WASHINGTON: An international team of astronomers say they’ve glimpsed the earliest galaxy yet, a smudge of light from nearly 13.2 billion years ago — a time when the cosmos was a far lonelier place. The research hasn’t been confirmed, and some astronomers are skeptical. The new findings are based on an image from the Hubble …

The British monarchy saga "The King’s Speech" leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. Also nominated for best picture Tuesday were the psychosexual thriller "Black Swan;” the boxing drama "The Fighter;” the sci-fi blockbuster "Inception;” the lesbian-family tale "The Kids …

BERLIN/CAIRO: A German foundation rejected on Monday an Egyptian request to return the 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti, a sculpture which draws over one million viewers annually to a Berlin museum. Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) sent the request to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which runs the Neues Museum in the German capital …

Three hours, six performances, 18 musicians, 20-something songs and a packed concert space; this was the breakdown of “Performance for a Cause,” which took place in downtown Cairo’s Rawabet Theater, Jan. 21. A diverse yet jovial group of concert-goers filtered into the space and settled into seats, against the walls and on the floors in …

CAIRO: Egypt is officially requesting the return of the 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti that has been in a Berlin museum for decades. The bust of the monarch, dating back to the 14 century BC, tops Egypt’s “wish list” of artifacts the country hopes to bring back as part of a campaign to retrieve thousands …

“God had always been my refuge from refuge. I fled from Him to Him. Both my pretensions to faith and my attempts to reject, it didn’t help me. I could be neither a believer nor an atheist. I couldn’t give God up because I never found a substitute. So I preferred God’s eternal silence to …

Two years after taking home an Oscar for the tightrope documentary "Man on Wire," British director James Marsh has come to Sundance with a heartbreaking tale about a chimp raised to be human. "Project Nim" tells the story of a 1970s US experiment in which a chimpanzee was raised as a human child and taught …

For the past few weeks, Designopolis, Cairo’s larger than life art and design complex, has been witnessing the steady preparations for the inauguration of its latest art gallery, Tache, due to open Saturday, January 22. ‘Tache’ is an acronym using the first few letters of both the founders’ names: Taya El Zayadi and Cherine Badrawy. …

In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Dr Jessica Winegar, author of “Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt” and professor at Northwestern University, reflected on the groundbreaking change Cairo’s contemporary art scene has undergone in the past two decades. Winegar discussed the blossoming of Egypt’s contemporary art scene against a …

Mona Abaza has given the Egyptian art scene a great addition with her second book "Twentieth Century Egyptian Art: The Private Collection of Sherwet Shafei." As a young journalist curious about Egyptian art, it was Sherwet Shafei who guided me across what was hitherto unknown. Little did I know that Shafei had played a similar …

In of the busiest parts of Sarrayat El-Kobba lies the Museum of Saad El-Khadem and Effat Nagy, just around the corner from the underground station by the same name. Yet the place somehow still retains the peace and serenity of bygone days. The energy of two of the most influential artists of the 40s and …

In a city where taste is contagious, the relationship between art and interior design is fraught with issues of authenticity, originality and, most importantly for the designers themselves, harmony. Local interior designers are both aestheticians and educators: A lack of knowledge about interior design and all of its components means that clients overseeing the decoration …

All eyes at the Sundance Film Festival used to be glued to one big premiere that would have opening night all to itself. Now the festival starts with enough choices to fill a small multiplex. Robert Redford’s independent-film showcase kicked off Thursday night with two fictional tales, two documentaries and a collection of short movies, …

But the controversial Iraqi politician is not the protagonist of this tale. This is Tamara Chalabi’s story; one of an inheritance of exile and a struggle to connect with a distant, troubled homeland. "He has his own tale to tell, although I acknowledge that my father has played a pivotal role in shaping my relationship …

A Chinese political satire and a Japanese psychological thriller are the top contenders at the fifth Asian Film Awards as organizers announced the nominations on Thursday. Jiang Wen’s "Let the Bullets Fly" and Tetsuya Nakashima’s "Confessions" each received six nominations, including best picture and best director. "Let the Bullets Fly" follows a battle of wits …

