Christmas bells The Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nayeir Nagui, awaits Santa Claus at the Cairo Opera House: Sherif Sonbol's inimitable lens again photos: Ayman Barayez Before a host of literati at the American University in Cairo (AUC) Oriental Hall, Amina Zaydan was announced the winner of the 2007 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for her novel Red Wine. Egyptian Writers Union head Mohamed Salmawy handed her the award which was accompanied by congratulatory remarks by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. This year the jury consisted of Samia Mehrez, Hoda Wasfi, Abdel-Moneim Tallima, Ibrahim Fathi, Fakhri Saleh and AUC Press director Mark Linz. On the occasion, AUC Press also celebrated the publication of the translation of a late novel by Mahfouz, Morning and Evening Talk, and three new books about him: The Mahfouz Dialogs by Gamal El-Ghitani, The Last Station: Naguib Mahfouz Looking Back by Salmawy and Naguib Mahfouz: His Life and Times by Rashid El-Enani. Previous winners of the medal including Youssef Abu Raya, Miral El-Tahawi and Somaya Ramadan as well as Mahfouz 's wife Atta were also present. Fashion designer Hani El-Beheiri 's latest work could be seen at a charity show organised by the Innerwheel Club, Zamalek, presided over by Hassnaa Abdel-Moneim ; proceeds are going exclusively to the new dialysis unit at the Abul-Rish Child Hospital. Present were veteran Algerian singer Warda, actresses Nabila Ebeid, Laila Elwi and Menna Shalabi, Al-Ahram back page editor Mona Ragab, Nisf Al-Donia magazine Editor-in- Chief Afkar El-Kharadli and TV announcers Nahla Abdel-Aziz and Pousi Shalabi. Last week Save the Children celebrated its 25th anniversary in Egypt at the Cairo Opera House Open-Air Theatre, featuring an exhibition of children's works and speeches by Save the Children Federation Inc President Charles MacCormack, US Ambassador to Egypt Francis Ricciardone and Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Moselhi. Starting work in Minya in 1982, the organisation now manages programmes in 10 governorates across the country; it has created lasting change in the lives of countless children through health programmes and schemes to improve access to education and economic benefits. According to the organisation's 2007 State of the World's Mothers report, over the period 1990-2005 Egypt made the greatest progress worldwide in infant mortality rates. To mark the 47th Burkina Faso National Day, Burkina Faso Ambassador Sophie Sow gave a reception at the embassy where the Secretary-General of the Cairo-based African Trade Chamber Juliana Lumumba brushed shoulders with numerous diplomats. As the New Year approaches, the Cairo Opera House (COH) reviews its efforts over 2007, which turn out to be stupendous: 806 concerts, over 100 foreign troupes (including such prestigious fare as the Cuba National Ballet, Flamenco de Madrid, Tango Dream, Anatolia Fire and The Nutcracker, to mention but a few), 75 per cent attendance and some LE8.7 million profit -- a 2.2 per cent improvement on 2006. Local groups that contributed to the year's success include the Abdel-Halim Noweira Ensemble conducted by Salah Ghoubashi, the National Arab Ensemble conducted by Selim Sehab, the Arab Music Ensemble for Heritage conducted by Farouk El-Babli and the Alexandria Opera Ensemble conducted by George Boushra, all those artists and composers who gave a lot for COH. In some 122 concerts, they presented the beloved songs of such figures as Abdel-Halim Hafez, Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Laila Murad and Um Kolthoum. Over the year the COH has also hosted major figures like Nobel laureate Ahmed Zoeil and poet Abdel-Rahman El-Abnoudi. To celebrate Christmas, European embassies in Egypt together held a lavish charity bazaar at the Nile Hilton: on the tennis courts, in the garden and within the High Heels nightclub. Thousands of shoppers sampled wares from 24 participant countries, while the programme featured school choirs and Santa Claus. Minister and Counsellor Joseph Goha, representative of the president of the Republic of Central Africa in the Middle East, gave a reception on the National Day of Central Africa at the Farhati Hall, Grand Hyatt Hotel. Over 1,000 guests attended, including Princess Samaher bint Turky bin Abdul-Aziz, Emirates Ambassador Ahmed Ali Al-Zoabi, Oman Ambassador Abdel-Aziz Al-Hanaai, Syrian Ambassador Youssef Al-Ahmed and his wife Rawaa Al-Assad. Lebanese Ambassador Khaled Ziyada, Palestinian Ambassador Monzer Al-Dagani, Libya Ambassador Saleh Al-Deroqi, as well as lawyer Katya Goha, lyricist Michael Goha, writer Elias Oun, Lions Garden City Club President Awatef Serageddin, Henzada, TV introducer Maha Salama and Syrian star Salma Al-Masri. Major-General Ahmed Hani and businessman Mahmoud Saleh celebrated the wedding of Saleh 's daughter Shahira to Hani 's son Baher at the opulent CityStars InterContinental Hotel. The over 1,000 well wishers included former prime minister Atef Ebeid, Minister of Aviation Ahmed Shafiq and Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Moselhi. The evening featured the 2007 World Music Award winner Amr Diab and DJ Khaled Abdel-Rahman. Last Friday, the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt (BCFE) held a Christmas bazaar on the Narmer American College campus. According to the BCFE media officer Ghada Mustafa, "the foundation aims at raising the awareness of breast cancer not only among women but also children, youth and men." Attractions included Santa Claus and a football tournament. Actress Manal Salama and her children particularly enjoyed the dance competition. photo: Sherif Sonbol At the Russian Culture Centre, the Anna Pavlova Ballet School, coached by Raisa Melnikova, gave a spectacular show of nine dances with ballerinas aged three to 40 including Hannah Sonbol, the daughter of Al-Ahram Weekly 's famous photographer Sherif. At the first Arab Environmental Conference, held in Jordan under the title "Climate Change and its Impact on the Sea", Al-Ahram Weekly 's very own Mahmoud Bakr was honoured for his efforts. Attendees included Secretary-General of the Arab Union of Youth and Environment Mamdouh Rashwan, head of Al-Aqaba Economic Authority Commission Hosni Abu Gheida and President of the Royal Union for Navy Sports Sami Al-Kasous. The DSB headmaster Walter Ritter presided over a three- day book fair on the school playground to celebrate both Christmas and Eid. Offering discounts of up to 10 per cent, 11 publishing houses contributed German, French and English as well as Arabic titles. As librarian Jutta Heikal told Nesmahar Sayed, the wish list concept proved very successful as it encouraged discussion and learning. Our very own Gihan Shahine was among the winners of a human rights coverage competition jointly organised by the Al-Ahram Regional Press Institute and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of Human Rights Capacity Building Project. Amira Helal from the daily Al-Ahram won the first prize for writing a distinguished feature on human rights issues while another seven journalists from different publications including Al-Masry Al-Yom and Nahdet Masr also won prizes for interviews and cartoons. Al-Ahram Chairman of the Board Mursi Atallah and the daily's Editor-in-Chief Osama Saraya handed out the prizes in a ceremony held at Al-Ahram building in commemoration of the Human Rights Day.
