O. Box 144 Hurghada- Red Sea- Egypt.
Tel:+2 065 344 50 35
Mob: +2 012 624 1312
Fax: +2 065 344 6674
droubi@hepca.com
www.hepca.com

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Philosopher , internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948

The Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge opens in Soma Bay

2010-02-28T02:13:00.001-08:00

The Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge opens in Soma Bay on 25 February 2010. This exciting new water sports lifestyle hotel is a first for the luxurious resort destination of Soma Bay and is designed to appeal to divers, windsurfers and kite surfers seeking reasonably priced accommodation in one of the Red Sea’s finest water sport locations.

The Breakers offers quality and affordable lodging in 173 comfortable guest rooms equipped with all modern amenities. The hotel is situated directly opposite the magnificent Soma Bay house reef and adjacent to the well-equipped Dive Centre managed by Orca Dive Clubs. Most of the guest rooms have extraordinary views of the house reef, lagoon, the panoramic jetty and the open sea. Perfectly situated, guests only need take a few steps from the room to the water’s edge.

This exciting new development is the first in Soma Bay to offer a total ‘lifestyle’ concept directed at the specific needs of water sports users. A waterfront restaurant and bar, scenic roof garden, beachside BBQs and outdoor events, panoramic sauna, and heated swimming pool offer many opportunities for relaxation after a day spent on or under the water. Guests staying at The Breakers can also access Soma Bay’s award-winning range of top class leisure facilities including Championship golf at The Cascades, and Leading Spa of the World, Les Thermes Marins des Cascades.

Kite surfer, diver and all-round water man Stefan Reichl is the General Manager of The Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge, Soma Bay, and he is excited to be bringing his many years of experience in the hospitality and gastronomy business to Soma Bay.

“It is a great pleasure for me to be back in the Red Sea where I previously spent two fantastic years as the Director of the Robinson Club Soma Bay,” says Stefan Reichl. “The Breakers is really going to help put Soma Bay on the map for water sports. Here we have some of the best conditions for windsurfing, diving and kite surfing in the world. The opening of The Breakers means that Soma Bay’s many unique attributes will be more accessible than ever before.”

Make a reservation or enjoy a taster of The Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge online at http://www.thebreakers-somabay.com/, or visit Soma Bay at www.somabay.com.

Ends

25th February 2010

800 clinics for underprivileged children

2010-02-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

HEPCA is working together with the Vodafone Foundation to establish 800 health clinics in 12 governorates across Egypt. This project is part of our ongoing commitment to support community development work and builds on our successful partnership with Vodafone that resulted in the award-winning Madrasty Intiative.
The clinics will be established at 800 public schools throughout the 12 governorates of Red Sea, Luxor, Aswan, Damietta, Asuit, Sohag, Beni Swaif, El Minyah, N Sinai, Suez, New Valley and Matrouh. Only the most deprived primary schools will be selected in order to offer maximum benefit for their underprivileged communities.

The program will involve a large component of capacity building for the schools and will make a positive difference to the lives of many thousands of people. The clinics will support the education and learning of health and hygiene issues for students and teachers. Teachers in particular will receive continuous training in basic medical first aid, CPR, and will gain a better understanding of medical and health issues affecting the community at large. Primary age schoolchildren will receive ongoing health care, and fun and informative educational sessions aimed to increase understanding and awareness of everyday social concerns.
Children are the lifeblood and future of our society. Many thousands of children in Egypt are receiving little or no education, often in school buildings that have no proper facilities for learning, playing or even washing. This initiative hits right at the heart of Egypt’s education system, and stems from a belief that quality education must work hand in hand with a quality environment.

Arts and Crafts - Reuse those brown paper grocery bags

2010-02-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

1) Make a beautiful card from a brown paper bag and some ribbon.
Supplies needed:
* Brown paper (from a grocery bag) or construction paper
* Pinking shears or Scissors
* A hole punch
* Ribbon (about 1/4 inch wide) or thick yarn
* Markers or crayons

Cut a card from brown paper using pinking shears. Any shape will do.
Using a hole punch, make a series of holes around the edges of the card. Make an even number of holes.
String ribbon or yarn through the holes.
Tie the ends in a bow (this is the hardest part of this project). If the bow doesn't look good, you can glue the ends of the ribbon to the back of the card instead.
Write a message (or draw a picture) on your lovely card.
See details: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/cards/brownpaper/

2)Make your own Kitty Condo
You and you cat will have hours of fun in this home built just for him!
You Need:

* Two or More Paper Bags from the Grocery Store
* Scissors
* Glue
* Tape
* Cardboard
* Construction Paper
* Glasses and Bowls to Trace Around
* Pencil
* Pictures from Magazines
* Kitty
Read more: http://www.makingfriends.com/cat_condo.htm

3) Homemade Schoolbook Covers

http://www.parentsconnect.com/do/book_covers.jhtml?minisite=back-to-school
........................

