photo: Ayman Barayez We are all relieved that the wife of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has overcome the ordeal of a serious health problem and has made her first public appearance at a banquet in her honour held last Sunday by the wife of Oman Ambassador to Cairo Mariam Al- Hanaai. Among the PM wife's many friends who attended the event in her honour were the wife of Tourism Minister Ahmed El-Maghrabi, wife of Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmi, wife of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, minister of Defence, as well as the wives of the Libyan, Moroccan, Iraqi and Syrian ambassadors to Egypt. photo: Ayman Barayez I was to have the opportunity to mingle among a many more diplomats at the reception hosted by the Ambassador of Bangladesh Mahmoud Hassan and his wife Sayeda Hassan celebrating the 34th anniversary of Bangladesh Independence and National Day. Hassan cut the celebratory cake with Al-Ahram Weekly 's very own columnist Mursi Saad El-Din and the reception was attended by many senior Egyptian officials and diplomats based in Cairo. photo: Tamer Youssef The Holland Culinair Festival is on and was inaugurated by the Agricultural Counsellor of the Royal Netherlands Embassy Herman van Wissen and the General Manager of the Semiramis InterContinental Cairo and the Director of Operations Egypt Michel Tourniaire with a stylish cocktail reception held at The Grill at the Semiramis Hotel downtown. photo: Mohamed Mustafa Yesterday, the Heliopolis Club's Annual Salon for Photography, Sculpture, Pottery, Painting and Drawing, organised by the dynamic and gifted painter Azmeralda Hadad, concluded its activities. This year, the Salon honoured Al- Ahram leading photographers Emil Karam and Antoine Albert, in the presence of Ali Ghoneim, Al-Ahram member of the board and general manager. The salon also honoured the late painters Sabri Ragheb and Mounir Canaan. In its 26th round, the event has featured some 50 luminary art figures including Ibrahim Abdel-Malak, Adam Henein, Omar El-Nagdi, the Weekly 's very own George Bahgoury, Al-Ahram 's famous painters and art critics: Makram Henein, Nagwa El- Ashri and Mohamed El-Nasser, veteran sculptor Sabri Nashed and two of Al- Ahram 's gifted photographers Aref Saadeddin and Moussa Mahmoud. All you Opera House buffs will be glad to know that you no longer need to schedule time to buy tickets to the performances you just can't miss. Director of the Cairo Opera House Abdel-Moneim Kamel and head of the National Post Authority Ali El-Meseilhi signed an agreement of cooperation, in the presence of Minister of State for Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish, that will facilitate the purchase of opera tickets via the Egyptian government website www.egypt.gov.eg. According to El-Meseilhi, the agreement is but a step in the comprehensive network of new services the authority plans to introduce. For his part Darwish said it is hoped that the service will encourage all those young people glued to their computer screens to buy a ticket and get out and visit the opera a bit more. Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Egypt Ibrahim El-Saad Ibrahim welcomed veteran author Anis Mansour, who participated in the Saudi Intellectual Forum delivering a keynote lecture titled "The Movement of Enlightenment in Egypt in the Era of Mohamed Ali Pasha". I attended only to find that the forum had brought together some of the best representatives of literature, poetry and the media. Among the participants were poet Mohamed El- Tohami, writers Mohamed Wagdi Qandil, Sabri Ghoneim, Abdel-Latif El-Manawi, Saudi Media Counsellor Abdel-Aziz Saqr and members of the Saudi Embassy to mention but a few. photo: Ayman Barayez I guess it is never too late to celebrate International Women's Day, and so I headed out to the Diplomatic Club where the head of Hoda Shaarawi Society Ragaa Mansour was holding a party. Among the many who filled the gilded hall I glimpsed the head of the General Union of NGOs Mahmoud El-Sherif and head of the United Nations Media Centre in Cairo Abdallah Dorani. During the celebration, a number of women were honoured for their efforts for charity including Headmistress of Misr Languages School Magda Moussa, head of Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin, actresses Madiha Youssri and Fardous Abdel-Hamid as well as the wives of the Omani, Palestinian, Iraqi and Saudi Arabian ambassadors. Al-Tanoura whirling dervishes troupe, affiliating to the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces (GOCP), is busy twirling away as they prepare to head for Italy from 19 until 25 April. Upon the invitation of the Italian ETNEA Organisation, the troupe will feature its spectacular shows in Sicily.