The Cinéma du Réel documentary film festival kicked off on Sunday evening at the French Cultural Center (CFCC) in Mounira with a line-up of documentaries on diverse subjects ranging from Palestine to the school infirmary. Cinéma du Réel is an international documentary film festival founded in 1978 by the Public Information Library in Paris. The …

Academy Award hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco are unlikely to be seeking tips from Ricky Gervais. The British comedian was brash, profane and cruelly funny at Sunday’s Golden Globes, delivering his trademark humor as promised for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in his second go-round as host of the ceremony that has "butt-talking" appearances …

A financial crisis thriller starring Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore and a French 3D animated feature will vie for the top prizes at next month’s Berlin film festival, organizers said Tuesday. The 61st edition of the festival, running from February 10-20, will showcase 22 films in its main program including 16 in the running for …

PORTLAND: Nearly 10,000 years ago, man’s best friend provided protection and companionship and an occasional meal. That’s what researchers are saying after finding a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated dog in the Americas. University of Maine graduate student Samuel Belknap III came across the fragment while analyzing a dried-out …

This past Saturday was a somewhat dreary winter day. Along the streets of downtown Cairo people could be seen clutching their jackets and sweaters tightly, shielding themselves from the cold. At the Townhouse Gallery, however, the mood was upbeat with an abundance of enthusiasm and excitement. Clusters of people milled about, with cameras of all …

Made-in-England favorite "The King’s Speech" leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, with 14 nominations announced Tuesday, including best picture. Colin Firth is the best-actor front-runner for his performance as stuttering monarch King George VI, with Geoffrey Rush nominated for best supporting actor as the unconventional speech therapist …

British super spy James Bond will head to the glitzy gulf emirate of Dubai, itself no stranger to real-life espionage and assassination, in a new book titled "Carte Blanche," local papers said Tuesday. "When I thought about the setting for the new book, I thought immediately about Dubai," the book’s author, Jeffery Deaver, told reporters …

Made-in-England favorite "The King’s Speech" leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, with 14 nominations announced Tuesday, including best picture. Colin Firth is the best-actor front-runner for his performance as stuttering monarch King George VI, with Geoffrey Rush nominated for best supporting actor as the unconventional speech therapist …

Host Ricky Gervas humorously insulted nearly every A-lister in the room at the Golden Globes, while the big winner was "The Social Network" — a movie about a guy who riles up everyone on campus with his new and invasive website. It all seemed fitting Sunday night. Besides best drama, "The Social Network," about the …

Clearly, there is something about the plays of Eugene Ionesco that lend themselves to an Egyptian context. Perhaps this is why two of them appear in the five performances of Downtown’s 2B Continued Festival of Theater and Dance this week. It is perhaps also why director Ahmed Shawky El-Bohy chose to tailor his adaptation of …

The five other guys in the Grammy-nominated Zac Brown Band have achieved a Zen-like state of trust in their eponymous leader — but it’s taken some time. The guy has some off-the-wall plans, after all. "The first couple times that Zac had a couple of crazy ideas," fiddler Jimmy De Martini said, "we were like, …

British actress Susannah York, one of the leading stars of British and Hollywood films in the late 1960s and early 1970s, has died in London at the age of 72. York died of cancer Saturday at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. Her son, the actor Orlando Wells, said York was an incredibly brave woman …

In the isolated Beirut neighborhood of Karatina, the Sfeir-Semler Gallery occupies a space apart — both literally and metaphorically. As one of Beirut’s most successful and prestigious commercial galleries exhibiting work by some of the region’s most exciting contemporary artists, the Sfeir-Semler is in a league of its own, leading Beirut’s contemporary art scene and …

NEW YORK: Eight-year-old Marissa Campis is playing a game that is part of the new exhibition, “1,001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World” at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York. The touch screen displays a family room, asking visitors to select the items invented during the height of Islam’s …

By Heba Elkayal A plethora of designers from the Middle East have started to make their mark on the international fashion scene exhibiting in prominent trade shows in New York and Paris. Some have made an over the top splash with vibrant designs that combine kaftan silhouettes with modern touches. One example is Emirati designer …