Lots more ideas here: http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/paperbagsartscraftsideaskids.html

HEPCA cleans up Hadaba

2010-02-01T02:54:00.000-08:00

UPDATE:
Mar 1, 2010
Hadaba Cleanup Campaign
---------------------------------
ILLEGAL dumping caught in action.
Today, March 1st, between approximately 5 and 6 pm, a truck was caught dumping construction waste. They dumped approximately 6 truck loads to the top of Hadaba hill.
The waste was being moved from a construction site approximately 500 meters away from the dump site.
We hope with this video and the photos we took, that HEPCA will be able to either make them move the waste to the approved site and/or fine them.

Here it is on video:

If anyone else witnesses such an act, we suggest you send HEPCA the photos and videos and you should be willing to testify if required.
Make sure you get the license plate!

---------------------------------

UPDATE:
Feb 22, 2010
Hadaba Cleanup Campaign

We are entitled to live in a clean and safe environment.

We are responsible for the protection of our local environment.

The Hadaba Area's Solid Waste Management Scheme is HEPCA’s most recent undertaking; an attempt to work with the community and share the responsibility of managing our environment. We aim to develop a sustainable, efficient, environmentally conscious solid waste management system which can be marked as a model for other areas in and out of the Red Sea.

Our team has been on the ground removing garbage pileups over the last two weeks; the door to door collection rounds have now begun, and require your cooperation in order to have an efficient effective system.

Protect your neighbourhood and environment by following these simple steps:

· Place your solid waste in secured rubbish bags

· Place your garbage bags in the disposal bin provided to your building

· Place your bins in a clearly visible area early in the morning \for daily collection rounds from 7 am to 4 pm (times are subject to change as we work to improve efficiency).

HEPCA trucks are currently circulating in the Hadaba area delivering 120 litre disposal containers to every building, at the cost price of EGP150. We predict that each container is sufficient for an average of 3 to 5 households. We request that each building arrange for the receipt of the necessary containers during the upcoming week.

Those disposing garbage outside of the designated disposal containers shall be fined by the Red Sea Governorate in accordance to Law 4/1994.

Please call HEPCA at (065-3445035) or email us (info@hepca.com) to organize the following:

· Learn how you can acquire a disposal bin

· Enquire about the daily schedule of garbage collection rounds

· Report garbage pileups in your area or any violations

Let’s work together to make this clean up a success and keep Hadaba a clean and safe environment for our families and for the overall conservation of the Red Sea Environment.

Best Regards,
The HEPCA Team

-----------------------------------------

HEPCA has secured the contract for solid waste management in the Hadaba area of Hurghada.
This is an important area for the Red Sea, directly adjoining the main touristic centre of Sekalla, and home to many thousands of local residents, tourists and businesses.
Sadly, the waste situation in Hadaba has spiralled out of control for many years. The streets of this hillside area have long been blighted by random dumping of rubbish, overflowing waste containers attracting wild animals, and seemingly endless construction work.
HEPCA is delighted to have now been handed the responsibility by the Governor of the Red Sea to clean up Hadaba based on the experience of our highly successful solid waste management strategy in the southern Red Sea.
From next month, we will start a solid waste collection estimated to amount to some 9,000 tonnes in the first instance, just to clear the streets of accumulated rubbish. HEPCA intends to distribute a waste container to every house and start a door-to-door operation for collection. We will also remove the many street-based waste bins and rubbish collection sites.
A public awareness campaign will help to promote the waste collection program. Fines will be issuable for non-compliance with the new system but HEPCA hopes to count on the support of all stakeholders to ensure the success of this project, and a cleaner and healthier Hadaba for everyone.

Take one of Karin’s dogs and give it a new home!

2010-01-24T03:34:00.000-08:00

Shortly before Christmas we had an unusual cry for help from a 48-yr old woman – she’s accommodating 45 dogs and she can no longer cope with the situation. We visited this woman and we talked to her.

Us: Hello Karin, what’s your problem?

Karin: As you can see, I’ve got too many dogs in not enough space. I’m at the end of my tether because it’s very difficult to be fair to all the dogs. Each day I have to cook so much food for the dogs, clean up after them, organize food for them. My whole life revolves around the dogs now and this takes so much from me because I no longer have any energy. Four years ago I was 80 kg and now I’m only 45 kg.

Us: How did you get into this situation?

Karin: When I came 4 yrs ago in my own villa I had enough energy and no financial problems. I felt sorry for the injured and orphaned street dogs, so I took some of these animals home. Soon I became known in my area as “the dog mother” and people brought me more and more animals. Some of the dogs were pregnant, so like this once they had the puppies I had an extra 7 dogs. I had the males castrated so no more puppies were conceived in my home.

At the beginning all of this wasn’t a problem for me but because the people around me were not always honest I lost a lot of money over the past years and now I have reached a financial end and cannot look after the dogs any more. The last resort would be to give them an injection and have them put to sleep but this will then mean that all my sacrifices and efforts will have been for nothing.

Us: How can we help you?

