At the Cairo Opera House last week Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece Madame Butterfly was on for six consecutive nights. Played by the Cairo Opera and Orchestra, and conducted by the Japanese maestro Hirofumi Yoshida, this performance of Puccini's opera was a great success. The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) is organising a photo exhibition called "Spirituality in India and Egypt" by Austrian photographer Corneila Kauffman. The exhibition is from 2-8 June at MACIC. Kauffman 's exhibition will also be on show at Al-Sawy Culture Wheel's Word Hall on 9 June. Kauffman, who lives and works in Innsbruck, Austria, has captured numerous celebrities in pictures and has exhibited her works around the world. Under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, the World Food Programme, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Egypt, and the United Nations Information Centre in Cairo, organised "Global Walk Against Hunger" on 1 June at 6pm at the Smart Village in Sixth of October City. On the occasion of Egypt holding the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, under the auspices of Shafiq Gabr at the Four Seasons at Nile Plaza, a number of high- profile figures were honoured including public relations expert Lula Zaqlama, Hosna Rashid, actress Youssra, Sahar El-Salab and Shahira Genena. Those present were former foreign minister Ahmed Maher, actor Hussein Fahmi, actresses Nadia El-Guindi and Magda Zaki, filmmaker Inas El-Degheidi and Minister of Labour and Immigration Aisha Abdel-Hadi. Media people included Al-Ahram back page editor Mona Ragab, Nisf Al-Donia magazine Editor-in-Chief Afkar El-Kharadli and Al-Beit magazine Editor-in-Chief Silvia El-Naqadi. To celebrate Italy's National Day, Italian Ambassador to Egypt Claudio Pacifico held a lavish reception at the Italian Embassy where he welcomed Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza, Minister of Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish, Qalioubiya Governor Adli Hussein, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nihad Abdel-Latif, former Italian ambassador to Egypt Antonio Badini, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Hani Hilal, Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali, Omani Ambassador to Egypt Abdul- Aziz Al-Hanaai, head of the Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin and head of trustees at the Presidential Office Said Zada. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit inaugurated the Egyptian pavilion at the African Products Exhibition in Japan, on the sidelines of the Tecad summit in Yokohama, from 28 April to 30 May. Forty African countries participated in the exhibition and four Egyptian companies displayed handmade crafts and food products. Egyptian Ambassador to Japan Walid Abdel-Nasser, and commercial advisor at the embassy Alaa Qenawi attended the opening. The American University in Cairo on Thursday hosted a lecture by Stephen Walt, a Harvard University professor and co-author of the best-seller The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. The lecture entitled "The Israel Lobby in the US" was preceded by an introductory address by the Arab world's most celebrated political analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal. Held at Ewart Hall, the lecture was attended by a plethora of public figures including Al-Ahram columnist Salama Ahmed Salama, writer Abdel-Azim Hammad, executive director of the Heikal Foundation for Arab Journalism Hani Shukrallah, and president of the American University in Cairo David Arnold. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Heikal Foundation, a non-profit organisation that promotes the development of Arab journalism. The foundation hosted Walt last week during a two-day workshop on the Israel lobby in the US and which was attended by 50 Egyptian and other Arab journalists. The American University in Cairo held its annual Book and Music Festival at the Baron Empain Palace in Heliopolis under the auspices of Mark Linz, director of the press department at the university. The occasion, to fete AUC press authors and new publications, was marked by a musical performance by violinist Karim Saleh. In attendance was veteran writer Aisha Abul-Nour, urban planner Milad Hanna, the wife of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz and novelist Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid. A lavish private screening of Leilet Al-Baby Doll (Baby Doll Night) was held at the Grand Hyatt cinema. Produced by Emad Adib, written by Abdel-Hai Adib and directed by Adel Adib, the film stars Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Laila Elwi, Nour El-Sherif, Nicole Saba, and Sulaf Fawakhergi. Tunisian Ambassador Abdel-Hafiz Al-Herqam held a Tunisian evening on tourism at the Salaheddin Ballroom at Cairo Sheraton, presenting a fashion show of traditional Tunisian costumes, folkloric Tunisian music and Tunisian food. Enjoying the evening was Mounir Thabet, head of the Egyptian Tunisian Friendship Association, Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali, Omani Ambassador Abdul- Aziz Al-Hanaai, Bahraini Ambassador Khalil Al-Zowadi, head of the Egyptian Tunisian Businessmen Association Yamani Felfela and actor Khaled Zaki. Yehia Arafa of the Children Charity Foundation has finished a LE3.4 million renovation of the paediatric cardiac surgery unit at Ain Shams University Hospital. The aim was to improve the services provided to patients and the unit's infrastructure and upgrade medical equipment and professional staff development. The foundation helps lift the burden of financially deprived families who cannot afford to hospitalise their children in private institutions.
