Phenomenon ♣ This Sunday lucky people around the world were treated to a rare hybrid eclipse — so called because the extent to which the sun was blocked out varies around the world. Those along North America's east coast and the northern half of South America saw a brilliant sun partially eclipsed by the moon at dawn, as in our lead image from South Carolina, USA. But regions like equatorial Africa had a total solar eclipsed for about a minute, while those in southern Europe and the Middle East could see an “annular” or partial, eclipse. The last time this type of eclipse occurred was on 20 November, 1854; the next one won't happen until 17 October 2172. It was also the last eclipse of the year, and photographers were clambering to catch as much of it as they could. ª The Peace from Egypt Festival was held in Sahl Hasheesh in Hurghada with the aim of reviving tourism and sending a positive message from this beautiful place to tourists around the world. The Cairo Opera House participated in the event through a number of shows presented by its folk troupe and the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. Present were the Minister of Culture Saber Arab, the Chairperson of the Cairo Opera House Ines Abdel-Dayem and Red Sea Governor Ahmed Abdallah. The ceremony opened with a welcome speech by the Cairo International Film Festival media coordinator Soheir Abdel-Kader, followed by a performance by the Cairo Opera Orchestra conducted by Nayer Nagui and featuring Carmen, The Barber of Seville, La Traviata and Les Misérables, while the Cairo Opera Ballet Company directed by Ermenia Kamel presented Scheherazade. Of the many celebrities present were actresses Laila Taher and Rania Youssef, media figure Moufid Fawzi and the Director of the Catholic Centre for Egyptian Cinema Father Boutros Daniel. ¨ Italian Ambassador to Egypt Maurizio Massari gave a press conference last week at the Italian Embassy in Cairo to discuss the latest developments of the bilateral relations on the commercial, cultural and industrial levels. The meeting was moderated by the embassy translator and media attaché assistant Howeida Hamed. Massari highlighted the role played by the Egyptian-Italian Business Council in organising workshops on the infrastructure and transportation and supporting vocational and technical training, environmental issues and tourism. He pointed out that a delegation from the Italian Ministry of the Economy is to arrive in Egypt in advance of the deputy economic minister's official visit, adding that the Minister of Industry and Commerce Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour participated in a conference in Italy on the marble design market and met with businessmen. ♥ Turkish Ambassador to Egypt Héseyin Avni Botsali held a ceremony at his residence in Giza marking the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. Botsali welcomed the President of the International Union of Muslim-Christian-Jewish Dialogue and Peace Education Ali Al-Samman, writer Fahmy Howeidy and ambassadors Michael Bock, Nicolas Galey, Fidel Sendagorta, James Watt, Maurizio Massari, Serge Kirpichenko, James Moran, Oybek Usmanov Arifbekovich, Diaa Al-Dabbas, Sheikh Khalifa bin Al-Harithi, Mohamed Al-Khamiri, Seif bin Moqadem Al-Bouennein and Mohamed Al-Elmi. ♣ The head of the Theatre Art House Fattouh Ahmed and the head of the Cultural Production Affairs Sector Mohamed Abul-Kheir honoured producer Mohamed Al-Adl, Syrian actor Ayman Zeidan, Saudi artist Mohamed Abu Laban, poet Bahaa Gahine, writer Omar Taher, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Youm Al-Sabei newspaper Khaled Salah, media figure Mohamed Kheir, actors Sabri Fawaz, Donia Abdel-Aziz and Sanaa Youssef. The occasion was the play Hanekteb Dostour Gedid (Let's Write a New Constitution). The play is performed daily at the Small Hall of the Floating Theatre in Manial, 8pm (except Fridays). ª Opening an exhibition of the Egyptian author Taha Hussein's belongings at Beit Al-Sennary to commemorate his 40th death anniversary, Hussein's granddaughter Maha Aon said, “I'm very happy that the Bibliotheca Alexandrina organised this exhibition and that these documents are going to be on the Zakeret Al-Oma website.” Displayed were photos of the Dean of Arabic Literature with family and (high-profile) friends, correspondence with fellow writers and readers including key personalities of the time and a number of unpublished manuscripts. The 10-day event included lectures by Haitham Ali, Mahmoud Al-Dabe, Mosaad Ewais, and Chairperson of Dar Al-Kotob Eman Ezzeddin. Moderating the programme is deputy head of special projects at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Ayman Mansour. “The exhibition was designed in a professional way,” Aon said, “but despite this few young people have come to the event; and that is why we aim to publish the documents and the work online.” ♥ The Garden City Lions Club, presided over by Awatef Serageddin, held a seminar with Minister of Planning Ashraf Al-Arabi at the Four Seasons Hotel. Present were Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Khaled Ziyada and his wife, former prime minister Ali Lotfi, judge Maged Al-Sherbini, businessman Aziz Abaza, Lions zone governor Abdel-Fattah Al-Didi, society lady Bahiya Youssef and media figure Soheir Shalabi. ¨ Congratulations! Ahmed Abdallah's Farsh wa Ghata (Rags and Tatters) won the Golden Antigone prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 35th Cinemed International Mediterranean Festival of Montpellier in France, which closed on 2 November. The prize is Ä15,000 awarded by the district of Montpellier and a promotional campaign awarded by CINE+ for the release of the film, in addition to Ä2,500 in technical services awarded by Titra Film to the distributor. Rags and Tatters has recently participated in the BFI London Film Festival, making it the only Arab film competing in the official competition of the prestigious film event this year. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the world's most prestigious film events.
