photos: Ghada Abd El-Kader On Monday, the International Conference for Palestine and Lebanon Relief was held at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Cairo -- an occasion for my colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader to mingle with, among others, the Head of the Doctors' Association and chairman of Medical Association Hamdi El-Sayed, Palestinian Ambassador Mohamed Sobeih, the latter representing the Arab League, Secretary-General of the Arab Economic Unity Council Ahmed Goweli, Secretary-General the Egyptian Red Cross Mamdouh Gabr, head of Iraqi Doctors' Syndicate Nazim Qassem, vice-president of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed El-Masri, Secretary-General of the Association of Arab Doctors Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh Dean of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University Abla El-Kahlawi and Managing Editor of Islam Online's European Muslims section Dalia Youssef. The conference brought together representatives of several international bodies and civil society organisations to discuss the question of providing Palestinians and Lebanese with aid. According to director of the Research and Development Centre Ahmed Matar, a member of the organising committee, "The aims of the conference are: following up the destructive crisis and finding out methods to avoid environmental and health disasters; discussing the pressing requirements and minimum needs for urgent medical services; arranging efforts to present humanitarian aids for Palestinians and Lebanese people; participating in campaigns to collect funds to help injured and affected people in Palestine and Lebanon." The Arab Doctors Association launched the "Milliard Campaign to lift the siege", of which this conference is part, last May. photos: Ayman Barayez For the first time in the history of the Middle East, the American University in Cairo (AUC) hosted the 25th International Association for Mass Communication Research (IAMCR) conference, one of the biggest on this topic worldwide. Attendees included the Egyptian president's spokesman Soliman Awaad, head of the State Information Service Ambassador Nasser Kamel, Editor-in-Chief of the Egyptian political quarterly Al-Dimuqratiya (Democracy) Hala Mustafa, Head of the Board of Trustees at the Modern Sciences & Arts in Sixth October University Nawal El-Degwi and chairman of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo Hussein Amin. On the occasion of the Moroccan Throne Day, Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Farag El-Doqali held a warm reception at the embassy, where the guests included the of Sheikh Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, Minister of Social Affairs Ali El-Moselhi, Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza, American Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, Bahrain Ambassador Khalil Al-Zawadi, Algerian Ambassador Abdul-Qader Haggar, and the new Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Osama Saraya, as well as Editor-in-Chief of Nisf Al-Donia magazine Afkar El-Kharadli and director of Cairo Opera House Abdel-Moneim Kamel. photo: Khatchig Wanis The great artist Hussein El-Azabi is showing at Al-Hanager gallery in a remarkable exhibition that features theatre sets. El-Ezabi designed sets and costumes for nearly 85 performances. Among the guests were veteran actors Khalid Zaki, Mohie Ismail and Ashraf Abdel-Ghafour as well as artist Mohamed Shiha. At the Concorde Al-Salam Hotel, Abdel-Moneim El-Mallah, president of Al-Shams Sporting Club in Heliopolis celebrated the wedding of his son Amr, an accountant and head coach of the Futsal football team at the club, who married Noha El-Feqi. Present were many sports celebrities and state officials. Newly-crowned Miss Arab World 2006 Nadia Bin-Fadla from Tunisia poses with Iraqi first runner-up Claudia Hana and the Egyptian second runner-up Dina Adel at the end of the Miss Arab World competition -- held at the Red Sea resort in Sharm El-Sheikh. Thirteen contestants from nine Arab countries participated in the pageant. Two weeks ago, artist Azmiralda Haddad organised a collective exhibition at the Heliopolis Sporting Club. Made up largely of the work of amateurs, the show included works by the late Mohamed Hamdi, a talented young artist who passed away a few months ago -- he received first prize. Last week, the Francophone Art Academy in Cairo (AFCA) held a summer party at the Gezira Sporting Club cultural centre to celebrate the end of its summer school programme, Club D'été, which started in June 2006. AFCA is among a handful of organisations in Egypt that advocate education through art. Summer school at AFCA is very unique as it stresses creativity and the French language. The summer programme provided for drama, visual art, music, ballet, photography, etiquette, cooking, floral design, guitar, vocal training, poetry, music and more.