Karin: Well, I already had some help. The animal shelter of Hurghada (http://www.bluemoon-animalcenter.com) has neutered the rest of my dogs but the shelter hasn’t enough place to take all my babies. Because of this I am searching for lovely people who can give kind homes to my dogs.

Us: Is there anything in particular to note about these dogs?

Karin: Yes, there is. My dogs are very clingy and also seek affection. They are not used to a life outside of the house. Some of them were born inside a house and have never been outside, except to go into the garden. For example – a walk through the city would be pure stress and they must be trained and accustomed to this step by step.

Dear Reader, sometimes people fall into a situation that they feel they cannot escape from. It is also going to be more difficult in a foreign country. We – a small handful of women – decided to extend a hand to Karin. We visit her regularly, talk to her and try to bring her back into a normal life. We are trying to help her with the only weapon we have and this is humanity, because to help is better than to look away.

Also you can help here in this situation by taking one of Karin’s dogs and giving it a new home, because the group has to get smaller very fast, for the health of the group and also the health of the human looking after them.
Tel: 012 567 98 29

-------------------------------------------------

Kurz vor Weihnachten erreichte uns ein ungewöhnlicher Hilferuf von einer Frau, die 48 Hunde beherbergt und der Lage nicht mehr Herr wird. Wir haben diese Frau besucht und mit ihr gesprochen.

Wir: Hallo Karin, was ist denn dein Problem?

Karin: Wie ihr sehen könnt, habe ich viel zu viele Hunde auf zu engem Raum, auch bin ich nervlich am Ende, denn es ist sehr schwierig allen Hunden gerecht zu werden. Täglich Unmengen Futter kochen, Fäkalien entsorgen, Futter beschaffen - alles dreht sich nur noch um die Hunde. Das zehrt sehr an meinen Kräften, da ich keine Helfer habe. Vor 4 Jahren wog ich noch 80 Kilo, jetzt nur noch 45 kg.

Wir: Wie konnte es denn so weit kommen ?

Karin: Als ich vor 4 Jahren hier in meine eigene Villa gezogen bin, war ich noch voller Energie und hatte keine finanziellen Probleme. Mir taten die verletzte und verwaisten Straßenhunde so leid, dass ich einige Tiere bei mir aufnahm. Bald war ich in meinem Viertel als ,,Hundemutter“ bekannt und mir wurden immer mehr Tiere zugetragen. Zwar hatte ich meine Rüden kastriert, aber oft kamen eben auch trächtige Tiere von außerhalb zu mir, das machte dann gleich aus einem Hund sieben. Das alles war am Anfang kein Problem für mich, aber

da die Menschen nicht immer ehrlich zu mir waren, habe ich in den letzten Jahren sehr viel Geld verloren. Nun bin ich finanziell am Ende und bald kann ich für die Hunde nicht mehr sorgen. Die letzte Möglichkeit wäre alle einzuschläfern, und das macht mich sehr traurig, weil ja dann mein ganzer Einsatz umsonst gewesen wäre.

Wir: Wie kann man dir helfen?

Karin: Nun, mir wurde ja schon geholfen, das ansässige Tierheim Bluemoon Animalcenter

hat in einer mehrtägigen Aktion alle meine Tiere kastriert, somit werden es schon mal nicht noch mehr. Leider hat das Tierheim keinen Platz um alle meine Sorgenkinder aufzunehmen, darum suche ich jetzt nach lieben Menschen, die meinen Hunden ein schönes Zuhause geben können.

Wir: Gibt es dabei etwas zu beachten?

Karin: Ja das gibt es. Meine Hunde sind sehr anhänglich und verschmust, sie sind nicht an das Leben außerhalb des Hauses gewöhnt. Manche sind im Haus geboren und waren noch nie draußen, außer im Garten natürlich .Zum Beispiel wäre ein Spaziergang durch die Stadt purer Stress, und muss ihnen erst langsam angewöhnt werden.

Liebe Leser, oftmals rutschen Menschen in etwas hinein, aus dem sie alleine nicht mehr herausfinden können. Vor allem wird es schwierig, wenn man dazu noch in einem fremden Land lebt. Wir ( eine kleine Handvoll Frauen) haben beschlossen Karin die Hand zu reichen, wir besuchen sie regelmäßig, sprechen viel mit ihr, versuchen sie in ein normales Leben zurückzuholen Wir versuchen Karin zu helfen, mit dem einzigen Mittel, das wir haben, mit Menschlichkeit. Denn Helfen ist besser als wegschauen. Auch ihr könnt hier helfen, indem ihr einen von Karins Hunden ein neues Zuhause gebt. Der Bestand muss schnellstmöglich verringert werden! Zum Wohl von Mensch und Tier.

Kontakt:

012 5679829
Tanja & Ashraf Moussa
Hurghada Red Sea
Egypt

Rain in the Red Sea?

