♣ Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar arrived in Cairo a few days ago as the special envoy of President Asif Ali Zardari to deliver a message of felicitations to the first ever democratically elected president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi. She handed Zardari's message of congratulations to Morsi, conveying a personal invitation from the president for Morsi to attend the D-8 (Developing Eight) Summit scheduled for 19-21 November 2012 at Islamabad. Zardari has expressed keen interest in his Egyptian counterpart participating in the summit. On the occasion, the two leaders will meet in Islamabad to discuss strengthening relations between the two countries. Khar also met her Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Kamel Amr to discuss relations in political, economic, military and cultural fields; the link between the two countries has been cordial and brotherly since the declaration of the state of Pakistan in 1947, she said. She also met the Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil Al-Arabi to discuss Pakistan's position on various international and regional issues. ♥ The Italian Association of Friendship and Cooperation with Egypt, whose executive president is former Italian ambassador to Egypt Antonio Badini, has taken the initiative to organise a multi-sectoral business mission to Cairo with many high-profile figures. The idea is to give perspective and substance to some strategic initiatives contributing to an early recovery of economic growth and social cohesion. The mission, composed of almost 50 businessmen, arrived on Sunday 4 November and had two full days of meetings with government representatives and figures from the Federation of Egyptian Industry, the Egyptian Business Association and the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce as well as individual matchmaking talks. A forum was held at the Conrad Hotel featuring Minister of Industry and Foreign Commerce Hatem Saleh and Minister of Investment Osama Saleh. After the end of the forum, the Italian delegation was received by Prime Minister Hisham Kandil. During the meeting a number of proposals were submitted for strengthening bilateral partnership, including plans to establish an industrial park. ♠ To celebrate Italy's National Day, Italian Ambassador to Egypt Claudio Pacifico organised a prestigious reception at the headquarters of the Italian embassy in Garden City. Present were former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, Information Minister Salah Abdel-Maksoud, Minister of Transportation Rashad Al-Matini, maestro Gaber Al-Beltagui, former Italian ambassador to Egypt Antonio Badini, Al-Ahram writer Aisha Abdel-Ghaffar and many diplomats. ¨ The Naguib Mahfouz Hall in Al-Ahram Establishment saw the graduation ceremony of 129 students of Al-Ahram Canadian University (ACU) from pharmacy, mass communication and business administration. Present were Al-Ahram Chairman of the Board Mamdouh Al-Wali, Giza Governor Ali Abdel-Rahman, Canadian Ambassador to Egypt David Drake, Chairman of the Pharmacy Syndicate Mohamed Abdel-Gawad, President of ACU Farouk Ismail as well as professors of the university. ♣ The Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, headed by Ambassador Mohamed Shakir, organised a gathering at the Diplomatic Club headquarters in downtown Cairo hosting former US president Jimmy Carter, former Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland and former Irish president Mary Robinson after meeting President Mohamed Morsi during their two-day visit to Egypt. They discussed relations between Egypt and the US, the Camp David accords and the aftermath of the revolution. Present were former secretary-general of the United Nations Boutros Ghali, former secretary-general of the Arab League Amr Moussa, President of the International Union of the Muslim-Christian-Jewish Dialogue and Peace Education Ali Al-Samman, head of Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin and former industry minister Ibrahim Fawzi. ♥ The newly inaugurated Galaxy Cinema at the Mall of Arabia saw the premiere of Partita (Poker Night) with the attendance of veteran comedian Adel Imam, actors Karim Abdel-Aziz, Ahmed Ezz, Ramez Galal, Mohamed Ragab, Salah Abdallah, Sherif Salama, Ahmed Al-Saadani, Edward, Hassan Al-Raddad, Dorra, Rasha Mahdi, Leqaa Al-Khamisi, Zeina, Inas Kamel, Gihan Abdallah, directors Sandra Nashaat, Rami Imam and Samir Al-Nakkash. The film, written by Khaled Galal and directed by Sherif Mandour, features Kinda Aloush, Dina Fouad, Ahmed Al-Saadani and Ahmed Safwat. ♠ Pop star Mohamed Mounir rocked Hurghada during the Eid holiday in a big concert with such songs as Al-Leila Ya Samra (Tonight, Dark Girl), Haret Al-Sakayeen (The Water Carriers Alley) and Ana Albi Masaken Shaabiya (My Heart is Public Housing). ¨ The fifth episode of the AUC's “Behind the Headlines” series of media roundtable discussions entitled, “Obama vs Romney: Implications on the New Egypt and the Middle East,” addressed the differences in foreign policy between Obama and Romney towards Egypt and the region. The discussion featured, among other diplomats and scholars, Magda Shahin, Bahgat Korani, Gamal Sultan and Mohamed Al-Ississ; it was moderated by AUC alumna Randa Abul-Azm, the Cairo bureau chief for Al-Arabiya channel. ♣ Today the Culture Resource (Al Mawred Al Thaqafy) will hold a press conference at its headquarters in Rodah at 3pm to announce the details of a visit by a group of Arab artists and intellectuals to the Syrian refugee camps in Turkey. The visit is organised by the Culture Resource in the context of its new cultural initiative in support of the Syrian people. Around 20 Arab artists and writers will take part in this visit including Khaled Hourani, Mohamed Abla, Khaled Abul-Naga, Tamer Al-Said, Ibrahim Abdel-Fattah, Khaled Abdallah, Yasser Al-Zayat and Sondos Shabayek. The group will be delivering small gifts to children in the refugee camps, donated by publishing houses, pharmaceutical companies and others. ♥ Congratulations! Amr Shalakani, associate professor of law at AUC, has been appointed as the Aga Khan Distinguished Visiting Professor of Islamic Humanities at Brown University for the Spring 2013 semester. At Brown, Shalakani will teach a seminar on Islamic law and society and deliver a series of lectures on legal reform and the Arab Spring. He also plans to organise a conference on law and the arts in the Middle East today. “This is an excellent opportunity,” he said. “Brown University has great resources for research and an exciting intellectual environment of students and faculty alike.”
