Author: Athanasios Koutoupas

Greek Doctor Afksendiyos Kalangos has saved the life of over 15,000 children

This amazing Greek defines humanity and filotimo. He has received various awards and has been named the “Modern Missionary of Medicine”. However, he is not interested in titles, awards, or money. Dr. Afksendiyos Kalangos loves to save lives and restore the smiles of desperate poor children with heart problems. Dr. Kalangos has performed over 15.000 surgeries in the last decade to poor children all over the world for FREE. He is the Head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University Hospital of Geneva.

In 1998, Dr. Afksendiyos Kalangos founded the charity institution «Coeurs pour tous» (Hearts for All), and since then he is surrounded by a group of surgeons with common ideals, offering valuable medical services to people in need around the world.

He graduated in 1984 at the age 23, from the American Medical Faculty of Istanbul, he specialized himself in surgery in London and then he spent five additional years of study in order to be devoted to heart surgery for children and babies in Paris and in the U.S. Eventually he became a professor at the University of Geneva at his early 40s.

He loves the smell of cinnamon and he always has a bottle of it in his office. He says that cinnamon regenerates him, but it also reminds him of the place of his origin Constantinople.

As a son of a doctor, his father was a physician, head physician of the paediatric hospital in Istanbul Baloukli, he followed his father’s words, to make his life’s goal the works and not the money. It’s no wonder that a road in Istanbul has been named after his father, who died in 2004, having completed 65 years of devotion to patients. “A man, who could cure any disease” as the Turks say even today.

As a son of a doctor, his father was a physician, head physician of the paediatric hospital in Istanbul Baloukli, he followed his father’s words, to make his life’s goal the work and not the money. It’s no wonder that a road to Istanbul has been named after his father, who died in 2004, having completed 65 years of devotion to patients. “A man, who could cure any disease” as the Turks say even today!

(www.greekgateway.com)

November 5, 2016
Central Bank of Egypt Floats the Egyptian Pound

In a surprise morning announcement, the Central Bank of Egypt announced that it has floated the Egyptian pound against all foreign currencies.

“The CBE hereby announces its decision to move, with immediate effect, to a liberalized exchange rate regime in order to quell any distortions in the domestic foreign currency market,” the bank said in a statement.

Against the US dollar, the Egyptian pound was floated to EGP 13.00 per USD 1.00. Selling a US dollar, however, yields EGP 13.50. Prior to the devaluation, the US dollar’s official selling price was EGP 8.88, while the buying price stood at EGP 8.85. On the parallel market, however, the greenback reached an all-time high of EGP 18 earlier this week, before the pound strengthened amid calls for a boycott of the parallel market to drive down the rates.

Following the devaluation, the Commercial International Bank (CIB) has placed the USD buying rate at EGP 13.25 and the selling rate at EGP 14.3, while it place the rate for euros at EGP 14.661 for buying and EGP 15.913 for selling. Other banks have yet to update their websites with the new rates.

The Egyptian pound will be allowed to fluctuate (either positively or negatively) in value by 10 percent for a short period before it is set.

In a separate announcement, the Bank Misr and Al-Ahly announced that buying Egyptian pound certificates will provide customers with an interest rate between 16 and 20 percent, depending on the duration that the certificates are kept.

This story is developing.

(egyptianstreets.com)

November 5, 2016
The Alexandria International Conference on Maritime and Underwater Archaeology
Egypt has provided humanity with a majestic concrete civilization that continued for thousands of years since the break of dawn. Historians and archaeologists have been interested in studying this civilization and its endlessly creative, accomplished legacy. Marine archaeology is considered one of the new sciences that studies the Ancient Egyptian Civilization throughout its different ages through archaeological findings, either underground or underwater. Egypt witnessed an attention paid to underwater and marine archaeology for many years, since several institutes and individuals were keen on finding underwater antiquities and affiliating marine cities and active and obliterated harbors, and getting to know the old navigation methods, and the related trade and marine activity. Consequently, researchers delved in this infinite science full of mystery and joy of discovering.