2010-01-18T03:26:00.001-08:00

365 days of sunshine? Well almost! On Friday someone told me the weather forecast was rain. I and a few others laughed. Well we weren't laughing around 8pm last night (Sun, Jan 17) when we watched a great lightening storm from our home in Hadaba, Hurghada. Then we received a call from a friend in El Gouna who informed us they were under torrential tropical rain for about 20-30 mins. We went to bed thinking we would be lucky, but around 3 am the rain hit Hurghada. Not sure how long it lasted, but must have been at least 30 mins. Our power was out until about 9am but other than that we didn't have any leaks! Some others were not so lucky.

Some of our readers may have witnessed the rain we experienced here in the Red Sea in 1996. Luckily, the rain didn't last as long as then, but we still have flooding and of course a big mess.

Send us your photos and we will add them to our blog, your comments and info are also welcome.

Take care and don't approach any electric cables and if you think you have water damage in your house close to the wires, turn off the mains and wait until everything is dry before switching it back on!

Who ever said the weather in the Red Sea was boring :)

__________________
Thanks Tina for the images from Sharm

__________________
Thanks Ivan for the 360 Panoramic images from El Gouna:

Golf North Floods in Egypt

Arena Inn Flooded in Egypt

----------------------------
Thanks Rose for the images from Sharm

Container ship hits Red Sea reef

2010-01-10T02:37:00.000-08:00

LATEST NEWS 05 / 01 / 10
By Jo Mattock
A 260m-long Chinese container ship has run aground on Woodhouse Reef in the northern Red Sea causing severe damage to coral.

The CSCL Hamburg on Woodhouse Reef.
Photos: Tom Osborn

The 40,000-tonne CSCL Hamburg hit the reef, one of Egypt's most popular, on 31 December. The ship passed Jackson Reef before trying to navigate a narrow channel between Woodhouse and Thomas Reef, which lie in the Strait of Tiran near Sharm El Sheikh. It's reported to have been travelling at some speed and 20m of its bow now lies on top of the reef.

Underwater cameraman Tom Osborn dived there on 2 January and says the ship has caused 'devastating' damage to the coral. He said: 'All of the reef in the area of the collision has been destroyed. It resembles a chalk quarry with fresh white lumps of rock scattered everywhere.

'You can see underwater that large sections of the container's hull has been crushed and sliced open from the force of the impact. As the ship smashed into the reef, she damaged huge chunks of the reef plate near the surface.

'An area approximately 30m wide and 20m long has tumbled away in sections down the steep slope of Woodhouse Reef like an avalanche, destroying any living coral below to a depth of at least 45m. At 35m you can clearly see a large slab of reef plate that used to be near the surface.'

When Osborn dived it, the ship was facing south, but it has since been swung round by tides or wind and now the bow is pointing north, towards the Straits of Tiran. This could have caused even more damage to both the ship and the corals. Luckily, no fuel has leaked from the ship - this could also have damaged marine life.

It's not yet clear what will happen to the ship and if it can be repaired. Wreck divers are hoping it may be scuttled locally to form an artificial reef.
Link back: http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/article.asp?uan=5441

Watch the exclusive video footage

Thanks to Tom Osborn for the footage: http://tomosborn.co.uk/Website/Site/Welcome.html
Thanks to nonstopoperation for uploading to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20FW-wuGwTI

Can you help with photo ID of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks?

2009-12-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

December 11 2009

Over the past few years, the Egyptian Red Sea has established itself as THE location worldwide to meet Oceanic Whitetip Sharks under water. Their presence at various dive sites has led to many unique and memorable encounters for both snorkellers and divers.

Recent reports of shark aggression, illegal shark baiting and feeding, and the unfortunate death of a snorkeller in June 2009 in St. Johns, have raised questions about potential changes in the sharks’ behaviour. Therefore it is increasingly important that we collect any available information on this shark species and document their behaviour, residency patterns and migrations paths throughout the Egyptian Red Sea.

Building on a population study on Carcharhinus longimanus that was initiated in fall 2004 by Dr. Elke Bojanowski, the Longimanus Project needs your HELP to collect underwater photographs and/or videos of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks taken on your safari or daily trips.

This footage will be used to identify individual sharks with the help of their natural markings; most prominent are those on their first dorsal fin and the lower tail lobe. Any new shark will be added to the individual catalogue (including around 500 Oceanics at present), while the sighting history of familiar animals will be updated.

In order for the footage to be useful, we need to know the dive site, date, and full name of the photographer(s). Please use the below folder organization/storage procedure:

Main Folder - dive site - date (e.g.: Daedalus Reef - 15.01.2009)
Sub Folder - full name of photographer: add picture/video files to folder (in JPG or any other common picture/video format)

If you have photos / video from a second photographer, please add a second sub folder.

HEPCA will provide CDs/DVDs/memory sticks to store any photographs and/or videos showing Oceanic Whitetip Sharks, which were taken either by yourself or the guests on your dive trips. These will be collected by HEPCA staff or can be returned to the HEPCA office in Hurghada. Please email or telephone the HEPCA office to arrange this.

