Egypt's National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) said that fasting hours would reach a peak Thursday, 23 June, hitting 15 hours and 52 minutes, state owned MENA agency reported. In press statements to the agency, the chief of NRIAG, Hatem Ouda, said the increase in fasting duration comes due to the summer solstice taking place around the same time. Ouda added that fasting hours would begin to decline starting Friday, 24 June, with a rate of a minute every couple of days until fasting hours reach 15 hours and 46 minutes by the end of the month. He pointed out that the holy month of Ramadan, which started 7 June, would last 30 days. During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Muslims abstain from drinking and eating from dawn till dusk. Eid Al-Fitr, a three-day religious holiday, is then celebrated by Muslims around the world to mark the end of the fasting month. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/223277.aspx