If the young cast of the "Harry Potter" films received report cards for their school days at Hogwarts, probably all of them would earn the notation, "plays well with others." Cast as impressionable children in Hollywood’s biggest fantasy franchise, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and their many young co-stars have maneuvered through 11 years …

For the most part of my life, I ate eggs prepared one way — brown and rubbery. According to my childhood-commandeered specifications, they had to have almost no bounce and should come together so that I could no longer see flecks of singled out egg yolk. I cringed at the thought of seeing them separated …

CAIRO: PwC, an international professional services organization, will be introducing a training academy in Egypt scheduled to open in September 2011, according to a statement. By offering courses in finance, management, and business, The Academy will be aiming to nurture talent and develop it into full-fledged professional potential. PwC said businesses in Egypt and the …

On top of all the preferential treatment for the propaganda epic that marks the 90th anniversary of China’s Communist Party, at least one multiplex chain is being accused of trying to inflate the film’s box office numbers. "Beginning of the Great Revival" has a star-studded cast, cinemas have been flooded with screenings, Hollywood blockbusters have …

Former Oasis guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher launched his solo career this week with the announcement he has penned two albums — and an admission he regretted the British band’s explosive split. Two years after walking away from Oasis after constant feuding with his brother Liam, the band’s lead singer, he announced that an eponymous …

The final Harry Potter film has its world premiere in London on Thursday, an action-packed finale bringing the curtain down on a saga that has enthralled audiences worldwide. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2" will see the boy wizard take on the evil Lord Voldemort in an epic showdown. Stars from the …

CAIRO: A sensitive probe into the struggles of Egypt’s fishermen in Lake Manzala earned Egyptian journalist Lamia Hassan the CNN MultiChoice African Journalists’ Award last week in Johannesburg. The second Egyptian to win the prestigious award, 25-year-old Hassan’s submission, “Washed Up,” was chosen from among 1,407 entries from 42 nations across the African continent. Hassan’s …

The "Transformers" robots have put their 3-D ticket-price advantage to good use. Distributor Paramount Pictures estimated Monday that "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" pulled in $116.4 million domestically over the four-day Fourth of July weekend and $181.1 million since opening Tuesday night. Director Michael Bay’s third installment in the sci-fi franchise has added $217 million …

When it comes to embracing their inner geekiness, aficionados of Anime Expo are proud to tell you that pretty much nobody tops them. More than 100,000 such fanatics of the distinctive Japanese animation style — most dressed as intergalactic ninja crime fighters, bug-eyed vampires, spiky-haired space cowboys, goth princesses and the like — will cram …

The 46-year-old’s pride was bruised after part two of the franchise, 2009’s "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," did a bang-up job at the box office (bringing in more than $400 million domestically) but was roundly beat-up by critics. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers said the movie was so "beyond bad, it carves out its own category …

My husband relocated to Malaysia a few months before I did. While I was busy boxing up what little we had made of our first makeshift home and saying my weepy goodbyes to Cairo, he was getting acquainted with Kuala Lumpur, what was to be our new home and what is often highlighted as a …

Surprisingly, this season’s most original summer bags come from the most unexpected brand: Azza Fahmy. Now, we know jewelry design to be her forte, and that collections have been getting more original and alluring with each season. But bags? It was a new twist on the whole fashion affair. It shouldn’t come as a surprise …

Indonesian moviegoers are facing a bleak year of second-rate foreign releases and lowbrow local productions as Hollywood studios, the government and movie importers remain locked in a protracted standoff. It’s been four months since major Hollywood studios withdrew films from Indonesia, a nation of 237 million people, in opposition to a new levy on imported …

The BET Awards honor various arts, but Sunday’s ceremony was all about the music. There were more performances than awards during the 3 1/2-hour show at the Shrine Auditorium, where singer Chris Brown and rappers Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and DJ Khaled did double-duty, each taking the stage twice to perform. Brown made a few …