If there is any additional information regarding any aspect of your encounters with the Oceanic Whitetips, please feel free to include it in the form of written documents or notes stored anywhere on the disk or memory stick. Please note that we will make NO commercial use of any of the footage, but will solely use it for scientific and information purposes.

THANK YOU for your support.

For more information on Oceanic Whitetip Sharks and the Longimanus Project, please visit www.longimanus.info

Ta Ta to Tut? King's Tomb to Close for Five Years

2009-12-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Tomb of Tutankhamun Egypt (2:10 p.m. EST) -- Planning to take a Nile cruise in order to visit the famous tomb of Tutankhamun, aka King Tut? You'd better hurry, as it has just been announced that the burial chamber, the most visited in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, is to be closed for five years.

Starting in May 2010, King Tut's tomb -- the painted walls of which are degenerating with unexplained brown markings -- will be off limits to tourists for a joint conservation effort between Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and the Los Angeles-based Getty Conservation Institute. The groups will spend two years determining the cause of the unexplained spots (most likely, according to scientists who have worked on past renovations of ancient Egyptian tombs, the heat and humidity brought by thousands of daily visitors) and a further three trying to solve the problem.

This isn't the first joint effort between Getty and the Egyptian authorities; the Foundation has restored other tombs in the Valley of the Kings and has also designed a series of airtight cases for the display of several precious Egyptian mummies.

Of course, the closure does not mean that Nile River cruises -- and ocean-going ships that stop at Safaga on the Red Sea to bus people into Luxor -- should be off your radar. Luxor boasts many other spectacular attractions and activities, including hot air balloon flights over the Nile, the market in Luxor and felucca rides on the river. The Temple of Karnak, the smaller Luxor Temple and the exquisite Temple of Queen Hatchepsut will be open as usual.

Plus, there are plenty of other tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the less dramatic Valley of the Queens that are frankly more impressive than Tutankhamun's -- it's just that his is the most famous.

Here's the reason for the intrigue: Although King Tut was only a minor royal when he reigned 3,000 years ago, his tomb -- less glamorously known as KV62 and unearthed by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 -- was one of the few on the Nile's West Bank at Luxor to be discovered almost intact, packed with objects of untold value and beauty, including the famous golden burial mask. The mummy came complete with its own curse: Carter's patron, Lord Carnarvon, died mysteriously just five months after the great discovery.

Perhaps the brown spots are a new manifestation of the curse? "I always see the tomb of King Tut and wonder about those spots, which no scientist has been able to explain," said Zahi Hawass, the head of the SCA, in a media statement. "Now I am happy that the Getty will look at the tomb and preserve its beautiful scenes."

Even after Tut's burial chamber reopens, the days of visiting the tombs in the Valley of the Kings may be numbered. At the same time as the Getty restoration project, the SCA is working on a long-term plan with Madrid-based Factum Arte, a company that produces highly sophisticated facsimiles of valuable antiquities, to create replicas of the tombs of Seti I and Nefertari (neither of which is currently open to the general public) and Tutankhamun.

The exhibit, which is expected to be expanded over time to include more of the most fragile of the valley's 63 known tombs, will become a permanent installation on the same site, with the working title "The Replica Valley" -- and the real tombs will one day no longer be available to visit.

While it's without doubt a worthy and much-needed conservation effort, Egypt, for many, is an awfully long way to go to look at a model. Would you still want to visit? Vote in our poll.

--by Sue Bryant, Cruise Critic Contributing Editor
http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3553

Artificial Reef for marine research and technical diving

2009-12-06T03:15:00.000-08:00

The 51m wreck of the Hebat Allah was sunk in 2004 and opened as an official dive site in December 2005. It is the first and only artificial reef dive site created in the Hurghada region, and is frequented only by technical divers due to the fact that it lies bolt upright on a flat sandy seabed around 45m depth.

In October 2009, HEPCA divers teamed up with GUE Egypt (Global Underwater Explorers) and Colona Divers in a project to install new moorings to secure the wreck and improve the safety of diving her. It is hoped that more and more technical divers will come to appreciate diving this unique wreck as the ship is almost entirely intact and the accommodation area easy to explore. Her masts rise up to around 15m below the surface.

The Hebat Allah project also recognises the importance of this wreck as an artificial reef in offering a unique marine research opportunity to monitor reef growth from a baseline of her sinking five years ago. An initial assessment of marine life and coral presence was undertaken in October and recorded some extensive fish life including groupers, lionfish, many schooling fish and also a turtle. There were several coral species, including some hard corals, but their current poor coverage is likely to be due to both the depth of the wreck and also the fact that it lies some distance away from an established coral reef.

Going forward, HEPCA and GUE Egypt, with the support of Colona Divers, are intending to dive the Hebat Allah frequently with the following goals of the project in mind:

1. To maintain the constant presence of the mooring lines (previous lines have been lost due to fishing activity and incorrect mooring practices) in order to maximise the Hebat Allah’s potential as a safe and exciting technical diving site

2. To survey and document the coral growth and marine life diversity at depths greater than 35m, thereby using the Hebat Allah as a valuable marine research site, as well as continuous monitoring of the overall condition of the wreck.

