Swinging London will take on a whole new connotation for the capital s aging baby boomers, who will soon get their own specially designed outdoor playground. The park will offer low-impact exercise equipment to help older people improve their balance and flexibility and tone muscles that may not have been tested for decades. Every park …

It may not be possible to buy love. But at least you can spend a fortune trying to do so in the United Arab Emirates, where luxury hotels are offering Valentine s Day specials for mega-rich romantics. Lovey dovey in Abu Dhabi? The Emirates Palace, which bills itself as a seven-star hotel, has the priciest …

Valentine’s Day is not about the urge to splurge but about celebrating your loved one by showing them how much you care. More than the price tag, gifts and activities on that day should reflect how much you know and understand your significant other. The key is to personalize. The day traditionally starts with flowers, …

If your child is often grumpy and throws fits, he or she could soon be diagnosed with TDD, or temper dysregulation with dysphoria to give it its full name. If they have Asperger s syndrome, you might have to stop calling it that and switch to mild autism spectrum disorder. And if getting a handle …

Newspaper ballgowns, recycled plastic sandals and coats made of wool from happy and free sheep – designers are showing clothes to make Mother Nature smile at GreenShows Eco Fashion Week. After a first run last September, the event s second fashion week kicks off on Sunday, with 10 designers sending models down runways at an …

A Rio de Janeiro court has given permission for a seven-year-old girl to lead a parade in the city s upcoming famed Carnival, despite protests from child rights groups, media reported Wednesday. Julia Lira will thus be allowed to be the dancing queen for the Viradouro samba school when it struts its stuff Sunday night. …

In a concrete chamber beneath central London, a host of obscure-looking machines are whirring to life, electronic eyes are trembling and winking, and a set of colored circles are pulsing to the beat of a human heart. The subterranean display is part of the British capital s Kinetica Art Fair, a show devoted to cutting-edge …

Like any other sunbather, Frank Lloyd Wright s Child of the Sun withered in Florida s heat, humidity and harsh sunlight. Moisture seeped through the sand-and-cement blocks Wright used to build the chapels, library, planetarium and classroom and administrative buildings of Florida Southern College in the central Florida town of Lakeland, about 80 km southwest …

Naomi Campbell called on the fashion world to do its part for the Haiti relief effort – and the fashion world answered: There will be a charity catwalk show pairing top models and designers at New York Fashion Week. Campbell organized the first Fashion for Relief event at the Bryant Park tents in the aftermath …

It s hard to believe that ever since the Cairo Marriott Hotel and Omar Khayyam Casino opened its doors 28 years ago, there have been only two general managers at its helm. Rare and unique, the property is the largest hotel in Marriott’s International hotel portfolio, leaving a lasting impression on its visitors who simply …

A new startup called Kwedit wants to help teenagers and other people without credit or debit cards buy virtual goods online. If it catches on, Kwedit could broaden the market for virtual items and even teach kids about real credit, says CEO Danny Shader, who headed Accept.com before Amazon.com Inc. bought the developer of online …

Universal Orlando is lifting the curtain a little further on its highly anticipated Harry Potter attraction with a promotion blending new media with old. On Thursday, anyone with a Web cam and a current copy of USA Today will be able to go online and experience an augmented reality map of the future Wizarding World …

Could it be that blogs have become online fodder for the – gasp! – more mature reader? A new study has found that young people are losing interest in long-form blogging, as their communication habits have become increasingly brief, and mobile. Tech experts say it doesn t mean blogging is going away. Rather, it s …

I, like most people interested in fashion, flick through a number of fashion magazines every month looking forward to the fashion layouts, the shoots and the very art present in each fashion editorial that has been assembled after hours of creative work. To my amusement, and slight shock, an American magazine by the name of …

If the cardiologist s warnings don t scare you, consider this: Controlling blood pressure just might be the best protection yet known against dementia. In a flurry of new research, scientists scanned people s brains to show hypertension fuels a kind of scarring linked to later development of Alzheimer s disease and other dementias. Those …

