Last Saturday, the great central desk at Al-Ahram main building was crowded with a huge number of Al-Ahram reporters who gathered to witness the heart-stopping moment where responsibility shifted from the older to the newer generation. In a meeting full of love, affection and gratitude, Al-Ahram new Editor-in-Chief Osama Saraya welcomed his predecessor Ibrahim Nafie. There was a coterie of distinguished characters including the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa who joined Saraya and Nafie to congratulate the new editor-in-chief and bid farewell to the old. During the meeting, Saraya described Nafie as a pioneer of journalism who led Al-Ahram Organisation from success to success throughout the past 26 years. Nafie confirmed that Saraya now faces grave challenges and responsibilities. But, he said that he was sure that he will face up to these challenges and will lead Al-Ahram into even greater successes. He praised the institution as one that achieved much success through the past decades and described it as one of Egypt's most prestigious newspapers. This was followed by a meeting between Nafie and Al-Ahram new Chairman of the Board Salah El-Ghamri. The historic moment was captured in a photo taken by Nabil El-Segini featuring Al-Ahram journalists standing side by side with old and new faces of the venerable institution's managerial staff. On the occasion of commemorating the memory of the French Revolution, French Ambassador to Egypt Jean- Claude Cousseran held a beautiful party at the headquarters of the French Embassy. A galaxy of senior state officials and prominent figures were among the attendees including Minister for Military Production Sayed Mesh'al, Minister of Irrigation Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga, Minister of Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish, Minister of Investment Development Mahmoud Mohieddin, former Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and his lovely wife Laila. photo: Ayman Barayez Among the ambassadors who shared the French community in Egypt their celebrations were Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali ; Lebanese Ambassador Abdel-Latif Al-Mamelouk ; and his Kuwaiti counterpart Ahmed Khaled Al-Kleib. Among the media personalities - were newspapermen from Al-Ahram Organisation -- Al-Ahram 's newly-named Editor-in-Chief Osama Saraya, Nisf Al-Donia magazine new Editor-in-Chief Afkar El-Kharadli, novelist and Editor-in-Chief of the cultural weekly Akhbar Al-Adab Gamal El-Ghitani and his wife Magda El-Guindi, editor-in-chief of Alaaeddin, Al-Ahram's children magazine; and popular singer Hakim. What great news for connoisseurs! Felopateer Palace Trade company, chaired by Ayman Shenouda held a special evening for launching the latest collection of Nina Ricci watches. Gorgeous actress Hanan Turk was the guest of honour of the party held at the Marquise cruise at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The wife of Libya's Ambassador to Egypt, the charming Soheila Al-Darouki, organised a reception party in honour of the wife of Kuwaiti Ambassador Ahmed Khaled Al-Kleib. It was a very warm gathering that included the wife of the Minister of Defence and Military Production Mohamed Hussein Tantawi as well as a number of the Arab ambassadors' wives. It was a most august women's gathering, my dears. Last week, Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Japanese Embassy Shinsuke Sugiyama and Father Morcoss Emile Mikhail, the honourary chief of Al-Samery Al-Saleh Association, signed a contract for a Japanese grant assistance. By virtue of this contract, the Embassy of Japan extends a grant amounting to $52,256 for the provision of hemodialysers in Minya. Al-Samery Al-Saleh Association was established in 2000 for the ultimate goal of serving people in Samallout, Minya, in diverse sectors such as health, education, maternal and child care as well as social services. The grant was extended under the Japanese government's assistance scheme for grassroots projects organised by NGOs. I am so proud, my dears, of our budding youth who excel abroad to honour their country. The 22-year-old Alexi Nazih Girgis obtained his Bachelor degree of Science, in Major Computational Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts, the United States -- the leading engineering school of its kind in America. Alexi is the only student to receive two prestigious awards: the Provost's MQP award in physics and Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research award, established in 2004, and is presented for outstanding research by students at the undergraduate level. The WPI will grant Alexi a scholarship to resume his masters and doctorate studies. Alexi 's father Nazih Girgis, founder and chairman of the US-Mid East Music and Fine Arts Council and his beloved mother, Mary Louis Westberg, are so proud of their brilliant son. A couple of days ago, a seminar took place at the British Council's Knowledge and Learning Centre focussing on unemployment as a pressing social problem. The seminar focussed on how it should be addressed by the media. The seminar comes as part of the British Council's regional "Media in Society" project, which is being implemented by the British Council offices in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Saudi Arabia. The objective of the British Council's project is to improve the role of the media in raising awareness on key social issues which affect all sectors of society. Those present agreed that unemployment is one of the major challenges facing Egyptian society today. Among the speakers at the seminar were prominent media figure Rola Kharsa ; assistant to Minister of Manpower Abdel-Moneim Bekheit ; professor of agricultural economics at Al-Azhar University Mahmoud Mansour ; Director of International Co- operation at the Social Fund for Development Hanaa El-Hilali ; and Al-Ahali journalist Mousbah Qotb.