Oil spills poison the Red Sea

2009-11-30T01:26:00.000-08:00

Frequent oil spills in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt kill marine life and damage the environment.
By Joseph Mayton | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor/ November 5, 2009 edition

CAIRO

Egyptian tourism commercials present the Red Sea as an untouched paradise where “the sun shines 365 days a year” and the water is full of exuberant marine life. But the reality is that the beaches and marine life are being destroyed as a result of offshore oil drilling and spills.

On May 20, oil spilled onto the shores just north of the popular resort town of Hurghada, some five hours southeast of Cairo. Although small in comparison with spills elsewhere, more than two-thirds of a mile of sandy beach was covered with crude oil.

According to the country’s environment ministry, workers “moved immediately to the northern coastal region of Hurghada, where they met [oil] company officials to inspect the beach and they found large quantities of crude oil in the form of small pieces along the beach.”

Mahmoud Ismail, the head of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), is proud of the work his organization does during what he termed “routine oil spills.”

“Our organization is there so we can monitor and help to connect oil companies with the necessary means of clean-up during the routine oil spills that occur in the Red Sea,” he says. “Just look at the most recent one, the beaches were completely cleaned in less than one week.”

But environmentalists point to continuing damage to the Red Sea from frequent “routine” oil spills.

Mr. Ismail says that around the 26 oil fields in the Red Sea, marine life is non-existent due to the almost constant leakage from the antiquated equipment used by oil companies, including such giants as British Petroleum (BP), and ExxonMobil. “Unfortunately, around these major centers of oil exploration, sea life is gone,” he says.

Ahmed al-Droubi, an environmental consultant in Cairo, argues that the situation is much worse than the government is willing to admit. He says that along the coastal region, in addition to the central oil areas, the environmental impact has been near catastrophic.

“If you look at the area along the Red Sea, from Ismailia to Hurghada, these beaches are almost entirely destroyed,” Mr. Droubi says. “What you have are hotels hauling in sand in order to make it appear that this is pristine land, but reality is much different: In and around Hurghada, as a result of the oil, there is no marine life.”

Droubi says that the EEAA does exceptional work, considering what they are up against, but action needs to be taken in order to prevent more damage. “We must see efforts to document and help renew the marine life and the coastal areas, because this is part of our future.”

In 2006, two major oil spills occurred in the Red Sea and inside the Suez Canal at Bitter Lake, where passing ships wait before continuing through the one-lane canal. At least 3,300 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled into the Red Sea on Feb. 20 that year. And in September, 1,100 tons of crude oil poured into Bitter Lake.

Smaller spills, similar to the one in Hurghada in May, occur almost monthly, both Ismail and Droubi confirm.

Ismail concedes that Bitter Lake’s ecosystem is no longer functioning. “Fisheries have died, fishermen can no longer work, but the government has compensated them for their losses,” he adds.

“We have nowhere to go,” says Ahmed al-Zayed, a local fisherman whose family once made a living scouring the depths of Bitter Lake. “When I was a child, my father and I used to go out into the lake and we could catch a lot of fish, but now, because of the oil, there is nothing. I haven’t been out in years and when I talk to friends [about] the Red Sea, they tell me the same thing.”

Droubi argues that there needs to be a law requiring pipes and drilling equipment in the Red Sea to be updated. Ismail concurs, saying that much of the machinery is more than 25 years old.

Although the EEAA now concentrates its efforts mostly on cleaning up after spills, that may change. In early May, Environment Minister George Maged established an advisory committee to look into the pollution caused by oil in the Red Sea and its coastal region.

Source: http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/11/05/oil-spills-poison-the-red-sea/

Real Estate Tax

2009-11-23T05:29:00.000-08:00

Do you own property in the Red Sea? Can someone please send us the translated English version of this tax law.
When are the deadlines, what has to be done and to whom should we pay.
Do all home owners have to pay, who evaluates the value of the home (and therefore the tax due?)
Many questions....

Your comments, news, information is welcome! Share your info with your neighbor (no pun intended :)

-----------------
More info:
New property tax for Egypt

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Catherine Deshayes

Egypt plans to introduce new residential and commercial property taxes in January next year as part of a series of plans to help modernise the country's outdated taxation system and boost the economy - but the tax stands to have a negative impact on international investors as it may put them off buying property in the country...

Up until now, property tax in Egypt has been extremely favourable. There is no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax and no stamp duty. But now, the Egyptian Government is trying out various methods in their bid to reform the economy and they see overhauling the taxation system in the country as one way in which to do this.

Tarek Farag, Head of Egypt's Real Estate Tax Authority, said that Egypt properties valued at 1 million Egyptian pounds (£109,000) will be taxed a small tax of just under one per cent, while homes valued at £45,000 or less will be exempt from the tax altogether.

