Ramadan

OSTEOPOROSIS REPORT The United States Surgeon General released a report on osteoporosis. Read the report in its entirety. www.baltimoresun.com/osteoporosis RAMADAN Today is the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Go online to see learn more about this time of worship. www.baltimoresun.com/ramadan

OCEAN CITY - With May weekends already drawing crowds usually seen in June, Morad Ramadan believes a banner summer is about to unfold in Ocean City. "It looks very good," Ramadan said. "Last year was an excellent year, and I see it being better than last year." Revenue at the three Subway Sandwich and Salad shops he owns with his father is up about 20 percent from this time last year. Ramadan opened a fourth store, on his own, last month. "I've never seen it like this before," Ramadan said.

An item in The Sun yesterday erroneously stated the fasting period for Ramadan. It is between dawn and dusk.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 1/11/97

Since two major religious observances for Islam and Judaism coincide this year, the Jewish Student Union at Howard Community College played host for a joint Ramadan/Rosh Hashanah event.

WASHINGTON - One of Saddam Hussein's longest serving advisers, former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, was turned over to U.S. forces yesterday after his capture in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Ramadan was a chief enforcer of the former regime, known for his intimidation and brutality. Ramadan, who once suggested that President Bush and Hussein engage in a duel, was No. 20 on the U.S. list of 55 most-wanted regime members. In the deck of cards issued to help troops spot fugitives, he was the 10 of diamonds.

Sykesville Rotary to offer talk on anthrax Tuesday Sykesville Rotary Club will sponsor a talk on anthrax at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 7538 Main St. in Sykesville. John L. Severn of Children's Medical Center will discuss the status and number of anthrax cases in the country. He also will focus on possible sources of exposure and forms of treatment. A former Rotary district governor, Severn has earned a number of humanitarian and other club awards. The public is welcome.

In a rare convergence of lunar and solar calendars, the three great monotheistic religions will mark important religious holidays within eight days.The celebration of Christmas on Thursday will be preceded one day by the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. And a week later, Dec. 31, begins the month of Ramadan, a time of fasting and spiritual renewal for the world's Muslims.The coincidence of holidays, which occurs only three times a century, highlights the religious diversity common in many communities.

Ahmed Ramadan stands as the link between Middle Eastern businesses and the American products they need to build testing labs and facilities. His Ewest International Inc. exports manufacturing equipment and materials -- to Egypt primarily -- and has been growing by 35 percent annually since it was founded in 1994. This year, he was named Exporter of the Year by the Baltimore office of the Small Business Administration. Ramadan also was among 10 entrepreneurs from throughout the state honored Friday at the Maryland Small Business Awards, and the only Howard County business represented at the ceremony.

As the Dar al-Taqwa mosque nears completion in Ellicott City, Muslims in Howard County are looking forward to having a place of their own to practice their faith. Until now, about 350 Muslim families in the county have been using a combination of public and private spaces for prayer, education and fellowship. Ramadan prayer services attract so many worshippers that they spill into the halls in Owen Brown Interfaith Center. Evening meals, which break the fast after sundown, are served in a school cafeteria.

As if the three-hour biology labs and the other challenges of the freshmen year of college aren't enough to throw the body into a loop, Fetihe Abdulwahab has been going all day without eating or drinking. That's because Abdulwahab, a 17-year-old from Laurel who is in his first year at McDaniel College, is observing Ramadan, the holy month in which Muslims fast from dawn until sundown every day as a commitment to their faith. For more than a week, Abdulwahab has been breaking fast after sunset by himself, slowly reintroducing water and food, such as vegetables, into his body.