Pack of cards

By Madame Sosostris

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At Grand Hyatt, a dinner party was held in honour of His Excellency Saudi Ambassador Ahmed Abdul-Aziz Al-Qatan, as a permanent representative of Saudi Arabia in the Arab League. Among other prominent figures who attended the party were Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Minister of Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish, Minister of Irrigation Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Al-Ahram Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of the Board Ibrahim Nafie and his wife Ola Barakat, former foreign minister Ahmed Maher and his wife Laila as well as the gorgeous actresses Youssra and Elham Shahin.

In what is one of Egypt's newest and most popular recreational parks, the AUC Press held its annual Book, Art and Music Festival at Al- Azhar Park, in the sumptuous surroundings of Le Notre Terrace. Several new AUC publications were introduced, including The Monuments of Historic Cairo by Nicholas Warner, Zamalek by Shafiqa Hamamsi. There was also a full display of the more than 60 new AUC Press books published in the current year including The Dreams by Naguib Mahfouz, a new edition of Zayni Barakat by Gamal El- Ghitani, the bestseller The Yaaqoubian Building by Alaa Al-Aswani and Zahi Hawass 's Hidden Treasures of Ancient Egypt. All enjoyed the virtuoso piano recital by Ashraf Fahmi, who mesmerised the audience with a number of well-known oriental pieces.

Last week, a cocktail reception at Marriott Hotel was held courtesy of Mido International Trading Company, which was represented by Mahmoud Gamal and Illy Cafè. The reception was held in honour of the Italian company's chairman and CEO Andrea Illy 's visit to Egypt. Prominent members of the Italian business community in Egypt attended the party.

Shirley Shalabi has celebrated En Vogue 's yearly ballet performance and talent show including ballroom dancing, jazz and professional modelling skills, at El-Sawy Cultural Centre.

If, my dears, you have a penchant for Norwegian salmon, head for the Nile Hilton to enjoy a very special Norwegian Salmon Festival, organised under the patronage of the Norwegian Embassy. The culinary event runs through 31 May. The opening was attended by a galaxy of luminary figures such as Spanish Ambassador Pedro Lopez, head of UNDP Antonio Vigilente, Austrian Ambassador Kurt Spallinger, tenor-cum- actor Hassan Kami, gifted ballerina Ermenia Kamel as well as a number of journalists.