British supermodel Kate Moss on Wednesday tries her hand at design with the launch of a line of bags for France s Longchamp, a 60-year family firm hoping to join the It crowd of luxury handbag makers. Moss, the face of the brand for the past four years, says her ideal bag needs to be …

WASHINGTON: Overweight septuagenarians are less likely to die within 10 years than people of normal weight in the same age group, an Australian study said Thursday. The study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society followed 4,677 men and 4,563 women aged 70 to 75 for a ten-year period from 1996. In addition to …

WASHINGTON: Taking regular exercise helps you to stay physically healthier and mentally sharper into old age, four studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed Monday. One of the studies found that women who exercised more during middle age – defined as an average age of 60 by researchers at the Harvard School of …

Valentino s new design team continued to reach out to younger consumers, ratcheting up hemlines on the neon-saturated runway at Wednesday s spring-summer 2010 haute couture show. After a timid debut one year ago – when they sent out rhinestone-covered satin overcoats and A-line dresses that looked like they d just stepped out of the …

Once again, the Fairmont Towers Hotel has introduced a new dining concept to Cairo. Last time, it was a re-adaptation of classic American grilled fare. This time, it’s French-Vietnamese cuisine at Saigon Bleu. A history of French colonialism has left a strong influence that is rarely employed Vietnamese cuisine. Previously, the capital Hanoi was referred …

The geography may be wrong and the ingredients might be local, but a taste of the café s food is certainly authentic. Bienvenidos a El Español, the closest you’ll come to the Iberian peninsula without leaving Cairo. Reda Reda, who shares ownership and managerial duties with the head chef, Conchi del Barrio, (also his mother), …

No one was fooled when the iconic Nile Hilton sign above the storied downtown building was changed last year to The Nile Hotel – and the emotions it evoked were surprisingly strong. Once renovation works are complete, the landmark property will debut as the Nile Ritz-Carlton, with the opening expected in 2012. It is the …

A pair of sparkly, peekaboo shoes with heels 2 inches high are favorites of six-year-old Helena Bell ever since she got them for a wedding. She s worn them to the point where the jewels have fallen off, says Helena s mother, Dana Bell of Woodland Hills, California. It s not my preference, but I …

There was a chill in the air both on and off the runway during the four days of Italian menswear for the fall/winter 2010-2011 which ended here Tuesday. Much of the clothing was dedicated to the outdoors, from the bulky knits to heavy duty footwear, culminating in the D&G show dedicated to life on the …

Sleeping in on a weekend after a few weeks of too little shuteye may feel refreshing, but it can give a false sense of security. New research shows chronic sleep loss can t be cured that easily. Scientists teased apart the effects of short- and long-term sleep loss – and found that the chronically sleep-deprived …

Having extra weight on your behind, big hips and solid thighs is good for you , British researchers said on Tuesday. Carrying fat on the hips, thighs and behind, rather than around the waist, has a range of health benefits and actively protects against diabetes and heart disease, experts at Oxford University said. Fat around …

New research casts doubt on increasingly popular blood-based injections reportedly used by Tiger Woods and other athletes to speed recovery after orthopedic surgery. In a small study at a hospital in The Netherlands, the treatment worked no better than salt water injections in patients with overuse Achilles tendon injuries. The Achilles is the body s …

Nothing like browsing through four pages full of mezzehs to get your taste buds tingling. There is more than one reason I crave Lebanese cuisine. Besides the obvious – the delicious food – there is something exciting about looking through your menu and deciding what to pick from the long list of appetizers. The variety …

New York is, like, totally awesome – especially if you re a Chihuahua abandoned in California. Fifteen of these goggle-eyed living toys, best known for inhabiting the handbags of Paris Hilton and other Hollywood B-listers, became New Yorkers Wednesday after being rescued from the West coast. The evacuation was in response to what the American …

Just an hour and half’s drive away from my doorstop in Heliopolis, Jaz Little Venice, Ain Sokhna, offers a unique take on the typical resort experience in Egypt. Labeling itself a boutique hotel, it defies the comical stereotypes or pretensions most often associated with the concept. First, the beautiful lobby is visually rewarding. An Islamic …