Breaking the ice For the second year running, Moscow Stars on Ice performed The Nutcracker and Carmen ballets featuring 10 matinee and soiree concerts at the Cairo Opera House and Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria. Sherif Sonbol was there, ready with his camera. The 30 dancers dazzled the Egyptian audience with their versatile shows that satisfied the taste of both adults and children. Choreographer and art director of the company Igor Bobrin expressed his joy, saying, "Our outstanding success in Egypt proves that the Egyptian audience appreciates the sublime arts." photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid A thrilling private screening was held at Galaxy Cinema in Manial for the Palestinian blockbuster Al-Mur w Al-Rumman (The Bitter and Pomegranates). The remarkable Palestinian production is directed by Nagwa Al-Naggar, and casts actresses Yasmine Al-Masri, Haiam Abbas and actor Ashraf Farag. Al-Naggar expressed happiness at the film screening, hoping it will gain the admiration of an Egyptian audience. The premiere was attended by an array of celebrities, including controversial filmmaker Khaled Youssef, producer Mohamed Mukhtar and his wife actress Rania Youssef, emerging actors Asser Yassin, Randa El-Beheiri and Arwa Gouda. Garden City Lions Club (GCLC), presided over by Awatef Serageddin, hosted a notable seminar under the title, "Giza on the road of Development". Seminar keynote speaker and Giza Governor Sayed Abdel-Aziz discussed newly planned projects and strategies for developing the Giza governorate, such as improving Marioutiya Road and renovating Rimaya Square. Abdel-Aziz was granted the GCLC shield at the end of the seminar, which was attended by a plethora of society ladies and personalities. Among them were veteran writer Neam El-Baz, former minister of youth Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin and GCLC members, including Mona Abdel-Nasser, Omar Haridi, Safinaz Zein El-Abidin and Bahiya Youssef. photos: Ayman Barayez Under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni inaugurated the First International Conference for Translation at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall. The two-day conference was organised by the National Centre for Translation (NCT) affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Culture. NCT Director Gaber Asfour welcomed the participation of 80 authors and translators representing most Arab countries, including Salma El-Geyoushi, Faisal Darag, Mohsen El-Mousei, Hisham Saleh, Mohamed Shahine, El-Taher Labib, Sobhi Hadidi, Shawqi Abdel-Amir, Gamal Shehid, Abdel-Salam El-Masdi, Suleiman El-Askari, Mohamed Asfour, Hamadi Somoud and Farid El-Zahi. Entitled "Translation and the Challenges of the Times," Asfour said the conference tackled several translation-related topics such as reform of translation theories, cultural identities and globalisation. The conference also honoured veteran Egyptian and Arab figures for their contribution to the field of translation, while announcing the winners of the Refaa El-Tahtawi Awards, granted to writer Mustafa Labib for his book Science of Islamic Talk and Bashir El-Sebaei for his book The Palestinian Matter. The American University in Cairo's Department of Performing and Visual Arts located at Ewart Memorial Hall hosted a prestigious ceremony for late world-renowned Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine. The ceremony was preceded by a week of Chahine film screening, such as Iskenderiya Lih (Alexandria, Why?), Bab Al-Hadid (Cairo Central Station), Al-Nasser Salaheddin and Al-Yom Al-Sadis (The Sixth Day), concluding with a screening of the short film Al-Qahira Menawara bi Ahlaha (Cairo is Illuminated by Its People). The ceremony was attended by a coterie of intellectuals, cinema figures and celebrities such as Chahine 's disciple, director Khaled Youssef, producer Gabi Khouri, director Marianne Khouri, veteran cinema critics Samir Farid and Essam Zakaria, along with director Khaled El-Haggar. In a lavish ceremony Austrian Ambassador to Egypt Thomas Nader bestowed the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, class one, to veteran Egyptian archaeologist Ali Radwan. The ceremony was crowned by the presence of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, head of the People's Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee Mustafa El-Feki, International Union of Muslim-Christian-Jewish Dialogue and Peace Education President Ali