The René Mouawad Foundation is holding computer skills courses at the Foundation's Youth Community Centre, Mijlaya-Zgharta.

The courses are for three months and will cover such subjects as Windows- Word - Excel - Internet.

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zgharta.com online shopping  You can now order online Christmas/New-Year cakes and flowers to be delivered anywhere in Zgharta Zawie There is a selection of six cakes made by a local patisserie ranging from Yule Logs - La bûche de Noël - to Christmas cakes The total cost including delivery is from 35$ (30cm) * 45$ (40cm) * 70$ (60cm) Floral bouquets for all occasions can also be ordered online with prices ranging between 18$ and 30$  Payment is made through the leading and safe online payment processing company Pay Pal , a ebay company See the cakes and flowers at online shopping : click here

Being a co- founder of zgharta.com has its privileges so we are delighted to celebrate online today the xxth birthday of our beloved El Duce, devoted husband, beloved son and brother, the best architect in the world, the one and only Antoine Assaad Dahdah.

Happy birthday

Love from the other two of the zgharta.com team

PS. Antoine - Can we have at least Christmas Day off now!

The Ministry of Telecommunications has announced the following:

“Phone bills for the third quarter of 2004 are due. Please note the following:

The final date for payment is 11 December 2004.

Failure to pay your bill on time will result in the following:

* You will not be able to use your phone line for outgoing calls starting 12 December 2004.
*Your phone line will be cut off and a penalty will be applied on 20 December 2004.
* Your phone subscription will be cancelled on 11 January 2005.
* You will not be able to apply for reactivation of your phone line or for a new subscription until the payment of all your phone bills.”

Remember the clocks change on Sunday 31st October 2004.

Lebanon is in time zone designated B - Eastern Europe Time (GMT +2) countries include Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is World Time and the basis of every world time zone. There are 25 zones from – 12 through 0 (GMT) to + 12. Each one is 15 degrees of Longitude as measured East to West from the Greenwich Meridian.

Clocks will change again on 3 April 2005.The maxim Spring Forward & Fall Back (Fall = Autumn) is a useful one to recall.

Zgharta.com announced today another milestone in their history. The site has been appointed to create and host the Official Website of the Zgharta Ehden Municipal Council.

The photograph shows Antoine Dahdah,co founder of zgharta.com, with Father Sarkis Al Tabar and representatives of the Council at a presentation meeting in August 2004.

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OGERO, the operating arm of the Ministry of Telecommunications, are continuing their national programme of erecting Tele Carté public phone booths.

The booths are being erected throughout Zgharta and Ehden. The photograph shows the booth at Nibah Mar Sarkis.

On Monday 13th September Mr Tony Trabulse, Co-founder and General Director of the Cultural Mexican Lebanese Institute, will be giving a lecture on the subject of the Lebanese community in Mexico.

The lecture is part of the Mexican Cultural Month organised by the Mexican Embassy in Beirut together with the Lebanese Emigration Research Center [LERC]. Readers will recall that the LERC held its first Emigration Workshop last month in Ehden.

The lecture is being held in the auditorium of the Notre Dame University, Zouk Mosbech at 5.30

To read the Official Examination 2004 results for the Brevet & related subjects go to http://www.schoolnet.edu.lb/exam1/note.htm

The American University of Beirut [ AUB] held its 135th annual graduation ceremony on Saturday evening at its Beirut campus, when 1,456 students were given their degrees.

On Thursday the Energy and Water Minister, Ayoub Humayed, announced changes in the price of fuel.

In basic terms the price of gasoline is decreased by LL2,500 ($1.66) and the price of kerosene increased by LL500.

According to the announcement 20 litres of 98, 95 and 92 octane unleaded gasoline will now cost LL23,000, LL22,100 and LL21,700, respectively;20 litres of kerosene will now cost LL11,700.

There were no changes in the price of diesel and of diesel oil for vehicles remaining at LL10,600 and LL11,500, respectively; the price 1 kilo litre of fuel oil containing 1 percent of sulphur and 1 kiloliter of fuel oil for industries remains at $223 and $199 respectively ; the price of 10 kilo gram bottle of butane remains at LL11,500.

The Ministry of Telecommunications has announced that phone bills for the first quarter of 2004 are payable by 15 June 2004.

The Ministry further stated that failure to pay on time would result in

* no outgoing calls from the phone line will be able to be made from 16 June 2004.

* the phone line will be cut off on 23 June 2004 and a penalty imposed.

* the phone line subscription will be cancelled on 17 July 2004.

*applications for reactivation of the phone line or for a new subscription will not be considered until the payment of all outstanding phone bills.

The price of car- gasoline has risen again due to the price of crude oil, just under $41 a barrel. Reports from Beirut tell of a price increase of LL600 [approximately 40 cents] on Thursday which some say was a post civil war record for a single day. The new price means that 20 litres of car- gasoline is LL25.200 [approximately $16.80].

On Thursday the Ministry of Power and Water announced increases in fuel prices.

The increases announced were LL400 for gasoline, LL300 for kerosene and of LL200 for diesel.
The Ministry’s statement said that a 20 litre tank of 98, 95 and 92 octane unleaded gasoline will now cost LL23,800, LL23,400 and LL24,600, respectively.
A 20 litre tank of diesel or diesel oil for vehicles will now cost LL10,100 and LL10,600, respectively, and 20 litre’s of kerosene will now cost LL10,700.

There were no changes to the price of 1 kilo litre of fuel oil containing 1% sulphur; 1 kilo litre of fuel oil for industry and a 10 -kilogram bottle of butane sold in local markets currently at $207, $184 and LL11,400, respectively.

On Saturday,17April , the Army Command issued a statement concerning those born in 1973, 1974 and 1975, and who enjoy final exemption as being outside the country, should settle their status.
It said that those who are spending or have already spent five years abroad have to submit the required documents to prove their status, otherwise they would be considered violators and will be subject to legal proceedings.

The United States Embassy in Lebanon started on 9th March 2004 to take fingerprints of all Lebanese and foreigners seeking a USA visa. At the consular section all non –immigrant visa applicants during their visa interviews will be required to place their left index finger, then their right index finger on a glass plate that will electronically capture two finger scans. The process takes only seconds. Children under the age of 14 years old and adults over 79 years old will not be required to have their prints scanned. This new procedure will apply to every type of visa applicant, from any country, worldwide.

The North Lebanon Water Authority Workers’ Union announced on Monday that it would go ahead with a planned one-day strike on Thursday 11th March.

The Workers and Employees Union of North Lebanon Water Authorities have called for a strike on 4th and 11th March to protest about workers salaries. The first strike would be held at the Tripoli Water Authority and the second at all water authorities in the North. The Union’s press release says the workers at the production and sterilization departments would not participate in the strikes.

Health Minister and Member of Parliament for Zgharta Suleiman Tony Frangieh issued a Decree [1/81] on 17th February, which applied to drugs containing liquid codeine. It provides that such drugs should only be supplied on a doctor’s prescription stating the patient’s name, the date and the quantity prescribed. Pharmacists are required to keep the prescription in their records for future reference. The decree also sets limits for the quantity of each kind of medicine that can be prescribed each month, and agents have to sign a written pledge to the ministry to adhere to them.