Tunes of the Med The highlight of last week's cultural events was Bibliotheca Alexandrina Second World Music Festival that featured six troupes from Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Romania, Italy, France and Egypt. The four-day festival aimed at spreading the ethnic music of these nations. The closing ceremony included two concerts presented by Wust Al-Balad band from Egypt as well as Francesco Sossio band from Italy featuring gorgeous Italian singer Lucrezia Savino. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid At the Cairo Opera House Main Hall, an extravagant celebration was held marking the 130th anniversary of The Egyptian Gazette, the Middle East's oldest English- language daily. The ceremony honoured a galaxy of high-profile figures and stars, among them director of the Cairo Opera House Abdel-Moneim Kamel, actors Sherif Mounir and Hani Salama, singer-cum-actress Simon and emerging comedian and TV presenter Amr Fawzi. Honoured also, consummate pianist Omar Khayrat mesmerised the guests with a selection of unique compositions. Among other events organised to celebrate the 130th birthday of the newspaper, there will be a charity marathon on 1 May. It is due to be held at the Giza Pyramids at 9am. There will be two-kilometre, four-kilometre and six- kilometre races behind the Mycerinus Pyramid. Some of the proceeds will be donated to the Children's Cancer Hospital 57357. There will be awards for the winners, including gold and silver medals and other awards. Many famous Egyptian celebrities, figures and diplomats will participate in the event. Buses will be available for potential participants, leaving from outside the building of Al-Tahrir Press, 111-115 Ramsis Street, Cairo, to the venue and back at the end of the event at 2pm. photo: Ayman Barayez The Champollion Rotary Club (CRC), presided over by Mano Shousha, hosted a thrilling seminar with keynote speaker Christian Leblanc, director of the French Archaeological Mission in Western Luxor. During the seminar, Leblanc showcased 150 photographs of the most important restored monuments. Guests enjoyed their night at Le Pacha Nile Boat. Among attendees were members of the CRC, such as Brigitte Louvivre, Ina Hassanein, Merry Iskandar, Zeinab Said and Brigitte El-Naggar. In a delightful evening, the premiere of the blockbuster Asafir Al-Nil (Birds of the Nile) was held at the Renaissance Cinema in Downtown. The film casts talented actor Fathi Abdel-Wahab, actresses Abeer Sabri and Mona Hussein, and is directed by Magdi Ahmed Ali. A large audience flocked to the Cairo Opera House Open-Air Theatre to listen to gifted percussionist Nesma Abdel-Aziz playing on marimba a number of Egyptian compositions by the likes of Omar Khayrat and Gamal Salama. The Garden City Lions Club (GCLC), presided over by Awatef Serageddin, organised a charitable fashion show in cooperation with Dar Ayam Hayati for the benefit of the Qasr Al-Aini Hospital. Created by fashion expert Safi, the dazzling fashion show took place at the First Mall while an assortment of dignitaries and wives of ambassadors were in attendance, among them Secretary-General of the National Council for Women Farkhonda Hassan, Amal Touqan spouse of Al-Ahram Chairman of the Board Abdel-Moneim Said, Al-Ahram Diwan magazine Chief Editor Bahiya Halawa, Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali and his wife Khayra Al-Fasi, the spouse of Minister of Higher Education Hani Hilal, the spouse of former prime minister Ali Lotfi, Arab League Assistant Secretary- General Mohamed Sobeih and his wife. Media figures Tahani Halawa, Soheir Shalabi, Monira Kafafi and Nani Saleh as well as society ladies and GCLC members such as Samia Abul-Fotouh, Ola Ragab, Gihan Halawa and Bahiya Youssef were all present. Due to the cooperation agreement between Al-Ahram Beverages Company and the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, three initiatives were launched that aim at supporting development projects of local societies. The initiatives cover fields such as education, street children and environment. The launching ceremony was attended by Executive Director of the Sawiris Foundation Gannat El-Samalouti, President of the Association for the Protection of the Environment Siyada Gereis and Cairo National Liver Institute Director Wahid Dous. October University for Modern Science and Arts (MSA) organised a large party as a message of love and appreciation for Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. Chairwoman of the MSA Board of Trustees, Nawal El-Degwi, spoke of the important role of youth and earmarking revenues for the development of urban slums. MSA students presented a theatrical performance entitled Bein Al-Qasrein (Between Two Palaces). The ceremony was attended by actor Hisham Abdel-Hamid, retired actress Afaf Shoeib, media figure Amal Fahmi and actress Basma. During her short visit to Egypt, US Ambassador-at- Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer has paid a visit to Alexandria accompanied by US Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey to hear about efforts to promote breast cancer awareness, and to participate in a conference at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) focussed on creating a better life for underprivileged women and families. Scobey and Verveer have met with Alexandria Governor Adel Labib and visited the Suzanne Mubarak Regional Centre for Women's Health and Development (SMC). Director of the centre Hassan Sallam gave both ambassadors a tour, where they learned about the important activities of the centre offered under the umbrella of the Global Initiative for Breast Cancer Awareness, funded by USAID. The two also met with Maha Mongued, a co-founder and volunteer for the "Friends of Patients" group at a local NGO called Ayadi Al-Mostaqbal, which raises funds for diagnostic and treatment equipment that serves cancer patients who cannot afford treatment. Verveer has announced during her visit that there's a new partnership between the United States, Afghanistan and Egypt to train 30 Afghan midwives at the SMC. The "Safe Motherhood Programme" that will be held in Alexandria under the auspices of the partnership is going to lessen maternal mortality of women before, during, and after pregnancy, as well as that of their newborn children. After touring the SMC, Verveer and Scobey participated in the conference, "A Better Life for Underprivileged Women and Families" hosted by the BA. The Nile Lions Club (NLC), presided over by versatile artist Samir Sabri, hosted a lavish celebration at Le Pacha Nile Boat. The celebration honoured a luminary of political figures and celebrities including Egypt's National Football Team Coach Hassan Shehata, Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel-Hadi, Secretary-General of the National Council for Women Farkhonda Hassan, veteran retired actress Magda, veteran media figures Laila Rostom and Stella Elwi and veteran actress Lubna Abdel-Aziz. Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Meselhi, former minister of youth Abdel-Moneim Omara and gorgeous actress Laila Elwi and her husband businessman Mansour El-Gammal were among the attendees.
