Pack of cards

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Remnants of historic events are always enticing to the eye. This week, 24-28 July, the most famous boat of the Italian Navy since 1931 -- the Sail Training Vessel Amerigo Vespucci, under Commander Francesco Bottoni and a crew of 400 men -- was at Alexandria Harbour on "a visit". The boat's arrival came within the framework of the summer training campaign of the Naval Academy, to tighten the relationships between the Egyptian and the Italian navies. Amerigo Vespucci's route passes through the main ports of the Mediterranean basin and will end up in Athens on the first day of the Olympic Games. On the occasion of the arrival of the vessel Vespucci, a series of events took place in Alexandria within the framework of the activities organised by the Italian National Committee "Sport and Culture for Peace", which has been established by the Italian Ministry of Culture to celebrate the Athens Olympic Games 2004. Among the most prominent initiatives, a number of theatre plays dedicated to the figure of Cleopatra were performed. These initiatives, realised under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic, are organised by the Italian Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, the Alexandria Governorate, the Italian Embassy in Cairo, the Italian Consulate in Alexandria and important cultural institutions as the Alexandria Centre of Arts, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Darwish Theatre.

In its summer flurry of activity, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) nominated Dr Saleh Lamei, head of the Centre for Preservation of Islamic Architecture Heritage, to represent Egypt in The Arab Supreme Council for Cultural Heritage in order to put into effect the Arab Convention to protect the cultural heritage of Arab countries. The convention, outlined by the Tourism Supreme Authority of Saudi Arabia, has been approved by all Arab countries which partook in the consecutive meetings of the Arab Tourism Ministerial Council held in Dubai between 5-6 May 2004. Lamei has also participated in editing the draft of this convention as Egypt's official representative in what was a team effort, including representatives from UNESCO, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, and the United States of America.

It is the season of graduation, and the Weekly would like to extend its congratulations to Reem Amir Shinnawy, who graduated from the American University in Cairo's department of broadcast journalism.

Bi-lateral relations are the buzzword in these evolving times, and that indeed was the topic of discussion at the Mubarak Library last week, when European, Slovenian and Egyptian relations were discussed by a gathering of guests. Among them were Mitja Drobnic, the ambassador of Slovenia in Egypt, the brilliant Lyn Younes, Egyptian diplomats and former ambassadors Mohamed Shaker and Raouf El-Ridi.

Wives of dignitaries have become significantly more active in these modern days. The wife of the president of the Lebanese Parliament is one such active woman. Mrs Nabih Berry was the guest speaker at the Innerwheel Cairo Rotary Club meeting held at the Nile Hilton last week, where guests enjoyed the stimulating debate as well as the mouth-watering delicacies.

It seems that the summer is a time for the release of publications -- perhaps in time for good vacation reading. One such publication offering fact-based material to chew is The Guillotine and the Pit, which looks into the state of freedom of expression in the country and ways of tackling its problems. Compiled and written by lawyer Negad El-Borai, the chairperson of the Group of Democratic Development and former secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, the book is published by the United Group Attorneys at Law and Human Rights Advocates. The 700-page study is not exactly easy summer reading, but it most certainly offers fascinating findings and food for thought.