China's Cosplay craze blurs fantasy and reality
The skeleton warriors briefly stumbled backward but kept lumbering toward 23-year-old Zhao Jing as she blasted them with two oversized six-shooters in a battle set to pounding music.Fantasy and reality…
Bahaa Taher returns with flying peacocks, domesticated dogs and a furtive palace
After an 11-year absence from the realm of short stories, Arabic Booker Prize winner Bahaa Taher makes a remarkable comeback with "Lam Aaref ina Al-Tawawes Tateer (I Didn't Know that…
Religious pluralism in today's Muslim world
PHILADELPHIA: In his June 4 speech to the Muslim world from Cairo, US President Barack Obama started his discussion of religious freedom by pointing out that "Islam has a proud…
Civil society unbound
MOSCOW: The challenges facing civil-society organizations are greater in Russia than in many parts of the world, but the challenges facing civil society itself are similar everywhere. Indeed, around the…
Fear: the underrated enabler
WASHINGTON, DC: In 1997, at a time when I travelled frequently from Israel, where I was living, to Jordan, I was invited to give a talk to the Amman World…
Egypt reports nine new H1N1 cases
CAIRO: Health Ministry official Mohamed Attah confirmed the discovery of nine cases of swine flu on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in Egypt to 274. Undersecretary of the…
UNICEF kicks off annual breastfeeding week
CAIRO: More than 120 countries will mark World Breastfeeding Week from August 1 to 7, in a bid to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.…
Egypt to crack down on illegal drug ads
CAIRO: Egyptian Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud approved Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabaly's request to crack down on media outlets that promote medical or beauty products not certified by the…
Foot-long baby croc causes scare in the air
CAIRO: An official at Cairo airport says a foot-long baby crocodile wriggled out of a passenger s hand luggage and caused panic on a flight from the United Arab Emirates.Terrified…
Protesting specialists say ministry decision eliminates their role
CAIRO: Legal specialists were outraged at a Ministry of Justice decision to bypass their role in agricultural land misdemeanor's cases in Sharqeya.The ministry's decision allows judges to rule in such…