What law? Slamming the "new" traffic law against the wall, a Cairo taxi driver didn't even bother to move his vehicle off the busy thoroughfare of Haram. Sherif Sonbol captured on camera the cabbie's exasperation. Marking Qatar's National Day, Qatari Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Bin Khalifa held a lavish reception at the Concorde Al-Salam Hotel. The reception was attended by a galaxy of Arab and foreign ambassadors as well as high-profile figures such as Secretary-General of the National Council for Human Rights Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab, Chairwoman of the People's Assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Committee Amal Othman, Saudi Ambassador Hisham Al-Nazer, National Democratic Party Secretary for Media Affairs Alieddin Hilal, Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali, former secretary-general of the Arab League Esmat Abdel-Meguid and his wife. Ambassador of Burkina Faso Moussa Nebié seized the opportunity of the presence of Burkina Faso's First Lady Chantal Compaoré in Cairo to participate in a conference on female genital mutilation and held a reception party in her honour at his residence. The party also marked the 45th National Day of Burkina Faso and was attended by a number of African ambassadors to Egypt as well as Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Ambassador Mona Omar. Our dear friend Mona Makram Ebeid, former MP and professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo, has been promoted by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to become Officier de la Legion d'Honneur for her unceasing actions in the promotion of strong cultural and political relations between France and Egypt. We offer her our sincerest congratulations for a well deserved decoration that she received during a lavish reception party hosted by the French Ambassador to Egypt Jean Félix Paganon. It was attended by Secretary- General of the National Council for Human Rights Boutros Boutros-Ghali, US Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey, German Ambassador to Egypt Bernd Erbel, the People's Assembly's head of the Foreign Relations Committee Mustafa El-Feki and former foreign minister Ahmed Maher among many others. photo: Amira El-Naqeeb Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Yes, Christmas spirit is everywhere and Al-Sawy Cultural Wheel was the first to celebrate, Amira El-Naqeeb reports. Last week, the Riff Band wowed the crowd by giving a Christmas carols concert. The audience came in their Santa hats and rein deer bands. Ahmed Harfoush, lead singer of the band enchanted the audience with his sonorous voice. Harfoush was joined by the dazzling Noha Fikry, who sang a number of songs in tribute to a coterie of legendary artists. Amongst them were Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Elvis Prisley. Oh my sweets, I was almost in tears listening to these magical tunes! On the occasion of the Eid Al-Adha holiday, Port Ghalib witnessed a number of concerts featuring singers Hussein Al-Gasmi, Khaled Selim, Mohamed Hamaki and Yara through four days. Attending the concerts were a plethora of celebrities such as singer Iman El-Bahr Darwish, actresses Fadya Abdel-Ghani, Magda Zaki and Athar El-Hakim with her kids, actor Maged El-Masri as well as controversial director Khaled Youssef. Member of Nefertari Diplomatic Club Brigitte El-Samman organised a lavish lunch for lady members of the Diplomatic Club presided over by Hoda Maher. With the participation of Dior Couture featuring the screening of a film titled The Spring- Summer 2009 Dior Ready-to-Wear Collection. A raffle of gifts of watches and perfumes were presented by Dior to all guests. Fashion designers Mona Farid and Ahmed Medhat held a glamorous fashion show at Arkadia Mall overlooking the Nile presenting 100 different models of 2009 fashion. The show was attended by a bevy of fashion designers as well as footballer Hisham Yakan and actress Maha Othman. Cairo Rotary Club presided over by Dania Loro held a seminar introducing President of the International Union of Muslim-Christian- Jewish Dialogue and Peace Education Ali El-Samman who discussed the religious and cultural dialogue between nations. The seminar took place at Le Pacha Nile boat and the seminar was conducted in French. Among the attendees were French Ambassador to Egypt Jean Félix Paganon, Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali, Nisf Al-Donia magazine Editor-in-Chief Afkar El-Kharadli and spouse of the German Ambassador to Egypt Maye Erbel. photos: Ayman Barayez At the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Bahraini Ambassador to Egypt Khalil Al-Zowadi held a glamorous reception celebrating Bahrain's National Day. The party was crowned by the presence of Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Meselhi, Minister of Manpower and Immigration Aisha Abdel-Hadi, Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Khaled Ziyada, Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Hisham Al-Nazer as well as actor Khaled Zaki. Ezedora and the Bus is the name of a collection of short stories compiled by veteran writer and playwright Mohamed Salmawy, published this month by Al-Massriya-Al-Lubnaniya publishing house. The new book, which includes a collection of the best stories written by Salmawy, was published in celebration of the passing of 25 years since he published his first collection of short stories The Man Who Regained his Memory in 1983. Congratulations! The election of Barack Obama as the first black American president has been warmly received by many people in the Arab world and Egypt as well. US Ambassador to Cairo Margaret Scobey received five students from grade six of the Misr Language School who came to deliver flowers and a congratulatory letter to the president-elect on his victory in the US presidential elections held on 4 November. Accompanying the children was the principal of the school Weaam Shabana and Aleya Habashy, head of external relations at the Egyptian Association for Protection of Mothers and Children. In their letter to Obama the students wrote: "You are our hope for the future, we look up to you as you make us believe that change is possible and that we can stop war and make peace, we can make our community more safe, we can explore and discover new things, we can stop global warming, we can make the world a better place, and finally and most importantly you inspire us to work hard so we can share in the development of our dear country Egypt." photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid The closing ceremony of the Arab Television Producers Forum honoured drama actors and actresses. Head of the Arab Producers Union Ibrahim Abu Zekri and the Secretary-General of the union Amin Bassiouni distributed the awards under the auspices of the Arab League. Among the honourees were actresses Laila Elwi, Elham Shahine, Mona Zaki and Ghada Adel as well as actors Farouk El-Fishawi, Mustafa Fahmi, Khaled Zaki, Hisham Selim, Nader Galal and Magdi Kamel, Syrian actress Mona Wasif, script writer Feisal Nada, director Enaam Mohamed Ali, Lebanese TV presenter Zahi Wahbi and producer Beshir El-Deik.
