Twenty-two drama series have been approved by the Censorship of Artistic Works to be screened on TV in the holy month of Ramadan, which starts by the end of May. Among these series were; al-Husan al-Aswad with actor Ahmed al-Saqqa; al-Gamaa (part II) written by Waheed Hamed, al-Zeybaq with actors Kareem Abdel Aziz and Sherif Mounir, Allahumma inny Sayem with actor Mostafa Shaaban, as well as other series with controversial promos like Rayyah el-madam, Be’aala Se’r and Harbana menha.

Egyptian swimmer Omar Hegazy, 26, recently became the first Egyptian to cross the 20 kilometers from Jordan’s al-Aqaba to Egypt’s Taba, challenging his own limits after having lost his leg in a tragic accident three years earlier. Since this accident, Omar has been keen to continue all his favorite sports -- swimming, diving and even mountain climbing -- to “prove to the entire world that people can always choose to be greater than they ever thought they can be.”

A record number of tourist visitors in 2016 was not enough, but it did certainly do the country good. As the 2017 tourist season starts, the industry is banking on an even better year.The tourist season in the old harbour of Skopelos island off Greece’s eastern coast is starting, as it often does, in a leisurely fashion. Visitors can choose a taverna and then take their pick of the free seats in the sun to watch fishing boats rock gently on the water and be served their tzatziki by smiling waiters. The same scene will look very different in just a few weeks’ time, when the tidal wave of tourists arrives, the restaurants fill up and the staff have to rush from one impatient table to the next. The more, the better, say the people offering rooms, drinks, food, massages, trinkets, three-week tattoos and a myriad of other goods and services. They hope for the crowds and the tourist dollars they bring as a antidote to the financial crisis and years of austerity budgets from the government. They know it will take more than just one excellent year to be get back on track. After setting the new record of 27.5 million guests in 2016, Greece this year expects up to 30 million visitors. “We’ll see. Siga, siga (take it easy),” Rigas Gripiotis says. He does not want to jinx it, but the grin on the young cook’s face betrays optimism. “Skopelos is not Mykonos or Santorini, where there is always a lot going on,” he says, explaining his reservations. But many tourists prefer the quieter surroundings of the Sporades islands, and Rigas and his three brothers admit to hoping for a super summer after investing in a facelift for their waterfront taverna.

The Holzmarkt in Berlin was once the home of a legendary club: Bar 25. Now, the former owners opened a chic village in the same spot. But instead of a hippy utopia, it’s all about business, says columnist Gero Schliess.It started with a board and a nail. Then came another board and nail. Finally, Bar 25 was ready. “It was a small wooden hut with slightly quiet music,” recalls a woman who was there at the time. Soon, the eclectic hut was a legendary house club and the epitome of Berlin’s bohemian culture. As if built from a dream, it seemed to stand for a freer life, one without concerns for building inspection officers or fire safety measures.

In a world were infections are on the rise, a simple behaviour like regularly hand washing can reduce incidence of infection in hospitals by a whopping 50%, saving the lives of 8 million each year, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Each year, 5 May is celebrated worldwide by WHO as Hand Hygiene Day. On this occasion the United Nations Information Centre in Cairo, in cooperation with WHO, held a media briefing to shed light on a campaign titled Wash Hands, Save Lives.

There’s no doubt that the glory of Cairo’s downtown buildings makes the area one of the most mesmerising spots in Egypt. Despite being worn by time, the buildings, which were built in the Khedive Ismail era, were and still are a signifying proof of how architecture resembles a city’s beauty, elegance, and modesty. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of establishing Khedive Cairo, the National Committee for the Protection and Renovation of Cairo’s Heritage decided to start the second phase of restoring downtown buildings. The committee, under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, started the second phase by renovating the “Khedive building”, one of the main structures near Tahrir Square. The building is one of the first constructed buildings of 19th century Khedival Cairo. For over 100 years, it has had a reputation of one of the most visitable streets downtown.

India, a land with a wealth of culture, history, tradition, beliefs and arts, is a vivid cornucopia of stories and knowledge. Its polychromatic character — whether obvious as literal colours or concealed in the abundance of thought — invites a viewer to absorb the country as a journey forged of many individual experiences.

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," the smash-hit, award-winning London play about the fictional boy wizard as a grown father of three, will open in New York in spring 2018.

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.