But of course the number of international investors buying properties worth under the low £45,000 threshold will be minimal, so it is likely that this new tax will affect the majority of them.

Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said that individuals and corporations should submit real estate assets by the end of the year for valuation.

Valuations will take into account location, quality of construction, provision of basic services and proximity to public parks, health and education facilities.

If property owners feel that their homes have been valued incorrectly and they feel the taxes levied against them are unfair, then they can apply to appeal against the taxes within sixty days of the valuation and their home will be revalued within 30 days.

Properties will be re-evaluated every five years.

Taxes on industrial real estate would be deducted from the overall income tax paid by the owners.
Source: http://www.themovechannel.com/news/ee8fd660-1d59/

A shot in the blue?

2009-11-16T07:31:00.000-08:00

Experts and health officials expect an increase in incidents of swine flu as the cooler months approach, with possibly more severe symptoms. Yet doubts have been expressed over the safety of the swine flu vaccine, 150,000 courses of which arrived in Egypt days ago. An estimated 30,000 pilgrims have already been vaccinated and, in an attempt to reassure the public, both Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabali and the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi have received the shots.

Housewife Rabab Harhash is far from atypical. "No member of my family, not my husband, my two children, or myself, will be taking the vaccine. Some doctors say it is perfectly safe, others say there are potential side-effects. I will not take the risk," she says.

Dalia Nayer, a university professor, insists that she will wait until already inoculated pilgrims return from the hajj before she makes a decision: "The testing of the swine flu vaccine has been rushed and I feel there might be a danger. After watching the health minister taking it on TV I thought I might change my mind but I have decided to wait and see."

Vaccination campaigns have long played an important role in protecting the health of individuals, says Abdel-Rahman Shahin, official spokesman at the Health Ministry. "But a group of factors around the swine flu vaccine, including confusion over how it is made and widespread speculation about whether it might be more dangerous than the virus itself has given the anti-vaccine movement a fresh airing."

Rumour and misinformation, he says, are making it difficult to persuade an already wary public to line up for shots. "I wonder if the people disseminating this false information about this vaccine realise that what they are doing could result in people losing their lives."

Websites, weblog feeds and even elevator chatter are replete with criticisms of the vaccine, often with no factual or scientific basis. The most common complaint is that the vaccine has been developed and distributed without adequate clinical trials. Nasr El-Sayed, deputy minister of health for preventive affairs, points out that the swine flu vaccine is made using the same techniques that have been employed for two decades to produce seasonal flu shots and that clinical trials were conducted earlier this year to determine dosage. The most pervasive fear, however, is that widespread vaccination may see an increase in the extremely rare Guillain-Barré syndrome, as happened in 1976 in the US following an immunisation campaign.

"Flu vaccines are now much purer than they were, minimising the risk, and Guillain-Barré is far rarer," says El-Sayed.

A press release issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) points out that manufacturers had conducted advance studies using a "mock-up" vaccine to "expedite regulatory approval" and that potential long-term side effects, including cancer and other life threatening diseases, had yet to be determined.

While questions remain around the vaccine, the public has been turning to other flu-related products, including vitamin supplements, in large numbers. Pharmacist Mustafa Mohamed reports that sales of such items tripled in September.

Manal Masoud, the mother of two university students, argues that she prefers "to boost immunity rather than risk the vaccine as long as there are questions over its safety".

Amid the controversy over the vaccine Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif announced on 7 November that the five-day Eid Al-Adha vacation, beginning on 26 November, would be extended until 5 December in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus at educational institutions. And in a press conference on 8 November Health Minister El-Gabali said that starting Saturday, 14 November, private and public hospitals will all be required to reserve five per cent of their beds for swine flu patients.

The ministry will also issue a list of private laboratories licenced to test people for the H1N1 virus and is beginning training courses to help health workers identify swine flu patients.

"Hospitals and private laboratories that do not abide by the ministry's decree will be closed down. To protect the public against exploitation the price of the swine flu test will be fixed by the ministry," said El-Gabali.

During the press conference El-Gabali revealed that an additional 72 swine flu cases were reported on Friday, including 52 in schools; on Saturday 98 new cases were reported, including 60 among pupils and on Sunday 128 new cases, 69 of them children. By print time the health ministry announced Egypt's sixth swine flu fatality. The deceased is a pregnant woman who was suffering heart problems. The number of swine flu cases reached 2078 cases until Tuesday.

ref. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/972/eg6.htm

DIRTY NEWS - ILLEGAL DUMP IN THE NATIONAL PARK!

2009-11-16T01:51:00.000-08:00

An illegal dump site was discovered within the boundaries of the St. Catherine National Park, in an exceptional beautiful enclosure close to the Dahab road.
What makes that even worse: These tons of garbage come exclusively from the airport!
The Government set up strict environmental laws, which forbid illegal dumping and special laws to protect the National Parks. And a garbage disposal company working for a governmental institution is dumping wild, just to get it done cheap? That cannot be true… Unfortunately it is, as these pictures proof.