The best way to celebrate Peter Falk’s life is to savor how Columbo, his signature character, fortified our lives. Thanks to Falk’s affectionately genuine portrayal, Lt. Columbo established himself for all time as a champion of any viewer who ever felt less than graceful, elegant or well-spoken. Falk died Thursday at age 83 in his …

"Dabangg," a tale about a corrupt police officer, dominated the 12th International Indian Film Academy awards, snagging six prizes including best picture at the star-studded event in Toronto — held on North American soil for the first time. "My Name is Khan" also scooped up top honors at the five-hour award bash that started Saturday …

Running around the hotels that Daddy bossed in allowed me to delve superficially into the world of waiters. Waiter World was different than the world we lived in — they lived in waiters’ “quarters” and did waiter-ly things. Despite being impeccable in appearance and dainty in demeanor, waiters were generally looked down upon, as shadows …

Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling on Thursday took her lucrative boy wizard into the digital age, revealing that his adventures will now be sold as e-books through a website that contains new material. After years of restricting the phenomenally successful series to print form, Rowling said that from October she would sell them direct to …

"Survivor" producer Mark Burnett has found yet another way to toy with gung-ho contestants in his new ABC series, "Expedition Impossible," which sends 13 three-person teams on a trek across daunting Moroccan terrain. Burnett contends he’s doing the folks a favor. "I have an obligation to the contestants to give them a real adventure and …

CAIRO: Egypt’s main state wheat buyer said on Wednesday it had postponed any purchase of Russian wheat until the Russian harvest was gathered in July and wanted to ensure the purchases meet Egyptian conditions. Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), said purchases of Russian wheat "are postponed until their …

Angelina Jolie traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday to thank its residents for welcoming in the estimated 20,000 migrants who arrived after fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, toured a migrant holding center, chatted with some refugees and then participated …

Many foreign tourists return home from India with tales of how they were recruited as Bollywood extras from the bustling bars and busy streets of Colaba Causeway in south Mumbai. But a growing number of overseas actors are now looking for something more than just a walk-on part in the popular Hindi-language film industry. One …

Upon exploring one of the city’s hypermarkets during my most recent visit to Cairo, I was taken aback by the number of dusty waffle makers sitting sadly on shelves — or should we call them multi-purpose snack-making machines? Treading a few steps away from the cashiers, it caught my attention: a shiny, new waffle stand …

CAIRO: Smartphone manufacturer HTC launched Wednesday its latest device, the HTC Sensation, and its first ever PC tablet, the HTC Flyer Tablet, in Egypt. The HTC Sensation is designed as a “multimedia smartphone” that delivers an “interactive experience” combining “technical and emotional” connectivity between the user and device, Neeraj Seth, regional marketing manager of HTC …

It’s hard to think of how Paul McCartney could have given his first solo album a bigger publicity hurdle to overcome, unless he’d been arrested for some vile crime on the week of its release in April 1970. The newly ex-Beatle distributed a questionnaire that was treated by fans and the media as definitive word …

Writer Terry Pratchett said Tuesday that watching a man being helped to die had reaffirmed his support for assisted suicide, while anti-euthanasia groups criticized the televised death as propaganda that could encourage copycat suicides. The suicide, filmed for a BBC documentary, has reopened debate on Britain’s decades-old law against helping another person end their life. …

Laura Ziskin was a "Spider-Man" novice when she first met with her future producing partner on the blockbuster film franchise. She quickly became an expert on the Marvel Comics superhero and his alter-ego Peter Parker, applying the same tenacity that took her from humble beginnings as a game-show writer to Hollywood’s top echelons in a …

By Heba Elkayal It seems that my springs are always doomed. You see, every year both my social life and working life are as dormant as a hibernating bear in the winter months, only to come alive in March and early April. By May, the marathon of cocktails, meetings, deadlines and the occasional late night out …

Lady Gaga hailed gays on Saturday as the "revolutionaries of love" and called for "full equality now" for same-sex couples around the world in a speech in front of hundreds of thousands in Rome. The US pop diva criticized governments in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for condemning young people to a life of …