photos: Mohamed Wassim Samarkand triumph The General Organisation of Culture Palaces' Nile Folk Troupe was the second best at the Samarkand Festival competition in Uzbekistan, in which over 50 countries were represented. The troupe performed stick dancing -- solos included Arabi Khalifa, Mohamed Hegazy and Ahmed El-Sayed -- to the accompaniment of mizmar and drums, as well as mawawil by Adel Osman. They were so successful, indeed, that the culture minister gave a dinner in their honour the night of the show. The troupe was founded in the 1950s by Zakaria Hegazy with the object of preserving Egyptian heritage; later artist Suleiman Gamil directed the troupe, a task undertaken by Abdel-Rahman El-Shafei for three decades now. The troupe should perform at Beit Al-Seheimi, Cairo, on 7 October. The Tahrir Inner Wheel Club held a charity concert by Lebanese singer Assi Al-Hillani at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall, with the proceeds going towards a kidney dialysis unit in the village of Aghour, Qalioubiya. Organised by club head Gihan Halawa, the concert was attended by Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Moselhi, Qalioubiya Governor Adli Hussein and Lebanese Ambassador in Egypt Khaled Ziyada. President of the Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin organised a Sohour preceded by a seminar at the Cairo Capital Club, where Al-Azhar University Sharia Professor Gamal Qotb addressed a number of religious issues. Present were Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali, Bahraini Ambassador Khalil Ibrahim Al-Zawi, Algerian Ambassador Abdul-Qader Haggar and club members Sekina El-Sadat, Bahiya Youssef, Nehad El - Sherif, Samiha Hamad and court judge Samiha El-Destawy. photos: Ayman Barayez The awards of the fourth annual Al-Khourafi Quran Memorisation Competition were handed out at the grand hall of Al-Ahram Establishment in the presence of Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, Minister of Waqf (Religious Endowments) Hamdi Zaqzouq, Al-Ahram Chairman of the Board Mursi Atallah and Al-Ahram Editor-in-Chief Osama Saraya as well as deputy head of Al-Khourafi Foundation Ibrahim Saleh, Daqahliya Governor Said Swan and Qalioubiya Governor Adli Hussein. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid The film production department of the Good News media conglomerate, best known for its multi-star hit The Yacoubian Building, has announced the shooting of The Baby Doll Night, written by late scriptwriter Abdel-Hay Adeeb and featuring, among many others, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Mahmoud Hemeida, Nour El-Sherif, Laila Elwi, Gamil Rateb, Ezzat Abu Ouf, Ghada Abdel-Razek and Ola Ghanem as well as Syrian actors Gamal Suleiman, Soulaf Fwakhergi and Nicole Sabba from Lebanon, and directed by the writer's son Adel Adeeb. Last Thursday, the American Embassy in Cairo held an Iftar in honour of the alumni of the International Visitors Programme at the Conrad Hotel's Salon Diplomat. The programme featured a welcome speech by Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer Christine Meyer and remarks by Cultural Affairs Officer Helen Lovejoy, followed by a spectacular musical performance by the Muslim-American group Native Deen, who featured recently two concerts at Al-Azhar Park and Al-Sawy Culture Wheel. Among the invitees were Nile TV announcer Nehal Saad, writer and Editor-in-Chief of Hawaa (Eve) magazine Eqbal Baraka and a number of Al-Ahram journalists. Senior information specialist at the US Embassy Press Office Nihal Rizq and members of the US Embassy were there too. Film star Nabila Ebeid held her annual Ramadan party at the Four Seasons Hotel where US Ambassador Francis J Ricciardone, Tunisian Ambassador Al-Shazli Al-Nafati, Algerian Ambassador Abdel-Qader Haggar and his Moroccan counterpart Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali brushed shoulders with actors Athar El-Hakim and Farouk El-Fishawi, singers Nadia Mustafa, Arkan Fouad and Mai Kassab, who joined in several impromptu performances. The cast and crew of the popular Ramadan TV serial Yetrabba Fi Ezzo celebrated their success at a restaurant in Maadi. Present were actor Yehia El-Fakharani, veteran actress Karima Moukhtar, Nehal Anbar, Maha Abu Ouf and a number of budding stars as well as El-Fakharani 's collaborators scriptwriter Youssef Maati and director Magdi Abu Emera. The Egyptian Civil Society, a project affiliated with the American University in Cairo's Centre of Electronic Journalism has launched its own website, named Mogtamana -- the event behind an Iftar at the Nile Hilton where media figures like Al-Ahram columnists El-Sayed Yassin, Ahmed Youssef El-Quraii, Al-Ahram Al-Arabi magazine Chief Editor Abdel-Atty Mohamed and Al-Ahram Economy magazine Chief Editor Essam Refaat socialised with civil society figures like director of Al-Sawy Culture Wheel Mohamed El-Sawy and human rights activist Negad El-Borai. Mogtamana provides full coverage of Egyptian civil activities in Arabic. "It will serve as a meeting point for all parties interested in civil society in Egypt, including NGOs, media professionals and researchers," project director Shahira El-Rafei said.
