Next Saturday, the great film actor Omar Sharif, and Dr. Zahi Hawass will fly to the Dominican Republic by the personal invitation of the President, Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna.

Mr. Sharif will be given a lifetime achievement award for his career in the movies at the 4^th annual Global Film Festival next week in Santo Domingo. The film festival will include other luminaries from the film world. Also, the Catholic University of Santo Domingo, the oldest university in the Americas, will bestow on Dr. Hawass an honorary doctorate. This will be a third honorary doctorate for Dr. Hawass, he also holds honorary degrees from the American University in Cairo and a University in Thailand. President Reyna will be in attendance at both events, he is a great fan of Mr. Sharif’s work and even named his son Omar. The Honorable Maria Gabriella Bonetti, the Dominican ambassador to Egypt, announced the events this week, indicating that the two men are the most famous living Egyptians after perhaps President Mubarak and also that the Dominican Republic wished to honor them for all of their fine work in their respective fields. While in Santo Domingo, the two will attend many cultural events in the capital.