CAIRO: The current global status of women will not improve without positive participation of the men in their lives as fathers, brothers and husbands who play an essential role in achieving gender equality, a report concluded. The report, “Because I am a Girl,” issued by Plan International, a children’s rights organization, assesses the state of …

CAIRO: Over 350 media students submitted films relayed their aspirations for the future as well as the challenges that face Egyptian youth and children today in the first edition of the Universities’ Movie Festival for Youth and Children. The festival, which aims at supporting university students and recognizing their work, is organized by the National …

Bollywood is lurching with arms outstretched into new territory with its first zombie comedies, hoping to replicate the success of a host of light-hearted Hollywood movies about the living dead. "Shaadi of the Dead" (Wedding of the Dead), starring Abhay Deol and up-and-coming female lead Genelia D’Souza, is due for release next year and centers …

No longer can I put a number on the times or ways I’ve eaten rice. Minimally integrated into a meal or making up the bulk of a dish, rice has repeatedly required me to come to terms with its sticky staying power in my life and the world’s obsessive need to consume this starchy staple. …

Alhurra’s weekly audience in Egypt jumped to nearly 8 million viewers according to the international research firm ACNielsen. The network’s viewership in Egypt rose from 3.9 million (7.5 percent) in 2010 to 7.7 million (14.7 percent) in the 2011. Ninety-three percent of network’s audience said they found the news to be credible. “Alhurra’s viewers responded …

Azza Fahmy has done Egypt a national service with her newest collection for her culture line. Having worked for over three years on the research and development of her new Pharaonic collection, Fahmy produced a large set of necklaces, rings, cuffs and earrings. The Pharaonic collection is, of course, inspired by motifs, themes and concepts …

First time I heard that Pizza Mia was opening up in Egypt was through the grapevine. A young couple — she Egyptian, he Italian — were supposed to open a small pizzeria in which they were planning on serving pizza, the real kind. The “real kind” of pizza is that whose dough is just right …

Independent Chinese cinema has boomed out of the sight of censors because of new, handheld digital video cameras, several directors said at Spain’s foremost film festival. The nine-day San Sebastian festival, which got underway last Friday, features 18 films made by Chinese directors over the past decade with the digital cameras, which make it cheaper …

Marathon running has increased in popularity over the past three decades, with participation in the United States rising from 25,000 runners in 1976 to nearly 470,000 in 2008. Many professional and recreational runners take prescription drugs, unaware of potential side effects that affect runners in particular. One such class of drugs, called statins, which includes …

CAIRO: Harassmap, a website providing a map for harassment hotspots in Egypt, received the World Summit Youth Award for the ‘Power 2 Women’ category. “We did apply for the WSYA global contest, but we never actually thought we could win,” Engy Ghozlan, cofounder of Harassmap, told Daily News Egypt. Exactly a year ago, Harassmap was …

CAIRO: In a bid to include people with disabilities in the community and workplace, the Binational Fulbright Commission held a career development seminar for its Community College Initiative alumni who returned from the US, including eight alumni with hearing impairments. As part of the Community College Initiative (CCI), the eight graduates underwent a rigorous program …

Cult ad agency drama "Mad Men" won the best drama Emmy for the fourth year late Sunday, while "Modern Family" again took the comedy glory at US television’s awards show. British shows also triumphed at the annual Hollywood show, the Oscars of the small screen, with Kate Winslet leading a string of Brits taking gongs, …

CAIRO: By 2050, the number of people exposed to storms and earthquakes, particularly in coastal areas, could more than double to 1.5 billion, a report said. This is also true for the Middle East and North Africa region, with its rapidly growing cities exposed to many hazards, particularly in coastal areas. The report titled “Natural …

After years of prioritizing diseases such as HIV and malaria, the UN has finally realized that “non-communicable diseases” such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease are now the biggest health problem facing developing countries. This will be the topic of a major UN summit in New York this week, where governments will agree a global …

