photos: Ayman Barayez The Italian Ambassador Antonio Badini and his wife Donia held yet another of their delightful parties. This time the occasion was to celebrate the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano 's granting of the Italian Republic's Legion of Honour to two of my accomplished friends. Chairman of Al-Shams Pyramids Company for Hotels and Touristic projects Sheikh Fahd Al-Shobokshi and Italian Professor Nicola Twine were granted the Legion, which is the highest official honour given by the Italian Republic. Al-Shobokshi and Twine have played a considerable role in reinforcing the partnership between Egypt and Italy. Among the attendees were Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Hisham Nazer, filmmaker Inas El-Degheidi, Chairman of the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre Hisham El-Sherif and Chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Naguib Sawiris. Badini also held a party to honour the internationally renowned cardiac surgeon Alexandro Virgula. The good doctor was donated the Italian Republic's Legion of the highest degree for his contribution in undertaking several critical heart surgeries at Qasr Al-Aini hospitals. The good news is that the new President of Cairo Film Festival will be veteran actor Ezzat Abu Oaf, Vice-President Amr Badr ; regional managing director of Egypt and Middle East for Abercrombie and Kent Group of Companies and honorary president will be international film star Omar Sharif. The sponsor of the festival will be the well known businessman Naguib Sawiris. The budget of the festival was raised up to LE6.5 million; LE5 million from the Ministry of Finance and LE1.5 million from the Ministry of Culture. The opening ceremony will be on 28 November at the Mohamed Ali Palace, Shubra. However, we will still miss the former head of the festival, Sherif El - Choubashi ! photo: Khatchig Wanis The French Ambassador Philippe Coste granted the Order of Knight to the Director of the French Department at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University Jean Marcou, Director of the Department of Teaching of Contemporary Arabic Frédéric Imbert, and university coordinator of the institute for training professors Max-André. Honoured as well were professor at the French Centre of Culture and Cooperation(CFCC) in Heliopolis Anne-Marie Quiliet, professor at the CFCC in Alexandria Françoise Lallement, and professor at CFCC in Egypt Amani Laforet. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that the well known Egyptian football player Mohamed Abu Treika will volunteer to help WFP in their global campaign against hunger for all the world's children. The 28-year-old Abu Treika who is a well known player on the Ahli football team agreed to shoot a commercial to deliver the humane message. "In order to win we have to move fast and help each other," Abu Treika said. "Every two seconds have their value, and every five seconds a child dies because of hunger. This is the match we have to win." An exhibition of plastic art entitled "Contrast in Still Motion" by artist Shayma Aziz is currently open at the Falaki Gallery. It runs until 20 July. Aziz was born in Assiut in Upper Egypt. Her most recent work was published in 2002-2005 as illustrations for the literary magazine Akhbar Al-Adab. Aziz has also undertaken illustrations for a book on the Iranian poet Farrough Forroukh Zad and published by Gri Tasarim. The exhibition is not Aziz 's first, but it is the first in which she alone displays her works. "All the pieces are systematic figures. There is either motion in them, while they stand still, or there is motion around them. They are exactly like us." Aziz said. The artist has collaborated with several other artists in previous exhibitions. The last was a dual held in 2006 with the Turkish artist Nurseren Tor. Entitled "Diary of two Women", it was held at Al-Hanager Gallery in Cairo. The Governor of Fayoum Mohamed Magdi Qubaisi, President of Fayoum University Galal Said, and Director of the International Youth Film Festival Dessouqi Said opened the Third International Youth Film Festival. The festival was held at the Big Hall at the Fayoum University. Among the honoured stars were comedians Mohamed Sobhi, Ashraf Abdel-Baqi, El-Montasser Bil-lah and Farouk Fulokis. Guests included media figures Youssef Rizqallah, Dina Farouk, Ali Salem and Hossam Abdel-Hadi. photos: Ghada Abd El-Kader The Ambassador of the United States of America Francis J Ricciardone and his loved wife Marie hosted a reception party to celebrate the 230th Anniversary of Independence Day at the US Embassy, Garden City. My colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader was invited to attend. She enjoyed listening to the performance of "Wild Gypsy". The National Anthem of Egypt and the USA were also performed by members of the Cairo Celebration Choir conducted by Nayer Nagui. Ricciardone inaugurated the embassy's gallery with a visual chronicle of highlights on US-Egyptian relations. These photographs take us back to the 1870s when the American Confederate officers served in Khedive Ismail's army through landmark events in living memory. The photos and the panels on display bear witness to the long history of Egyptian American partnership in the quest for peace, the improvement of people's lives, and honouring Egypt's extraordinary past. Ricciardone said in his opening speech, "Today, each member of the diverse and growing community of democracies has found its own way to protect the freedoms of its citizens and their pursuit of happiness. Together we hope for the same blessings of freedom for all humanity." A bevy of luminous stars and VIPs attended the party. Among the guests were Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali, Minister of Social Affairs Ali El-Moselhi, Secretary-General of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) Moushira Khattab, Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) Tareq Kamel, French Ambassador Philippe Coste, Greek Ambassador Panayotis Vlassopoulos, British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly. Attending as well were the Brazilian Ambassador Elim Dutra, Turkish Ambassador Safak Gokturk, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Jan Natkanski, Korean Ambassador Seung-Hoh Choi and Norwegian Ambassador Lasse Seim. From the artistic scene, actresses Nabila Ebeid, Maha Abu Oaf and belly dancer Dina were present as well as media figures Sanaa Mansour and Amr El-Leithy. I glimpsed the acting star Adel Imam, veteran actor and Regional Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa Mahmoud Qabil. Attending also were Al-Ahram writer Sherif El-Choubashi and lawyer with the Afro-Asian Association of Lawyers and the founder of Dar Al-Orman orphanage Esmat El-Merghani and head of Al-Hanager Arts Centre Hoda Wasfi. I chatted with Haynes Mahoney, US cultural and press counsellor and his gorgeous wife US Cultural Affairs Officer Elizabeth Thornhill, as well as Manal Rezqallah from the American Embassy's Press Department. The Deputy Assistant Minister for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Ayman Zaineddin recently visited the Upper Egyptian Governorate of Qena. He was accompanied by Acting UN Resident Coordinator and UNICEF Representative Erma Manoncourt. The visit started at the office of the Governor of Qena Magdi Ayoub Iskandar, who expressed his appreciation of the UN's agencies work in Qena. The visitors then went on to the New Qena Primary School -- a part of the Smart School Pilot programme implemented by the UN Development Programme. The programme which covers 50 schools in Egypt aims to enhance computer literacy and skills among school children. The Smart School Manager Ismail Mohamed said that, "the Smart School programme has given children the chance to learn in new ways, and acts as an incentive for them to improve their education." The delegation visited two schools as well, in the Farshout district, Al-Shaheed Fathi Selim Abu Zeid School, and Kobaiba Elementary School. Zaineddin was given an overview of the improvements which have taken place in the district's water and sanitation facilities. This is the outcome of a UNICEF-sponsored project which covers 36 schools in Farshout. Parents and teachers from the school's board of trustees spoke approvingly of the impact that the sanitation project has had, on the school and on the community as a whole. The final stop of the one-day visit was in Kobaiba village. Zaineddin and Manoncourt participated in an animated discussion with the local inhabitants on Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision (FGM/C). The villagers -- both male and female -- expressed their views as to why FGM/C is still being practised in Egypt. Many referred to the power of tradition and to deep-rooted religious beliefs. One man -- who is now working with the UNICEF- supported project as a "positive deviant" has helped persuade others in his community to abandon FGM/C. He said, "FGM/C is the reason for many problems between husbands and wives in Egypt. I have two daughters aged one and five, and I wouldn't dream of circumcising them." Speaking at the end of his visit, Zaineddin expressed his appreciation for the UN's development efforts in southern Egypt.
