By Madame Sosostris My dears, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of relations between Cairo and Stuttgart and the visit of the German delegation headed by the Mayor of Stuttgart Wolfgang Schuster, I attended a mega celebration organised at the German University in Cairo (GUC). The occasion was a true reflection of ongoing cooperation between the two countries, crowned perhaps by the prime opening of the university by President Hosni Mubarak and the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröeder last October. The event was inaugurated by speeches given by prime founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Ashraf Mansour, German Ambassador to Egypt Martin Kobler, Schuster, President of Stuttgart University Dieter Fritsch and President of the GUC Mahmoud Abdel-Qader. On 27 April, my dear friend the Italian Ambassador to Egypt Antonio Badini bestowed the Knight Grand Cross of Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy upon the Governor of South Sinai Mustafa Afifi. The honour came in recognition of Afifi 's relentless efforts in guiding Italian visitors to the sites in South Sinai and Sharm El-Sheikh. The Supreme Council of Antiquities, headed by Zahi Hawass celebrated World Heritage Day last week with an event at the Egyptian Museum. The celebration, presented by veteran actor Nour El- Sherif, also head of the Association of the Egyptian Museum Friends, started with a welcome speech delivered by Mervat Omar of the Egyptian National Commission for UNESCO. On this occasion, Hawass warned against the Israeli attempts to forge and steal our Arabic heritage and called for the restoration of the Iraqi and Syrian antiquities. El-Sherif and Hawass distributed certificates among children graduated from the Egyptian Museum School. The event was crowned with the mesmerising music of harpist Manal Mohieddin and Nesma Abdel-Aziz on the marimba. Hawass toured the museum with Minister of the State for Foreign Affairs Fayza Abul-Naga, taking in the wonderful photography exhibition depicting operations undertaken to rescue antiquities in Aswan. My dears, last Sunday brought about great news for Egyptian youngsters who are thirsty for knowledge; British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly held a reception to award 13 Egyptian students scholarships to pursue their PhD studies in the United Kingdom. The 13 students were selected on the basis of a research competition carrying awards of up to LE10,000. The winners are: Abeer Mohamed, Alaaeddin Moussa, Amal Khalifa, Ayman Nada, Hatem Saleh, Heba Ismail, Hoda Abdel-Alim, Khaled Ibrahim, Mona Mahmoud, Noha Mehana, Samira Abul-Kheir, Sherif Hassan and Tamer Eweda. As part of an effort to set up cultural cooperation between Egypt's Ministry of Culture and its newly formed counterpart in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Minister of Information and Culture Fouad Abdul-Salam Al-Farsi visited Egypt last week to meet with Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. Both ministers discussed several cultural topics, including that of Arab countries' contribution in Frankfurt Book Fair. Hosni said that the Arab participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair is a good opportunity to acknowledge the "other" with our culture and religion that have been defamed and accused of terrorism and extremism. During the meeting, Hosni lamented the fact that Arab countries cannot afford to provide the LE5 million budget required for participation. On the sidelines, a reception to celebrate the visit of Al-Farsi was organised at the Manasterly Palace overlooking the Nile where several strains of Umm Kulthoum 's songs filled the air in a candle-lit night. Among the distinguished guests were Minister of Information Safwat El-Sherif, renowned writer Anis Mansour, consummate actress Samiha Ayoub, along with senior state officials from both Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
