photos: Ayman Barayez French Ambassador Philippe Coste and his wife celebrated the French National Day with grand reception at the French Embassy featuring Minister of Social Affairs Ali El-Moselhi, Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal, British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly and his wife Nadia, Italian Ambassador Antonio Badini and his wife Donia, American Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and his wife Marie, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawass, Al-Ahram journalist and writer Mona Ragab, veteran actor Gamil Rateb and French actor Claude Serneh. Chairman of the Board of the Egyptian Media Production City (MPC) Sayed Helmi held a party at the MPC headquarters in 6 October City to hand out the awards of the 11th annual Cairo Radio and Television Festival. Award winners included scriptwriter Wahid Hamid, filmmaker Samir Seif, actors Maali Zayed, Yehia El-Fakharani, Mohamed Kamel, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Mai Ezzeddin, Fathi Abdel-Wahab, cameraman Samir Farag and composer Yasser Abdel-Rahman. Present were head of the Cinema Organisation Mamdouh El-Leithi, head of the Marketing Sector Hamed Salah and screenwriter Mohamed Galal Abdel-Qawi. With the prestigious literary press Dar Sharqiat, my good friend and colleague Jihan El-Shaarawi published an excellent collection of colloquial Arabic poetry. Described by poet Shawqi Hegab as, "the consequence of a small demon who comes out of a phial, whispers a few lines into her ears and disappears", these shorter poems make powerful contemplative use of the vernacular, combining the instant appeal of the long verbal tradition of colloquial Arabic poetry with the deep subject matter and intellectually charged fluidity of contemporary poetry, much of which, whether colloquial or standard, is written in prose. Despite her excellent command of verse, El-Shaarawi is in touch with the latest literary trends and her mental command of the topics at hand is astounding. photo: Ghada Abd El-Kader To celebrate the 54th anniversary of the July Revolution on 23 July, the Pharaonic Village hosted over 400 orphans and children with special needs from charity organisations. According to my colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader, who attended, it featured, besides the venue's delightful attractions, a garden party with DJ and presents for the children. The event featured a Chaplin show, Russian folk show and bazaar. Chairman of the Press Syndicate Galal Aref declared the results of two journalism competitions, handing out special awards. Only 25 out of 246 journalists won. The awards will be presented on Journalists Day; and winners include my dear colleague Nader Fouad Habib who won second prize for excellent layout. The late Samir Sarhan -- writer and chairman of the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) who died of a heart failure on 1 July -- was at the centre of a GEBO honorary event presided over by the current chairman of GEBO Nasser El-Ansari, who praised Sarhan 's contribution. Present were head of the Foreign Relations Committee at the People's Assembly Mustafa El-Feki and deputy director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies Wahid Abdel-Meguid, who handed the honorary medal to Sarhan 's son Khaled. The leading news and entertainment network, MBC Group, was the first Arab channel to receive an astounding 15 of the prestigious 2006 Promax and Broadcast Designer's Association (BDA) World Gold and Silver Awards in a ceremony held in New York City. Among the highest media accolades in the world, the awards were scooped by MBC despite the fact that this is the network's first experience of the conference. Fadel Zahreddine, MBC director, was delighted to announce, "these awards prove that MBC is now on a par with major networks worldwide. Networks that we, as young creatives in an emerging market, used to look up to as paragons of excellence -- we're in the same league." They also come in the wake of MBC receiving 13 of the Promax and BDA Arabia Awards, held four months ago in Dubai. A press conference at the Sayed Darwish Theatre (Alexandria's Opera House) announced the second Alexandria Arab Music Festival (2-8 August) this week. Speakers included festival director Ratiba El-Hefni, musicians Mohamed Sultan, Mohamed Karam, media figure Wagdi El-Hakim and head of the Opera Media Office Mohamed Hosni. El-Hefni announced that this year the festival will honour composer Kamal El-Tawil. The programme, she added, features Arab singers Ahmed Ibrahim, Nehad Fathi, Khaled Selim, Tarek Fouad, Afaf Radi, Karima El-Sakali, Nadia Mustafa, Ali El-Haggar, Mounira Hamdi and Medhat Saleh -- hailing from Tunisia and Morocco as well as Egypt -- as well as the Alexandria Arabic Music Ensemble conducted by George Bushra and the Arabic Music Ensemble conducted by Selim Sahab. Algerian singer Warda blows the candles on the cake with her friends actress Nabila Ebeid, fashion designer Hani El-Beheiri, director Ahmed Saqr and composer Salah El-Sharnoubi this week in Giza. UNICEF launched an appeal for $23.8 million in support of children caught in the crisis of Lebanon and Syria -- part of the overall UN flash appeal for $150 million. UNICEF will work with its UN partners, the Red Cross, Red Crescent and others to provide rapid support for displaced or refugee children and families who are in urgent need of medical care, clean water and proper sanitation as well as to help them deal with traumatic events. The UNICEF Country Office in Lebanon has already purchased locally available medical supplies, water tanks, soap sanitation equipment and toys for displaced children. The UNICEF appeal includes urgent requirements for logistics, security equipment and regional support, given the difficult situation in the sub-region.
