CAIRO: Eggert Muus has no worries about taking over as general manager of the Concorde El Salam Hotel in Heliopolis. Muus recently moved to Cairo from Shenzen, a city in Southern China he claims most people wouldn’t have heard of, but with 12 million people, it is a relatively large city. There, he received ample …

InterContenintal CityStars’ Shogun is a personal favorite; whether it’s the fresh sushi or Teppanyaki chef chopping food right in front of me, there are numerous reasons that keep this Japanese restaurant at the top of my Cairo favorites. Last week, I was delighted to discover new items on the menu; some I might have missed …

I don’t know what your stereotypes for Dublin are, but mine were friendly people, quaint architecture, boisterous pubs, and rain. Ireland’s capital delivered on all fronts. What I didn’t expect was fantastic food. I should have been prepared: before leaving Cairo I asked a half-Irish, half Egyptian friend what to do on the Emerald Isle. …

Confronted with an ever-growing pile of old newspapers, Taiwanese fashion designer Colin Lin came up with the idea of using them to make shoes and tote bags for her environmentally friendly footwear company. Lin, 50, says they are now hot items in Taiwan as well as markets from the United States to Europe, finding a …

The Fairmont Nile City hotel opened up last month in the Nile Towers, with contemporary interiors, a young staff and a relaxed vibe in the hotel lobby that seems tailored to young, successful twenty- and thirty-somethings. It’s a little taste of New York hipness and California coolness. Throughout the hotel, dark wood, curlicues of wrought …

DUBAI: When work began in 2004 to build the world s tallest tower, Dubai s confidence also was sky high with a host of mega-projects on the drawing board or rising from the sands. That swagger seems positively old school these days. It s been tripped up by a debt crunch that has humbled Dubai …

Wheels up at the island of St. Maarten and we skim across the waters of the French West Indies to St. Barthelemy, a tiny Caribbean jewel for Francophiles, foodies and fashionistas. The island is a haven for the chic and the hip. Cutoffs rarely meet the dress code, unless they are designed as such and …

The success of The Bakery Shop (TBS) at the North Coast over the past two summers left many dreaming of its delicious treats once they return to the city – that of course was the case until TBS opened its first Cairo outlet. The brainchild of three young men, Tarek El Nazer, Basel Mashhour and …

RUEIL-MALMAISON, France: A sober woman in the words of her chambermaid, Napoleon s wife Josephine was anything but a teetotaler. Her cellar contained more than 13,000 bottles of wine from across France and the world which she would uncork unsparingly at elegant dinner parties at her sprawling mansion. A new exhibit opening Wednesday at the …

The president s been arrested already this morning, hotel owner Jeff Kuken told my wife and me one Sunday morning in late June. We had spent months planning a vacation across Honduras, but now Latin America s first military coup in decades was unfolding on the third day of our trip. Not exactly part of …

DEARBORN, Michigan: There s a swirl of activity in a spacious, modern kitchen as final meal preparations are made. An older man tries to swipe a felafel off an appetizer plate but instead gets a loving hand slap from a woman. The happy, well-dressed guests move to a table full of food in a dining …

A drug that failed to fight the blues could be the female answer to the little blue pill Viagra, the lead North American investigator analyzing tests of the drug said Tuesday. Women who took the drug flibanserin when it was being tested as an anti-depressant said it didn t help them beat the glums, but …

People looking for natural cures will be happy to know there is one. Two words explain how it works: I believe. It s the placebo effect – the ability of a dummy pill or a faked treatment to make people feel better, just because they expect that it will. It s the mind s ability …

I needed an escape, a vacation that would shake me out of my routine, and leave me with more than souvenirs and digital photos. So when the yoga center in New York where I m learning to meditate organized a two-week yoga trip to India, I decided to go. We flew to New Delhi and …

If you’re among those who suffer from clogged kidney arteries, you might want to consider trying medicines before rushing into angioplasty to open them up. The pricey procedure is no more effective and carries surprisingly big risks, a study found. The US National Kidney Foundation estimates more than 250,000 Americans have narrowing of the arteries …

Forget about scrambling for notebooks and photo albums in a tight corner around the cashier in Diwan. At Qirtassiya, there is a whole floor dedicated to stationery. Cairo’s favorite bookstore has opened its own stationery division just two blocks down the road from Diwan’s first branch in Zamalek on 26 of July Street. The name …

Forget Paris in the springtime and Rio in the summer. New York City for Christmas is what you should be saving your money for. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Muslim, Christian or Jew, New York in December has an atmosphere as infectious as any you’ll find. Time your flight from Cairo (Delta and EgyptAir both …

Stripping down to bikinis, cuddling strangers in railway stations and dragging buses with their hair, thousands of people across the globe attempted to break curious world records Thursday. From Australia to China, Britain, Egypt, Lebanon and Tennessee, people put their scalps, stomachs and reputations on the line. The antics were all in the name of …

It seemed like a great idea – doing bypass surgery while the heart is still beating, sparing patients the complications that can come from going on a heart-lung machine. Now the first big test of this method has produced a surprise: Bypass has fewer problems and is more successful done the old way. Most surprisingly, …

Before they became staples of the runway, bomber jackets, flight suits and protective aviator sunglasses were born in the cockpit of an early – and cold – airplane. They were necessary in drafty flying machines with metal doors that were a struggle just to keep closed. But as aviation pioneers such as Amelia Earhart brought …

For Raghu Ghai, the day begins and ends at the same place – a gym in New Delhi where he pursues his quest for bulging biceps, a six-pack stomach and slab-like chest muscles. Ghai, 28, explains his body obsession was triggered by Bollywood actors who increasingly display toned bodies that send a new message to …

Executive Chef Christophe Gillino is again proving that his culinary creativity is also an art form. Launching a lobster and caviar night, to take place on Thursday nights at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza’s Aqua restaurant, Chef Gillino sets out to keep patrons coming to the restaurant by decadent epicurean means. An extensive buffet of …

Hold Esquire s December issue in front of a webcam, and an on-screen image of the magazine pops to life, letters flying off the cover. Shift and tilt the magazine, and the animation on the screen moves accordingly. Robert Downey Jr. emerges out of the on-screen page in 3-D, offering half-improvised shtick on Esquire s …

Children and teenagers that took what specialists call second generation anti-psychotic medicine were at risk for obesity, according to a study in a US journal out Wednesday. Children and teens in the United States diagnosed with psychotic and bipolar disorders, as well as mood disorders, are often prescribed second-generation antipsychotic medications such as aripiprazole, olanzapine, …

An apple a day may keep the doctor away but a fiber-filled diet could also hold the key to keeping asthma, diabetes and arthritis at bay, according to Australian research released Thursday. Scientists at Sydney s Garvan Institute of Medical Research say that fiber not only helps keep people regular, it boosts the immune system …

Entering the lobby of the InterContinental CityStars feels slightly disorienting. What would constitute garish décor – sphinxes in the lobby’s fountain, golden snakes on the ceiling – is softened by beige tones, attractive natural lighting and the sound of falling water; as if ancient Egypt were an ordinary theme for a five-star hotel. Primarily accommodating …

Microsoft Corp. finally got its chance to reboot its reputation Thursday, launching a new edition of Windows that it hopes will encourage more PC buyers to get back into stores. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer celebrated the arrival of Windows 7 in New York with a few hundred people who had helped test early versions of …

Microsoft Corp. finally got its chance to reboot its reputation Thursday, launching a new edition of Windows that it hopes will encourage more PC buyers to get back into stores. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer celebrated the arrival of Windows 7 in New York with a few hundred people who had helped test early versions of …