Pack of cards
My dear Al-Ahram Weekly colleague Reem Nafie got engaged to Engineer Mohamed Tawfik in the opulent surroundings of Intercontinental City Stars. Reem, the granddaughter of the late distinguished political writer Ahmed Nafie and daughter of Mohieddin Nafie, executive manager of Al-Ahram's office in Saudi Arabia, looked absolutely ravishing. Mohamed, the son of Hassanein Tawfik, CEO of Advanced Computer Technology (ACT), obviously contained his happiness. Surrounded by friends and family, the couple also had a small katb ketab ceremony held by former Mufti Ali Gomaa prior to the engagement bash.
Amongst the guests was Reem 's great uncle, Al-Ahram former chairman and editor-in-chief Ibrahim Nafie and his wife Ola Barakat, as well as Al-Ahram journalists Abdel-Fattah Ibrahim and Essam Abdel-Karim.
Amongst the attendees were all Mohamed's colleagues from ACT as well as the Weekly 's own home page editor Shaden Shehab, diplomatic desk editor Dina Ezzat, foreign desk editor Gamal Nkrumah as well as Shereen Bahaa, Tarek Attia, Nevine El-Aref, Magda El-Ghitany, Yasmine Fathi, Khaled El-Ghamri, Mohamed El-Sayed, Sara Abu-Bakr and from the advertising department, Walid El-Sayed and Kamal Fathi.
Reem resplendent in a golden embroidered dress designed by prominent Egyptian designer Hani El-Beheiry was the belle of the ball. Her make-up was created by former Miss Egypt Carine Fahmi.
Tamer Hosni, DJ Hesham Sabra, as well as the groom's own brother Ahmed entertained the guests till the wee hours of dawn.
The Head of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs Abdel-Raouf El-Redi introduced French Minister of Defence Michèle Alliot-Marie to distinguished members of the council. The French defence minister delivered a lecture on Europe's defence and security policies at the Egyptian Diplomatic Club where a galaxy of diplomats, media figures and academics assembled to hear her speak. They were all ears, taking in Alliot-Marie 's thought-provoking lecture.
Congratulations! My dear gifted caricaturist Mohamed Said Badawi is participating in the 17th International Biennial of Humour and Satire in the Arts which takes place in Gabrovo 2005, Bulgaria. The exhibition comprises the works of 2,500 artists from 64 countries where Badawi is the only Arab artist to participate in the Gabrovo event. The Egyptian artist participated at the august international event presenting two of his works. Each of Badawi 's works is put at $1,000 according to the jury committee. The biennial, running through 1 August, introduces different forms of art including caricature, sculpture and painting.
photo: Khatchig WanisVenezuelan Ambassador Victor Carazo celebrated the Venezuelan National Day at his beautiful residence in Maadi amid a coterie of Egyptian and foreign friends. Among the guests were Ambassador of Nigeria Mohamed Ghaliumar ; Ambassador of Mauritius Somduth Soborun ; Ambassador of Cameroon Moushilinji Ismail ; Ambassador of Romania Marcel Dinu ; and his Argentinean counterpart Osvaldo Pascual ; as well as First-Under Secretary for Foreign Cultural Relations at the Culture Ministry Sherif El-Shoubashi.
A couple of days ago, Sister Maria Grabis of Cairo was decorated with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of her remarkable social achievements for more than 35 years in Egypt. At the ceremony, Chargé d'affaires at the German Embassy Brita Wagener said "Sister Maria has rendered outstanding services to the impoverished people who live in the shantytown of Mo'tamadiya in the West of Cairo. Her self-help projects for the garbage collectors ( Zabalin ) and their families -- schools, nurseries and welfare centres -- have contributed in alleviating poverty and illiteracy in this needy neighbourhood.
Last Monday, the Governor of Fayoum Mohamed Rafaat Mahmoud and head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces Mustafa Elwie inaugurated Mubarak's Public Library in Fayoum. The library is 1,200 metres and was established with a budget estimated at LE780,000. Both Mahmoud and Elwie witnessed also the big celebration of launching the "Reading for All Festival" that featured Fayoum's children choir and Arabic music ensemble.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/751/people.htm