The Editor-in-Chief of the daily Al-Ahram newspaper Osama Saraya was recently honoured by Alexandria University. The president of the University Mohamed Abdallah bestowed Saraya the shield of the University bearing an image of the ancient Alexandria lighthouse on it. Abdallah said this award of recognition was granted to the first editor-in-chief of a national newspaper to visit the premises of the Alexandria University. In one of the most animated discussions to take place at the university, Saraya interacted with deans and professors of the university as well as students. The seminar was chaired by the Vice-President of the University of Alexandria Okasha Abdel-Aal. I am so thrilled, my dears, to learn that my very favourite actor, the dashing Nour El-Sherif, Egypt's answer to Robert De Niro, has been awarded an honorary Doctorate, honoris causa, from Middlebury College, the United States. El-Sherif -- who has recently produced a play based on the Arabian Nights, and currently showing on the National Theatre -- is an intellectual in his own right as well as being an internationally-acclaimed film star. He has the distinction of being Egypt's most versatile actor, yet his works transcend all boundaries and frontiers. Congratulations! The General Supervisor of the Renovation Project of Historic Cairo Ayman Abdel-Moneim has been named head of the Cultural Development Fund to be successor to Salah Shaqwir, who is currently a councillor for Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. The United Nations Information Centre in Cairo, in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Higher Education organised a two-day workshop to commemorate World Youth Day. The workshop organised under the theme "Youth and Participation", was inaugurated with a statement from the Minister of Youth and Sports and the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Media Officer Magda Korshid. The workshop included four sessions, with prominent figures as panelists. It was attended by 100 students representing various Egyptian universities and institutions of higher learning. At the end of the second day of the conference, a statement by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the importance of the International Youth Day, was delivered by the charming Korshid. This was followed by statements delivered by the Minister of Youth and Sports Mamdouh El-Beltagui and Minister of Higher Education Amr Salama. And, most touching of all, my lovelies, a representative of the youth who attended the workshop delivered a speech at the end of the workshop. The UNIC presented awards for those youth who exhibited promising leadership talent and for the role-models who had tremendous influence on the youth, as well as outstanding young figures in a wide range of fields. Among those present were the popular young actors including the delectable and dark-haired beauty Mona Zaki, sweetheart Ahmed Ezz and singer Amer Mounib -- they were all invited to participate in the celebration of youth. The happy event was attended by almost 500 people, including representatives of NGOs, diplomats and government officials. The Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Ismail Serageddin has recently signed an agreement with the international non-profit organisation Journal Storage (JSTOR) to provide the library with a copy of the organisation's archive that includes 512 newspapers from 87 countries across the globe. After signing the agreement, the library was presented with a complete copy of the digital archive comprising 500 international newspapers -- the library now displays some 20,000 newspapers on its shelves. The papers will be available for all Bibliotheca Alexandrina frequenters. photo: Amira El-Nakeeb A journey of self-discovery: how to boost your self esteem and confidence, how to stay in touch with your inner self. This is what my colleague Amira El-Nakeeb and I tried doing last week at a seminar conducted by former DJ Yasser Shaker who used to work in the entertainment business and now manages a company in self-development and human relations. Throughout the seminar, Shaker emphasised the importance of developing one's primeval instincts, which modern humans tend to systematically restrain and sideline. Shaker stressed the importance of seeking and maintaining balance in our lives. He stated that the aim of the seminar is to know who we are from the inside, and try to develop ourselves until we reach a state of perfection -- the best human being possible. Shaker ran the seminar in the most lively and entertaining fashion. Acting can be such fun, my lovelies, as the gorgeous actress Dalia El-Beheiri, discovered. The daring beauty took diving lessons for two long months under the guidance and supervision of one of the scuba diving experts. El-Beheiri is co- starring with one of my favourite pop stars, Amer Mounib, in the new film Al-Ghawas (The Diver). The movie is action-packed and El-Beheiri performs many tortuously difficult shots under water. How exciting my dears. Sensuous actress Somaya El-Khashab is all geared up to star in the racy movie Ilaqat Gareeaa (Wild Relationships). Oh my lovelies, with the beautiful actress as chief attraction, the film is destined to take the Arab world by storm. The movie highlights the challenging experience of the Egyptian youth immigrants in Europe through a focus on the sharp experiences of an Egyptian girl in Europe. The young Egyptian woman travels to Istanbul in search of work, and ends up getting involved in dangerous conflicts. My darlings, it sounds all too much for my nerves. Still, I am certainly not going to miss it. Ilaqat Gareeaa is director Mohamed Azab 's debut feature film. Among the talented group of actors who are nominated to star in the movie are Hani Salama Mohamed Ragab and the tantalising Tunisian actress Hind Sabri. A good number of very capable Turkish actors take part in the film. The stunning Egyptian star Hanan Tork will fly to Montreal in Canada this week to participate in the Montreal International Film Festival. Tork is starring alongside singer Mohamed Munir in the movie Donia (Life) which is scheduled to take part in the official contest. The movie, directed by Lebanese director Josylin Saab, is widely regarded as a bombshell. After the festival, Tork will fly to Jordan where she will be one of the members of the Judging Committee of the Jordan Film Festival.
