Issue: 73
The Most Important People Were Not in Copenhagen

The most powerful individuals on the planet have convened here to reach a deal. But based on the quality of the deal that emerged, I believe that the important people in the world are elsewhere.
Issue: 71
Egypt: 38 degrees and searing sun - it's winter by the Red Sea!

Maybe it would have been wise to have learned a few words of Arabic before my stay at the Makadi Palace. If I'd looked up the word for 'an adaptor' I could have prevented a doctor being hastily dispatched to my room.
And a smattering of the local dialect would have come in handy when explaining to the bell boy, who let himself in at 5am to collect my bags, that he was 11 hours early for my 4pm check-out.
Language barriers aside, it is hard not to feel thoroughly relaxed at the vast terracotta-coloured complex that has sprung up in the desert to cater for the many tourists who flock to Egypt's Red Sea coast.

The shifting Sands of Net Debate

The sand and deep blue sea of Sharm el-Sheikh are a magnet for winter sun worshippers - a place to have serious fun. This week, though, it is also somewhere to do some serious thinking about the future of the internet.
Amidst the swimming shorts and bikinis in this Egyptian resort, on the Red Sea, fifteen hundred besuited men and women stand out.
They are attending the four-day Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a United Nations' sponsored gathering to try to reach a consensus on where the net should be going.
The meeting, of governments, advocacy groups and non-governmental organisations, is happening at a time when the internet is changing as fast as the shifting sands of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt has bid to be one of the first countries with an Arabic top-level domain

The Egyptian government on Monday announced it had applied for an Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) from Icann, the internet naming co-ordinator. Tarek Mohamed Kamel, Egypt's minister of communication and information technology, told the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Sharm el-Sheikh on 16 November that the new domain name would be '.misr' written in Arabic, which translates into English as '.egypt'.
"The internet now speaks Arabic," Kamel said in an Icann statement. "This proves that Icann is interested in the multilingual development process of the internet and we're thankful to be one of the first to apply for an Arabic IDN."
Egypt's OCI forms joint venture with Brazil's FITCO

Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) (OCIC.CA) (OCICq.L) said on Wednesday it is forming a joint venture with Brazil's FITCO International S.A. to distribute its fertiliser products.
OCI, Egypt's biggest fertilisers maker, had signed an agreement with FITCO in March to supply and import urea into Brazil.
For more details, please visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSLI3952720091118
 

Good Reads

World Cup Sum Up

By the time this issue is out the great Mondial will be over, and if there is one thing that we can take away from the games played so far, it’s that Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s vehement resistance to the use of technology has become untenable.

Museums You've Probably Never Been To

By Lena Alsayegh
We all know that Egypt has a wealth of historical sites and a rich overlap of cultures spanning thousands of years. However, only a fraction of us have actually ever seen the Pyramids or been to Luxor, let alone the Egyptian Museum. So, we’ve decided to spotlight a few places to whet your cultural appetite if you should ever find yourself with nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon. 



The Dreams Will Only Die With Me

A dream starts with one clear thought.
(E. MOON)

Do you ever feel your head won’t be quiet? Are a million thoughts racing through your brain telling you, ‘gotta do this, gotta do that, gotta do, gotta do!’ Do you feel your mind is racing, does there seems to be no end to the physical and emotional tasks you are setting yourself? Everything becomes confused; you don’t know where to start to eliminate all the rubbish going around in your head.

Headlines

Homeopathy In Sharm

When you visit the doctor, he will ask you what is wrong. "My foot hurts," you might say, and the doctor will lift the foot and look at it from all angles.
He has seen this before. Within 15 minutes, he will learn all of the details he needs to make a diagnosis. He will write on a pad, hand you a slip of paper, and you will hobble out the door. This is how medicine is done, right?
Why is it then, that for the same complaint, a homeopath will require that you sit in her office for at least an hour? Why will she ask you about your childhood, your dreams, your preferences for food, and so on?
What are these tiny white pills she has recommended you, and why do they have a name that sounds so strange?

Real Estate In Sharm

Over the past few years the resorts surrounding the Red Sea have witnessed a property boom which parallels those of Spain and Dubai in recent times. At the forefront of this increase in demand is the resort of Sharm El Sheikh, ideally situated on the southernmost tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Buoyed by a rapidly expanding tourist industry, Sharm El Sheikh is today one of the most popular destinations for people looking to purchase a property in Egypt.

Latest Reviews

Do You Believe In The Evil Eye?

Hello Muriel, 

Do you believe in the evil eye?

 Thanks, 
Mona

Dear Mona,
I don’t think it is about belief; it is more about respect and acceptance for other people’s beliefs. It is not about my opinion either as opinions become diluted with age.
The ‘Evil Eye’ is believed by many cultures to be able to cause bad luck or injury on the person to whom it is directed.
The concept and significance of it varies widely between cultures, but for me the psychodynamics are of ‘envy.’
It has been mentioned several times in the Bible and is also mentioned in the Koran.

Breakdance In Sharm

Flash Forward Entertainment is an all new performance group currently sweeping across Sharm El Sheikh with their new infectious show in hotels and clubs and various other stages and spaces.

Sharm Schooling

Hello Muriel,

I am new In Sharm and I feel lost because I don't know which school to  
put my child in? Do you have any advice on what I should look for in a  
good school?

 Thanks,
 Amanda