By Mme Sosostris * American pop star Lionel Richie gave a concert in Cairo on the occasion of launching a new real estate project in the Sinai desert; presented by the multi-talented veteran performer Samir Sabri, Richie was joined by the invincible Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. * Legendary footballer and head of Ahli Club, the late Saleh Selim, is the subject of a new museum in the Pharaonic Village showcasing a range of exhibits from rare private photographs to interviews and even film footage. Selim 's shoes, glasses, suits and favourite cologne are all featured. Most of the acquisitions were donations from Selim 's brother-in-law Sherif Lotfi, who was the driving force behind the project. Present at the opening were current head of Ahli Club Hassan Hamdi, football star Mahmoud El-Khatib, Selim 's son Khaled, actress Youssra, Pharaonic Village Chairman Abdel-Salam Ragab and jazz musician Yehia Khalil. * The 76th anniversary of the late vernacular poet, cartoonist and script-writer Salah Jahin (1930-1986) -- Egypt's best loved renaissance man during the second half of the 20th century -- was the subject of a two-day celebration at the Supreme Council of Culture working with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina affiliate Centre for Documentation of Culture and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT). The event featured lectures, performances and the presentation of material including rare audio tapes of Jahin. Participating were singer Ali El-Haggar, musician Mohamed Ezzat, Jahin 's daughter Samia and his poet son Bahaa as well as poet Amin Haddad. The work of vernacular poets now writing -- Amin Haddad, Sayed Hegab, Samir Abdel-Baqi, Ragab El-Sawi, Soheir Metwali, Tamim El-Bargouthi and Ahmed Haddad -- also figured. The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture held a seminar entitled "Egypt in the writings of Maulana Azad", presided over by associate professor at the Oriental Language Department of Cairo University Galal El-Hefnawi, who obtained his PhD on the art of biography in the works of Shibli Al-Numani and has since published numerous essays on a range of intercultural subjects from Islamic Archaeology in India to Mahatma Gandhi in the Egyptian press. Japanese Ambassador Kunihiko Makita compared notes with Assistant Minister for Cultural Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mona Seoudy regarding improving the Japanese language learning equipment of Cairo University in the framework of Japan's Cultural Grant Aid scheme -- an LE2.18 million project. Egypt's first overnight electronic music festival, Bay Fest, took place in Hurghada over three days from 31 December-2 January, and featured over 12 internationally known DJs including James Lavelle, John Creamer, Mathew Dekay and Joyce Mercedes. The event attracted over 3,000 people. Part of the revenue went to the UNICEF campaign against AIDS and Hepatitis C. Italian Ambassador Antonio Badini and his wife Donia gave a Christmas party at their residence. Present were Indian Ambassador A Gopinthan, Greek Ambassador Panayotis Vlassopoulos, Al-Ahram journalist Mona Ragab, head of Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin, secretary-general of the Permanent Secretariat of the Egyptian European Association Agreement at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nehad Abdel-Latif and head of the Arab Publishers' Union Ibrahim El-Muallim. A second edition of the Spanish book Hizbullah, Army of God, written by the news agency EFE's Arabic Service Director Javier Martin, has finally appeared. Martin is a well-known correspondent and winner of the Pen for Peace Award for his coverage of the Iraq war; he has had experience in Sudan, Palestine and, notably, the site of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, Muzaffarabad. Selected the second best book of 2006 by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine and awarded the Cirilo Rodriguez Prize, the book is a comprehensive biography of Hizbullah from its emergence in southern Lebanon in the 1980s to its last war with Israel -- in which, according to Martin, Hizbullah was unequivocally victorious. Based on hundreds of interviews the author conducted in Lebanon and Israel, not only with intellectuals, politicians, officials and members of Hizbullah, but also with journalists and, most importantly for Martin, ordinary people, Hizbullah, Army of God is equally important as a source book for students of the Shia in Lebanon, with an account of Shia history and explanations of the party's links with Syria, Iran and Palestinian groups like Hamas.
