Not just for coffee They go to the café not to socialise, not to have a cup of hot chocolate in the freezing weather and certainly not to hold hands with their loved ones. Sherif Sonbol's lens captured the latest trend in cafés; the place where teachers and students meet for a concentrated dose of private tutoring. photos: Ayman Barayez The seventh pavilion at the 40th Cairo International Book Fair was the venue where Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Khaled Ziyada attended the signing ceremony of renowned Lebanese writer Rana Abu Zahr Al-Refai 's new book, The Iranian Nuclear File and the Struggle Over the Middle East. Former minister of development Yehia El-Gamal, General Manager of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture Omar Halablab, Amira Abdel-Rahman, Lebanese Tourism Counsellor Faisal Fetfet, Lebanese publisher Khaled Nasser, head of the Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin and media figure Baraa Al-Alayli were also present. Emirates Ambassador Ahmed Ali Al-Zoghbi and Emirates Minister of Culture and Youth Mohamed Abdul-Rahman Al-Ewissi inaugurated an extraordinary cultural celebration on the occasion of choosing the Emirates as the guest of honour at the 40th Cairo International Book Fair. The event featured a performance by a folk and heritage troupe from the Emirates representing the country's unique folk traditions. In conjunction with the event, a bevy of Egyptians who enriched the Arab library with their unique works were honoured in the Farhati Hall of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, including poet Gamal Bekheit, media figure Mustafa Ghazal and writer Ibrahim Eweis. On 26 January, Doha Abdelhamid, an active Egyptian economic expert researcher and academic and a regular contributor to Al-Ahram Weekly 's opinion and economy pages, won Al-Ahram Foundation's Regional Prize for Best Intellectual Scientific Contribution for her recently authored book: Essays on International Regulatory Competition in Theory and Practice: Experiences and Lessons from the Developed and Developing Financial World. The publication introduces a novel theory on the effect of interest group politics on legislation and tells the story of financial sector reform in the US, UK and Egypt in the course of the 20th century. The Al-Ahram Book Club hosted a reception on its premises for the winner, and the prize (meritorial certificate and golden medallion) was handed by Al-Ahram Chairman of the Board Mursi Atallah, General Director of Distribution Salah El-Ghamry, Marketing Manager Safwat Abaza, and Asmahan Merghani, Al-Ahram book club manager. The Embassy of India in Cairo celebrated the 59th Republic Day of India. Indian Ambassador A Gopinathan unfurled the national tricolour at the Indian House, Bharat Bhawan, and the National Anthem was sung. Attending the ceremony among several Egyptian ministers, senior officials and diplomats were Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga and members of the Indian community and their families. Afaq Publishing House and 5+5 gallery organised a joint event to honour Iraqi veteran poet Saady Youssef and Austrian artist Andrea Tierney. The event marked the signing of Youssef 's new book, The Song of the Fisherman and the Poems of New York, published by Afaq in 2008 and the opening of Tierney 's exhibition, "Traces of My Brush", which included the cover of the book. The party took place at 5+5 gallery located in Talaat Harb Square. As the child law is currently being reviewed by the Egyptian parliament, a round table was held at Pyramisa Hotel this month concerning proposed amendments to the 1996 child law. The event was organised by the Together for Family Development Network (TFD) and the Association for Education Support and Development (AESD) for parliamentarians and concerned members of civil society. Among those who attended were representatives of 22 NGOs, as well as three lawyers and six child's rights experts. Nada Thabet, chairperson of TFD's board of directors, and Adel Badr, AESD's director, emphasised the important role NGOs have played in producing the amendments, which are essential to protecting children's rights. Councillor Khalil Mustafa, representative of the National Council of Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), Azza Suleiman, manager of the Centre for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA), and Hani Helal, of the Egyptian Child Rights Association, presented an overview of the changes to the 1996 law. The changes stipulate that children with disability have the right to public education, raising the age of criminalisation of street children from seven to 12, raising the marriage age for girls from 16 to 18 and requiring paternity testing. The round table was facilitated by Alaa Sebeih, representative of Save the Children UK, and the attached recommendations were submitted to Ambassador Mushira Khattab, secretary-general of NCCM. Photojournalists at the Press Syndicate are preparing for their first annual contest and exhibition for professional press photographs titled "Egypt 2007". The contest -- which will emulate the World Press Photo international event -- will comprise five main fields: sports, news photos, tourism and environment, features and arts, with the total of financial awards put at LE50,000. Head of the General Organisation of Culture Palaces Ahmed Nawwar and director of Cinema Palace and editor-in- chief of the newly established magazine Black and White, Tamer Abdel-Moneim, have inaugurated "Egyptian Cinema Trailer", an exhibition held on the sidelines of the celebration of Black and White. The event featured Oriental songs by Takht Al-Mahrousa troupe. Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Maged George and USAID Mission Director Hilda Arenallo inaugurated a national environmental education campaign under the name of "Our Environment is our Life", during a celebration held at Al-Sawy Culture Wheel on the occasion of the National Environment Day. The event was organised by Al-Sawy centre in collaboration with the Egyptian Environmental Education and Outreach Programme (E3OP), a USAID funded project implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs. The objective of this year's campaign is to raise awareness of children, parents and citizens at large about environmental issues of priority to Egypt. Subjects include environmental appreciation, Egyptian law and regulation, climate change, water resource management and solid waste management, with an overarching focus on the role of environmental education in sustainable development. In his opening speech, George said the ministry has established Environmental Awareness Centres in Al-Maasra and Helwan, as models that can be replicated in other areas. He noted that the ministry cooperates with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education to raise students' awareness of environmental issues. George also stated that he is pleased with this partnership with USAID through the E3OP and other initiatives such as the Life-Lead, and the Life-Red Sea projects. In her opening speech, Arenallo indicated that laws are only effective if coupled with the active participation of men and women and, most importantly, children in activities and actions that aim to protect the environment. Famous actors also lent their support to the campaign and inaugurated the event, including Hanan Tork and Sameh El-Sereiti addressing children and asking them to read about the law to gain better understanding of their rights and responsibilities. More than 650 children and adults participated in the event. There were two parallel concurrent activities on this day: an environmental festival for children with opportunities for them to be involved in hands-on environmental activities, drama, story-telling, art work, films and a seminar for parents. An exhibition of children's art work, as well as products and materials of NGOs and some green businesses were held as part of the celebration.