El-Samman, director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute Irene Forstner-Moller, media figure Fahmi Omar, novelist Gamal El-Gheitani, Ministry of Culture Councillor Mohamed Ghoneim and director of the Egyptian Museum Wafaa El-Seddik. On the occasion of the second phase of its ambitious research complex industrial training set of cooperation contracts with the first group of companies DMG (Dekel--Maho-Geldmestr), the German University in Cairo (GUC) signed recently the German technological cooperation in medical applications of the technology of parts and operating frequencies using high-frequency sound, especially in the field of dentistry. DMG is main partner of the GUC in the field of metalworking technology using digital control 2-28. It has already been establishing and equipping a regional training centre for the Arab region, Africa, under the new contract which will create a centre of excellence specialising in the manufacture of dentures and this centre will work to serve the entire region. GUC has also signed a contract to cooperate with the German company Walter to provide the needs of the University of cutting tools and machines used in the training centres as well as their own training programmes specialised in this area, which represented an important element in modern machinery operating system. Attending the press conference were Chairman of the Industrial Development Organisation in Egypt Amr Assal, head of the Social Fund for Small-Scale and Micro Industries Hani Seif El-Nasr, General Manager of the Small Enterprise Development Group Essam El-Qurashy and General Mohamed Hilal, director of the National Project for the reform of technical education as well as industry experts and media personalities. The Businesswomen Association in Port Said hosted a ceremony where awards and gifts were distributed among mothers and orphan children. The party was enlivened by singer Ahmed Fouad. The ceremony was attended by association Secretary- General Bahiya Hefni and head of the NGOs Union Mahmoud Abdel-Fadil. On the sidelines of the ceremony a seminar was held discussing the dangers of cell phones, attended by communication counsellors Hossam Khodeir, Nabil Makram and Al-Ahram Weekly environment editor Mahmoud Bakr. The Embassy of India in Cairo and Minya University are jointly organising an "India Week" that lasts till 5 April 2010 at Minya University on the sidelines of the Second International Conference on Arab-Western Dialogue. The event was jointly inaugurated by Minya Governor Ahmed Diaaeddin Mohamed Khalil, Minya University President Maher Gaber Mohamed and Ambassador of India to Egypt R Swaminathan. The week long festival includes a talk on India-Egypt relations at the university, a photo exhibition entitled, "India-Egypt: A Photographic Retrospective", and a display of books on, and related to, India at the Indian pavilion, which will also exhibit a variety of Indian tea and spices. The programme also comprises a yoga demonstration and workshop and the screening of Indian films, in addition to interaction with members of the Minya Chamber of Commerce to discuss potential opportunities for promoting bilateral economic and commercial cooperation. The Arab Initiative for Building National Capacities for Combating Human Trafficking (Doha Foundation Forum) was organised under the auspices of Al-Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Misnad, chairperson of Qatar Foundation and spouse of Qatari Prince Hamad Bin Khalifa II. The two-day forum was hosted by the Qatari Foundation and on its sidelines an imperative seminar was held discussing the crucial role that the arts can play in facing problems of human trafficking. The seminar was conducted by Egyptian media figure and TV presenter Moataz El-Demerdash with the attendance of a galaxy of Arab and Egyptian celebrities, including Iraqi singer Kazem Al-Saher and veteran actress Naglaa Fathi. The closing ceremony honoured veteran media figure Hamdi Qandil, peerless Syrian comedian Doreid Laham, beautiful actress Laila Elwi, Syrian actor Ayman Zeidan and Al-Ahram photographer Abdel-Hamid Eid. Media figure and TV presenter Amr El-Leithi was given the UNESCO award in Paris last week by UNESCO Secretary-General Irina Bokova. The event was followed by a prestigious dinner attended by Egyptian Ambassador to Paris Nasser Kamel and media councillor in the Egyptian Embassy Ihab Badawi. El-Leithi is the presenter of the highly popular TV programme Wahid Min Al-Nas (One of the People) broadcast on Dream satellite channel.