The whole ‘raison d'être’ of the airport is the tourism, and tourists come because of our precious and unique environment. Spoiling it means destroying the source of income of nearly everybody in South Sinai.
pic: airport dump, 12.11.09
That whole pile consists mainly of catering leftovers: 1000nds of empty plastic trays and food leftovers....

While Clean Sharm members, called to the scene by a phone call from a Bedouin, made photos from the dump, a truck came and unloaded more trash. That was actually good luck, as we got a license number and thus a solid proof. Plus the kind of garbage proofs 100% that it comes from the airport, as one can easily see…
This is an intentional criminal act by the company responsible for the dumping, and we can only hope that it gets treated as that!

We called General Ahmed Saleh, Sharm’s mayor with these news and he asked us immediately to come and bring the photos as much needed proof. He said that he already had suspicions about that company, but that he was until now not able to proof that they violate the law.

That's how this beautiful place looks now (500 m to the left starts the new dump, which will soon spread thanks to wind and animals...)

Even kilometers before the dump, airport trash is littering the desert, fallen off the simple trucks, which are not at all equipped to transport garbage....

Now that there is proof (General Ahmed got a CD with many more pictures) we hope that this company will be heavily fined, the dump cleaned, and that the airport employ from now legal and proper operating companies.
However - Trust, but verify.....: We will follow up on this, watch this space…. Or go and check yourself: Coming from Sharm, exacty 14km behind the check point, you will find a barrel at the left side of the street, marking an offroad track (easy to drive on with every car). Follow this track, always keeping to the left, when the track splits, and after app. 500m you will reach the dump site.....

Ref: http://www.cleansharm.org/news.html

Red Sea: the first plastic bag free governorate in Egypt

2009-11-09T01:46:00.000-08:00

November 05 2009
HEPCA is pleased to announce the success of the campaign to make the Red Sea the first plastic bag free governorate in Egypt. Following the decree issued earlier this year by HE General Magdi Kubeissi, Governor of the Red Sea, the ban on plastic bags has been overwhelmingly supported by businesses and individuals in the region. This is a great accomplishment of which we can all be proud.

Paper bags are currently being supplied by the large majority of retailers including supermarkets, restaurants and other businesses. Paper has a significantly lower impact on the environment than plastic but we need to minimise the use of ALL bags.

By far the most environmentally friendly solution is for bag users to REUSE existing bags, and switch to cloth bags where possible. So far HEPCA has distributed 50,000 cloth bags for free in the Red Sea area to support the decree.

HEPCA would like to thank everyone who has contributed in support of this campaign. Special thanks are due to HE the Governor and all our partners and sponsors including Egyptian Resorts Company (Developer of Sahl Hasheesh) and Barclays Bank. In addition, HEPCA would like to thank those working in the vocational training centres in Hurghada, Safaga and Ras Gharib, where many additional job opportunities were created for women manufacturing the cloth bags for this campaign.

Please continue to support this campaign and add pressure to those who do not comply with the ban. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to help keep the Red Sea plastic bag free.

Tel: +20 65 344 5035
Fax: +20 65 344 6674
Email: info@hepca.com

Daily Buzz: Beyoncé Violates Islamic Religious Law

2009-11-02T04:07:00.000-08:00

I love (fine, worship) Beyoncé. She’s just so...ferocious, enlivening—not to mention talented. And, apparently, I’m not the only one who feels that way. Not just any musician can successfully embark on a world tour, which she’s in the midst of. But now it seems some of her Egyptian fans—who dreamed of one day seeing “Single Ladies” live and in all its glorious action—might not get the complete experience: glitter, bodysuits, big hair, cleavage, makeup and unapologetic hip thrusts.

According to CNN.com, Knowles—who’s set to perform at the Red Sea resort of Port Ghalib as part of her world tour—is already shaking some feathers. Recently, Islamist Egyptian Member of Parliament Hamdi Hassan, said the singer, "who appears naked in her clips," is violating the Islamic religious law Sharia—which, as CNN says, "covers many aspects of daily life, including family, sexuality, hygiene and social issues." Hassan also slammed the government for its double standard, having refused permission to an Islamic band that sings religious songs for children.

Beyonce_sd1260070But religious law and dress code is something American performers have always had to consider. In fact, Beyoncé canceled a 2007 show in Malaysia, where government rules require female entertainers to cover up (shoulder to knees; no cleavage). And, last year, Shakira was attacked by Egyptian conservative cleric Khaled-al-Gindi, who compared her to a prostitute. What will—and what should—the western pop star do? Cancel the show if she can’t be herself or give her fans what they’ve been waiting for—just a toned-down version of it? Speak!

Photo: Retna

Posted by WomansDay.com Editors on October 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM in Daily Buzz |
http://dailywd.womansday.com/blog/2009/10/daily-buzz-beyonc%C3%A9-violates-islamic-religious-law.html