By Robert MacPherson / AFP Sarah Palin’s husband jumped to her defense Thursday over an upcoming tell-all book that claims she had a premarital fling with a basketball star and dabbled with cocaine. The allegations in “The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin” clash with the Tea Party darling’s persona as a champion of homespun …

I often receive a question that puzzles me. Upon becoming acquainted with my blog, several readers and friends have casually asked, “So, when are you opening a restaurant?” If by chance they have already assumed that it won’t be a restaurant then it’s bound to be a catering business because that is what ladies do …

Why has no one put two and two together before to create karkade-flavored desserts? Why has a nation that subsists on sweet karkade drinks throughout the summer months and Ramadan not thought of putting the two together? With Ramadan flowing into summer and the need for quick sugar fixes coupled with a need for something …

Director William Friedkin on Tuesday decried a trend in cinema of infantilizing audiences with stories ripped from comic books, at the North American premiere of his new film "Killer Joe." "It’s harder and harder to do (original adult material) in this climate of American film… which is mostly concerned with movies that are comic books, …

  ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK: BAE Systems tested an “invisibility cloak” that allows a vehicle to blend into its surroundings, according to a statement. Known as “Adaptiv,” the patented technology is based on sheets of hexagonal ‘pixels’ that can change temperature rapidly. On-board cameras pick up the background scenery and display that infra-red image on the vehicle, allowing …

Soon, fall will softly enter Egypt. Constantly on the lookout for the first signs of a brisk wind, it comes to me that I will not be here to feel its playful push and will instead be returning to the tropics where life fluctuates between torrential thunderstorms and fleeting glimpses of a Cairene sunny morning. …

Soon, fall will softly enter Egypt. Constantly on the lookout for the first signs of a brisk wind, it comes to me that I will not be here to feel its playful push and will instead be returning to the tropics where life fluctuates between torrential thunderstorms and fleeting glimpses of a Cairene sunny morning. …

Eating food that I relatively couldn’t identify was a first for me. On the last Thursday of Ramadan, friends and I agreed that it was about time to test the recommendations we had been getting about a restaurant run by the Uighur region of China. Uighur is a predominantly Muslim region of China, and the …

Bookmakers’ favorite PJ Harvey has become the only artist to win Britain’s prestigious Mercury Prize on two separate occasions, beating soul star Adele to the honor thanks to her eighth studio album, "Let England Shake." Many commentators expected Adele to take home the 20th annual award for Best Album, after she dominated album and single …

Bassem Youssef has become one of Egypt’s first YouTube sensations. A heart surgeon by day, Youssef now moonlights as the host of On TV’s new political satire “Al-Bernameg” (The Program), a spinoff of his widely-seen home-produced political spoof, “The B+ Show.” Less then 10 episodes were produced at home with help from friends, poking fun …

Madonna jokingly defended her title as "Queen of Pop,” quipping she would never give up her throne for love like King Edward VIII — the subject of her latest film screened in Venice. The blonde diva’s second directorial work, "W.E.", starring British actors James D’Arcy and Andrea Riseborough, tells the tale of the king’s famous …

Now that big buffet season is over, baking season kicks off. It starts with a little bit of yeast, a whole lot of flour and some warm water or milk; and after a month of fasting and dehydration, pleasant thoughts push you to believe that you can now knead your dough using all of your …

By Safaa Abdoun CAIRO: Muslims in Egypt and Saudi are wondering if Ramadan ended prematurely and whether they celebrated Eid Al-Fitr a day early, a decision that was based on a now controversial sighting of the crescent on Monday evening. The Hijri year depends on a lunar calendar, where the beginning and end of each month …

CAIRO: Health and food inspectors in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria found a vendor offering to slaughter a rare sea turtle more than 90 years old. After getting a tip, the inspectors rescued the 250-kilogram (550-pound) turtle from the butcher block and turned it over to the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. It now …

The founder of Ikea admitted long ago he foolishly flirted with Nazism in his youth, but a new book is making waves in Sweden with claims his ties to the fascist movement went much deeper than he has acknowledged. Ingvar Kamprad, the 85-year-old Swedish billionaire who founded and still largely controls furniture giant Ikea, confessed …