Weddings are a life-long dream for many people around the country. The long-anticipated night includes an endless number of details and necessities that future brides and grooms spend months looking for. After a very successful season last year, Cairo Wedding Festival (CWF) came back for a second season last weekend at Uptown Cairo. From gowns to jewelry, flowers, invitation cards, photographers, and even dentists, the event’s long list of exhibitors did not leave any wedding-related detail out.

Egypt has laid out its vision to become a regional energy hub following discoveries of large offshore gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean. This vision is critical as the energy sector remains the major driver of the country’s balance of payments. Recent developments suggest that Egypt has a clear potential to become a trading and exporting hub, notably for natural gas. However, the realisation of this ambition will depend on the country’s capacity to mitigate geopolitical, financial, and regulatory risks. This should go hand-in-hand with energy diversification to reduce dependence on gas and sustain anticipated exports. In a study issued on Tuesday, BNP Paribas bank tried to answer the question “can Egypt become a net gas exporter again?”

Enter a pitch-black Hanager Theatre, and there on the stage is a cast of seven puppeteers and actors, each flitting between roles, all flitting on and off stage. Their movements are fluid and expansive, deftly utilising the entire space of the stage. We are at the Images of Truth, a performance by Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust staged at Hanager Theatre in Cairo on 27 April. The show is the closing event of the fifth India by the Nile festival, which lasted for seven weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers are again flying to Malta. With record numbers of tourists, the economy is booming. That means a huge amount of building on the island. Some people are appalled.Jackhammers, cement mixers and diggers drown out the sound of the sea. Housing blocks and skyscrapers rise into the blue skies. For a southern European country, Malta can tell an unusually successful success story at present. The economy is booming and every nook and cranny of the island mini-nation in the Mediterranean is being built up. “Malta is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe,” writes the International Monetary Fund in a report. According to EU estimates, the economy is set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. In comparison, the statisticians expect growth of 1.6 percent for the entire EU.

The Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt (BCFE) launched the 'dous fil khir' (Indulge in Charity) initiative at the start of 2017 to help a broader segment of society – especially youth – take a bigger part in raising breast cancer awareness.

Drinking 32 ounces of energy drink is associated with potentially harmful changes in blood pressure and heart function that are beyond those seen with caffeine alone, according to a new study. Manufacturers and fans of these products claim they are as safe as caffeine, but there is little evidence to support that claim.

Cinema has always been a gate for exploring other cultures for people from different societies, especially when it comes to finding common ground between the East and West. Attempting to enrich Egyptian-German cultural ties, Goethe Film Week kicks off, taking films from Germany and Egypt to its audience. Starting 2 May, the annual event screens films that tackle social issues in both societies. This includes revolutions, wars, migration, and political asylum, as well as the concept of family and women’s rights in both cultures.

Words are never just words, and every hurtful word is a new drop in the waters of discrimination that have grown to surround us and define us as different. Hurtful words are dark, but humans are of no colour; it’s about time to drown the wrong standards of beauty.” With these few words, Adel Essam and Henar Sherif, the founders of O-Art-Studio, describes their new photography project “No Colour”, which tackles the discrimination that women with coloured skin encounter in their daily lives in Egypt. The project was posted on social media and managed to draw attention to one of the types of discrimination that most people are not willing to speak about.

British sales of e-books are waning, trade figures revealed, suggesting readers were suffering from "screen fatigue". Britain's publishing industry had a record-breaking year in 2016, with sales of books and journals recording their fastest year-on-year growth in a decade to reach £4.8bil (RM26.99bil), their highest ever level. But sales of e-books fell 3% to £538mil (RM3.02bil), continuing a trend already observed in 2015.

If you (or, more likely, your kids) are still singing those "Frozen" tunes over a year later, you'll have a brand new set of tunes in the not-too-distant future. Disney officially announced the most obvious sequel in recent years, "Frozen 2," to stockholders, along with more major movie news.