Not only had the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities paid attention to afford the opportunity to excavations in Egypt by foreign missions specialized in underwater and marine archaeology and collaborated in their scientific and archaeological work, but also founded the Department of Underwater Antiquities in Alexandria in 1996 to be the specialized annex of the Ministry entrusted with enriching Egyptian archaeological and scientific research in the field, and the section responsible for revealing the secrets of this amazing, deep world of Egyptian legacy. This was until the Department became a central department of underwater antiquities, thus in charge of more practical and scientific responsibilities including the organization of archaeological work and specialized scientific collaboration in the field of underwater and marine archaeology, not only in Alexandria, but all over Egypt, whether in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, or the River Nile. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, since its foundation, also paid attention to reviving the rich Egyptian civilizational legacy represented in the Ancient Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It paid attention to archaeology in general, and marine and underwater antiquities specifically. Thus, galleries, meetings, workshops, and others were organized; books and prints tackling this important subject were published, either via Alexandria Project, which documents the Ancient Bibliotheca Alexandrina and its legacy, or other activities of the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina and its research centers.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, represented in the Alexandria Project, and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, represented in the central Department of Underwater Antiquities, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the central Department of Underwater Antiquities, realized that together Underwater and Marine Archaeology should be celebrated through calling for holding the Alexandria International Conference for Underwater and Marine Antiquities, 31 October – 2 November 2016, in Alexandria, Egypt, to present the different aspects of this field, and to study the latest specialized archaeological findings. The three-day Conference tackles the following topics:
1. Archaeological harbors:
  - Marine ports and harbors
2. Ancient shipbuilding:
  - Boats and ships in Ancient Egypt
  - Boats and ships in Ancient Mediterranean
  - Ships in the Islamic Era
3. Underwater archaeological sites:
  - Archaeological findings in Egypt.
Those in charge of the Conference were honored to participate with the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) headed by Professor Franck Goddio, and the Centre for Alexandrian Studies (CEAlex) headed by Archaeologist Mary Dominick Nina, in terms of financial support and organization.

The Conference is honored to have an elite of Egyptian and international historians and archaeologists specialized in studying underwater and marine antiquities in several archaeological missions, inside and outside Egypt. Twenty-five scientists and archaeologists from Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States of America, participated in the Conference.

The Conference also honors pioneer individuals and institutions in underwater and marine archaeology, who exerted distinguished and distinct efforts, enriched this archaeological work in Egypt, and contributed in establishing its bases. The Conference honors the following:
- Name of Prince Omar Tousson
- Name of Mr. Kamel Abou el-Saadat
- Name of Archaeologist Honor Frost
- The Archaeological Society of Alexandria
- Dr. Ibrahim Darwish
(www.bibalex.org)
November 2, 2016
Cyprus and Egypt reaffirm their will to further enhance their relations

Cyprus and Egypt have reaffirmed their will to further enhance their relations.
According to an official press release, House President, Demetris Syllouris, received on Tuesday the Ambassador the Arab Republic of Egypt in Cyprus, Hussein Mubarak. Syllouris reaffirmed close relations between Cyprus and Egypt at all levels, referring to the cooperation between the two countries at the bilateral level and in the framework of the Trilateral Cooperation among Egypt, Cyprus and Greece.
He reiterated his invitation to the President of the Egyptian Parliament, Ali Abdel Aal, for an official visit to Cyprus. Mubarak referred to the historic and friendly relations between Egypt and Cyprus, underlining the importance of the close cooperation between the two countries in various fields, as well as their joint support in the framework of international organisations.
The Egyptian Ambassador underlined that there is common will for further enhancement of the already close relations between the parliaments of Egypt and Cyprus and expressed the belief that these relations will be reinforced through more frequent exchange of visits.
Mubarak reiterated his country`s steadfast support to efforts to reach a Cyprus settlement, on the basis of UN Security Council relevant resolutions and the international law, and expressed hope that this aim will soon be achieved.
Syllouris and Mubarak also discussed issues of mutual interest in relation to the latest political developments in the region.

(famagusta-gazette.com)

November 2, 2016