The Eftekasat Band held a concert to celebrate their first album, Mulid Sidi Al-Latini, at El-Sawy Culture Wheel, where my colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader listened to an excellent example of contemporary jazz fusion in the presence of US cultural envoy Darryl John Kennedy, who joined the band on the saxophone. A grandson of the late John F Kennedy, Darryl is an accomplished musician and composer whose achievements include a CD with Lebanese musician Nadey Hakim and the president of the International College of Surgeons in Chicago -- A Promise of Peace. On this, his second visit to Egypt, Kennedy was pleased to play with this band, to whom he had listened during his first visit. For his part, band member Amr Salah expressed his appreciation for the work Kennedy did on the album, which, judging by the concert will be a smashing success. UNICEF is working closely with the Lebanese government and non-governmental organisations to address the situation in Lebanon. Supplies are being provided for children of all ages to undertake activities and resume their education. "By keeping families together and organising structured activities we can go some way towards putting normality back into the lives of these children and their parents," says UNICEF regional child protection adviser, Trish Hiddleston "Children do have an inner resilience in times of crisis -- we have to build on this". The Ministry of Social Affairs, with non-governmental partners, is providing animators with especially developed psycho-social support programmes aimed not only at children but whole communities: some 30,000 copies have been produced and are in the process of being distributed. This is accompanied by a media campaign with the same goals. The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture organised a photo exhibition, "In Love of Photography", by members of the Egyptian Salon of Photography Mustafa El-Shershabi, Sayed El-Mahgoub, Ahmed Abdel-Aziz and Mona Abdel-Karim. Running through 24 August, the work revolves around Cairo, with night views and folk themes taking the lead. On the occasion of the 60th Independence Day of India, the Indian Ambassador A Gopinathan hoisted the flag at his residence in Zamalek, with members of the Indian community joining in patriotic songs by a band of singers. Following the departure of his wife and children to France, Lebanese pop star Ragheb Alama left Lebanon, where he contributed to refugee support, to the UAE. His manager and brother, Khader Alama, announced that he cancelled all outstanding entertainment activities. Pop star Amr Diab is launching his own satellite TV station, the revenue of which he intends to share with other singers. After his two daughters were flown out of Beirut in a private jet, he said, he didn't finished his new album. This week Cinema Palace "Star and Seminar", conducted by the critic Nader Adli, hosted comedian Hani Ramzi, who told stories about joining the acting team at Cairo University's Faculty of Commerce and grabbing the attention of director Salah Abdallah. He also spoke of the Institute of Theatrical Arts, where he graduated in 1991, of his stint with actor Mohamed Sobhi, and his first few roles on the screen, notably opposite the late Ahmed Zaki in Nasser 56.
