A thrilling discovery, dears! For once Madame Sosostris is delighted to realise that she was terribly mistaken; for last week I attended a party in honour of our beloved Pedro Lopez, the Spanish ambassador to Cairo, which (what with all that great wine, my dears) I mistakenly believed was a farewell party for that most dashing of diplomats. As it turns out, Ambassador Lopez will be with us for, I hope, many more years. And no one is more delighted than I am... The week-long 10th Cairo International Song Festival wrapped up last Sunday with a sumptuous closing ceremony held at the Cairo International Conference Centre. In his speech Minister Ahmed El-Maghrabi -- the Ministry of Tourism is the festival's sponsor -- praised the event's role in promoting tourism, explaining his decision to cancel the singing contests this year since they contribute nothing to tourism. Supervised by the festival director, Ambassador Salah Selim, the ceremony featured Cuban Salsa, Lebanese Dabka (with singer Wael Saab ) and the Shanghai University for Arts singing and dancing to Arabic songs by late singer-composer Mohamed Abdel-Wahab. Accompanied by the Amr Selim band, pop star Medhat Saleh brought the evening to a delightful close with a series of Mohamed Qandil songs performed in memory of the late singer. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recently received a grant of $3.7 million from the Japanese government to support a campaign against polio in Egypt. Formalised at the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) in Cairo, the event brought First Under-Secretary at MOHP Magda Rakha together with the Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Kunihiko Makita and UNICEF Egypt Representative Rajen Kumar Sharma. In a statement Sharma spoke of the Egypt campaign playing a vital role in the global struggle to eradicate the scourge of polio once and for all. The funds provided by Japan will be used to support National Immunisation Days (NIDs) planned by the MOHP for September and October 2004. During this time some 11 million children aged five and under will be vaccinated. Congratulations! A warm family gathering marked the engagement of Al-Ahram Weekly 's very own military correspondent Galal Nassar to the gorgeous young sociologist Maye Ahmed. Finally an end to the playful Galal's seemingly endless days as a bachelor... Under the auspices of both the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Businesswomen's Development Association, headed by Hoda Galal Yassa, Fair & Lovely has launched its first vocational awareness campaign in several university campuses. With an experienced team of human resources experts giving an intensive series of lectures on career development and professional life, numberless students will have the opportunity to learn how to write a curriculum vitae, to impress prospective employers and get through interviews and tests with ease. A happy convergence of ancient civilisations occurred recently, my little ones, when the newly named Head of the Organisation of Cultural Palaces (OCP) Mustafa Elwie met with a Chinese delegation from Kwangsi Province, making the acquaintance not only of the province's deputy head of government but several Chinese officials as well. In the context of Egyptian-Chinese relations, Elwie spoke of both ancient roots and future exchanges, finalising an agreement to bring Kwangsi acrobat and puppet theatre to Egypt. In return the efficient Elwie also arranged for an Egyptian Folk Song Festival in China, proposing to send Egyptian scientists to Kwangsi by way of initiating a programme of academic exchange. By the end of the meeting Elwie had given the head of the delegation the coveted OCP shield, distributing memorial medals to other delegates as he presented them with a selection of OCP publications. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has just approved a clever plan conceived by my diligent friend Samir Farag, head of the Supreme Council of Luxor City. And henceforth all the buildings in Luxor will be re-painted russet -- adding to the great city's ambiance and ensuring a sense of unity. Such unification of design and planning will be a principle of any development in Luxor from now on, the astute Farag says. The project will provide for a range of aesthetic touches from the installation of works from the Aswan Sculpture Symposium in the main squares (a task to be undertaken under the supervision of the symposium commissar, my beloved friend the sculptor Adam Henein ) to a new series of signs pointing the way in both Arabic and English. Scheduled to begin in the side streets branching out of the Corniche, the project will no doubt delight visitors to Luxor, whether Egyptians or foreigners.
