Ewa-marine SplashiX waterproof camera case
This housing is made from pliable, laminated PVC with a glass lens cover. It's lightweight, easy to use and effective at protecting your camera in depths of up to six metres. It's also a good way to start using your camera underwater without spending a lot of money. There are three different sizes, each available with either a short or long viewing port to fit a wide variety of compact cameras. Available from www.camerasunderwater.co.uk from US$64 (Dh235), plus shipping.
DiCAPac WP-S5 waterproof SLR case
Most brands of DSLR cameras will fit in this case, which measures 27cm wide by 23cm high and weighs 500g. It's waterproof to depths of five metres and a UV coating on the lens cover helps create crisper and clearer images. Finger sleeves are built into the case to make it easier to access the buttons and it also comes with a neck strap. Available from www.bhphotovideo.com from US$99.90 (Dh367), plus shipping.
Ikelite housing for Canon 5D Mark II
This company has been creating camera housings for more than 35 years and their products are both impressive and expensive: the polycarbonate case with big handles can be used at depths up to 60 metres. Each housing has external knobs and buttons which control the camera's functions. There's also a large magnifier to make the camera's viewfinder easy to see. Ikelite (www.ikelite.com) creates many different cases for use with cameras by major manufacturers, such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Pentax. Available from www.scubamaster.ws from $1,600 (Dh5,877), plus shipping.
More of the most durable and practical gear to take on your next holiday at Travel Essentials.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
