Oops! He did it again A few days before the end of 2014, Omar Samra did it again. He managed to ski the last degree of the South Pole, crossing 111 km to raise Egypt's flag and getting closer to achieving the “Adventurers Grand Slam” challenge. Joined by a team of 11 adventurers from Germany, Russia and India, among other countries, Samra started his trip from the 89th degree at the South Pole, skiing from seven to nine hours daily, crossing a distance between 14 to 16 kilometers, depending on the weather conditions in Antarctica: one of the coldest, driest and windiest continents on earth. “It was a rough start for me at the beginning,” Samra said. “I had a stomach microbe causing me severe pains; and I was on antibiotics for five days, which affected my performance early on; especially that we had to pull sleds weighing 80kg throughout our journey. However, as I improved, I started building more stamina and was able to make it. With this achievement close to the new year, I hope that 2015 will be a good year for Egypt and for everyone who is passionate to pursue his dreams.” With this new achievement, Samra intends to proceed to the North Pole in April 2015, to become the first Egyptian to achieve the ‘Adventurers Grand Slam' challenge, which has been done by fewer than 40 people in history. For their pioneering role in developing the profession of journalism, the Press Syndicate honoured Al-Ahram Weekly's very own Editor-in-Chief Galal Nassar and Environment Editor Mahmoud Bakr on the ”Journalist Day” celebrations, which took place at the syndicate's theatre. Both writers were granted the syndicate's shield by Syndicate Chairman Diaa Rashwan and were selected by the syndicate council to evaluate the winning articles in the fields of military and environmental reporting. Also honoured were such icons of the press as former chief-editor of Al-Ahram Hebdo and head of the Arab Writers Union Mohamed Salmawy. Among those present was the Minister of Environment Khaled Fahmi. Al-Ahram Weekly's crew also seize the opportunity to congratulate Mahmoud Bakr who has just obtained his PhD degree in Environmental Science entitled, “The Effectiveness of a Proposed Model to Promote Environment Culture to Readers of Public Magazines” at the Department of Educational Science and Environmental Media, Institute of Environmental Studies and Research, Ain Shams University under the supervision of the Vice Dean of Community and Environment Service Affairs at the institute professor Abdel-Meseeh Samaan, assistant professor in Media and Communication Sciences, Ain Shams University Mahinaz Ramzi, professor of journalism at Cairo University Nagwa Kamel and professor of Education and Curricula, Ain Shams University Ahmed Shalabi. The Arab Federation for Youth and Environment, headed by Mamdouh Rashwan, celebrated the golden jubilee of the building of the Aswan High Dam. A forum was held on the occasion, “The Nile, A Field of Cooperation, Not Struggle”. Honoured was the name of late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser — whose son Abdel-Hakim received the shield — together with nine of the original engineers who took part in building the dam. The forum was organised under the auspices of the Arab League and supported by the Minister of Youth and Sports Khaled Abdel-Aziz and the Minister of Environment Khaled Fahmi, in collaboration with the ISESCO, Luxor and Aswan governors. It included workshops on water use for the young. On the occasion of the opening of the African Centre affiliated to the British University in Egypt (BUE), the head of the centre Mona Omar gave a reception in honour of the interm president of the Central African Republic (CAR) Catherine Samba-Panza, the first woman to hold the post, during her visit to Egypt. Prior to becoming head of state, Samba-Panza was appointed Mayor of Bangui, the capital of the CAR as of May 2013. Present were the university Head of the Board of Trustees businessman Farid Khamis, the Foreign Minister's Assistant for African Relations Sabry Magdy and the Chairman of the State Information Service (SIS) Salah Abdel-Sadek as well as numerous African diplomats. Indian Ambassador to Egypt Navdeep Suri gave a press conference to brief the media about the recent declaration by the United Nations to celebrate 21 June as International Yoga Day. Suri stated that yoga has emerged as a global trend and is now internationally practiced. He also pointed that, with the objective of rediscovering Indian heriatge, a separate ministry, AYUSH, was established — dedicated to alternative health, including yoga and Ayurveda. During the conference, a live demonstration of various Asanas (yogic exercises) were performed by Bharat Singh, a yoga teacher from India, who also teaches yoga at the Maulana Azad Center for Indian Culture (MACIC). On the popularity of yoga in Egypt, Suri stated that in 2014, over 115 Egyptian students enrolled for yoga classes at the MACIC. He added that the possibility of having a Well-being Weekend is also being explored for the upcoming India by the Nile Festival. After the conference, journalists visited the Yoga Hall being run by the Indian Embassy in downtown Cairo and saw live demonstrations by the Egyptian students. Actor Ahmed Al-Saqqa took the opportunity to be photographed with star footballer Xavi Hernández from Barcelona during his visit to the Giza Pyramids. Hernández said during a press conference that he felt safe during his stay in Egypt and so seized the opportunity to celebrate New Year in Egypt with his family. The opening ceremony of the 32nd Arab Theatre Festival, dedicated to the name of the late actor Zaki Tulaimat, took place at the Academy of Arts in the presence of the Dean of the Academy of Arts Ahlam Younis. Honoured were actors Omar Sharif, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Sanaa Shafei, Ashraf Zaki, Hassan Al-Raddad, Nashwa Mustafa, Maha Ahmed and Doaa Teaama. The jury included critic Tarek Al-Shinawi, actor Tarek Lotfi and producer Atef Kamel. As well as Abdel-Aziz's moving speech, the ceremony featured the screening of a short film, Kebir Al-Helm (Big is the Dream), starring Leqaa Swedan, Dalia Mustafa and Nasser Seif and directed by Karim Osama. At the end of the ceremony, students of the Theatre Arts Institute had their graduation ceremony. The Dear Guest magazine celebration took place last week, presented by TV icon Poussy Shalabi. The best film award went to the Al-Gezira 2 (The Island 2), directed by Sherif Arafa, who also received a best filmmaker award; the film's three stars Ahmed Al-Saqqa, Hind Sabri and Arwa Gouda received the best actor, best actress and best rising actress awards. The award of the best comedy actress went to Yasmine Abdel-Aziz and Emy Samir Ghanem, while the best TV actress award went to Nelly Karim for her role in the Ramadan TV series Segn Al-Nessa (Women's Prison). Hamza Al-Ayili and Nesrine Amin were the best rising actors. The creativity awards — also for Ramadan TV roles — went to Lebleba, Khaled Zaki, Wafaa Amer, Tarek Lotfi, Youssef Al-Sherif and Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz. Awarded singers included Sherine, Latifa, Rami Gamal, Rana Samaha and Carmen Sulieman.