The Arab Film Festival will be held in South Korea between 1 and 7 June. The festival will take place in Seoul, the capital city, as well as Busan, the second largest city in the country. The week will feature a variety of Arabic films including works within the genres of black comedy and science fiction. According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, a total of 12 films, from 10 Arab countries, including Eshtebak (Clash) by Egyptian director Mohamed Diab as well as Al Mokhtaroon (The Worthy) by Emirati director Ali Mostafa, will be screened at the festival.

For Earth Day 2017, which is focused on environmental literacy, take a look at the food waste movement, and what you can do to curb it in your own home. In recent years, the food waste movement has been gaining momentum, thanks to the work of governments, chefs and citizen groups. In France, ad campaigns appeal to consumers to buy ugly fruits and vegetables which otherwise end up in the bin, as a way to fight food waste.

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Cairo Opera House is hosting Rym Magdi’s art exhibition in the Etigah gallery, palace of arts at the Opera House grounds, between 9 and 25 April. The exhibition is open to the public from 10 am till 2 pm and from 5pm till 9pm on a daily basis. The exhibition is fully based on digital collage that includes photoshopping pictures.

Aiming to use different kinds of arts as a tool for creating positive social impact, a group of young artists launched the “Pick A Street” initiative that roams Cairo streets, raising awareness about important societal issues and problems. The initiative plans to support different non-governmental organisations and charities by raising funds through street performances.

The modernist architect I. M. Pei, who was once pilloried for plonking a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, turns 100 Wednesday with his controversial creation now an icon of the French capital. The Chinese-American designer endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, with up to 90 percent of Parisians said to be against the project at one point.

A Korean b-boying dance crew and a sand artist put on a show outside the Cairo Opera House on Monday, as part of the Korea-Arab Friendship Caravan. In the opening speech, the South Korean ambassador to Egypt, Chung Kwang-kyun, explained that the performance is a creative storytelling show that targets audiences of all ages. The show opened with a 20-minute sand art segment by artist Kim Ha-jun, an artist with 26 years of experience in this genre.

She won over both Hollywood and Broadway, amassing a loyal following among fans as she did so. Even at 75, Barbra Streisand still sees herself as the girl next door.Barbra Streisand has achieved what most people can only dream of. She has celebrated worldwide success and recognition for more than 50 years – winning all the awards imaginable along the way, including Oscars, Emmy, Golden Globes and Tonys. She has sold more than 140 million albums – more than The Beatles.

For ages, henna night has been as equally important as the wedding day. The Middle Eastern “bachelorette” party is considered the second most important life event for any girl and her female friends. The time and effort spent for preparing the henna night starts sometimes with the wedding preparations. Henna night is usually the last night the bride spends at her parent’s home. In that night, her female friends gather for dancing and singing all night long, while the “hanana” (the lady who draws henna) beautifies them with henna drawings on their bodies. Usually, females apply henna on their hands and legs, as it’s believed to enrich their beauty.

The British Library has revealed plans for a 100,000sq ft expansion that will include additional exhibition space and improved public areas.

After the huge success on the first Cairo Wedding Festival, an even greater season is about to see the light. Cairo Wedding Festival season 2 is a must go for all brides. Here is an exact breakdown of what CWF is and why ladies should head for The Clubhouse, Uptown Cairo on 21 April.cwf Wedding shopping can often be a hassle. Brides run from one place to another in pursuit of the best jewellery, the best make-up, and the best cakes.

He became the first post-war chancellor of Germany at the age of 73 – and led the country for the following 14 years. Fifty years after his death on April 19, several aspects of Adenauer’s life remain to be explored. Political scientist Hanns Jürgen Küsters is the director of the scientific services and archives of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation. He recently published the book “Konrad Adenauer – Der Vater, die Macht und das Erbe – Das Tagebuch des Monsignore Paul Adenauer 1961-1966” (Konrad Adenauer – The Father, the Power and the Heritage – the Journal of Monsignore Paul Adenauer 1961-1966) and also co-organized the exhibition “Unity Only in Freedom – Konrad Adenauer and the German Question,” which goes on show at the German Historical Museum in Berlin on April 22.