CAIRO (AP) ― The blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun was hastily glued back on with epoxy, damaging the relic after it was knocked during cleaning, conservators at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo said Wednesday. The museum is one of the city’s main tourist sites, but in some areas, ancient wooden sarcophagi lay unprotected from the public, while pharaonic burial shrouds, mounted on walls, crumble from behind open panels of glass. Tutankhamun’s mask, over 3,30

Russian TattooBy Elena Gorokhova (Simon & Schuster)In 2011, memoirist Elena Gorokhova described her coming-of-age in St. Petersburg, then known as Leningrad, and her decision to marry an American to emigrate to the U.S.In her second book, “Russian Tattoo,” she picks up where that story left off and provides readers with a fascinating glimpse into what it meant to fit into American society after growing up behind the Iron Curtain. She’s disoriented, confused and utterly overwhelmed by seemingly o

Money: Master the GameBy Tony Robbins (Simon & Schuster)As one of the world’s most celebrated life coaches, Tony Robbins is best known for helping millions of people improve the quality of their lives in many personal and meaningful ways from losing weight and improving their relationships to overcoming some life-changing tragedy.But in his first major book in nearly 20 years, Robbins goes a step beyond the emotional aspect of self-help and asks his audience to begin taking control of their live

The Yankee ComandanteBy Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss (Lyons)The saga of William Morgan, the Yankee comandante of the Cuban Revolution, is a case of fact imitating fiction.An Eagle Scout, an ex-con, a fire-eater and a minor Mafioso, Morgan followed the scent of romance through two marriages and a childbearing affair in Japan before tossing aside these encumbrances to sneak into the ranks of the Cuban rebels.Here his life acquired a certain nobility through bravery, a belief in freedom and “stan

“I started comedy when the boom was ending, in ’88; I started writing books when print began to die,” says actor, comedian and author Patton Oswalt. “I’m drawn to dying realms, man.”Oswalt is sitting in a Mid-City restaurant talking about why he’s written a second book, “Silver Screen Fiend: Learning about Life from an Addiction to Film,” when he’s got so much else on his plate.He’s about to take off on a nationwide stand-up tour, featuring his first date at Carnegie Hall. He’s so busy acting ―

It’s been quite a journey for Okey Ndibe’s first novel, “Arrows of Rain.” Originally published in England in 2000, the book is finally coming out here in the wake of last year’s “Foreign Gods, Inc.,” which essentially introduced the author to an American readership.And yet Ndibe ― who came to the United States from his native Nigeria in 1988 at the urging of Chinua Achebe ― is also a founder of the journal African Commentary; he was a Fulbright scholar and now teaches at Brown. So why did his de

Fear the DarknessBy Becky Masterman (Minotaur)Relationships require a certain amount of vulnerability ― the willingness to expose yourself emotionally, hoping that happiness is the ultimate goal, but realizing that being hurt comes with it, too.Becky Masterman’s superior series explores how former FBI agent Brigid Quinn, who spent her life chasing criminals and avoiding emotional entanglements, is dealing with a “normal” life since her retirement. In her second novel, “Fear the Darkness,” Master

PARIS (AFP) ― His hand is steady and sure as it delicately traces the contours of the biggest names in the world of style: the celebrities, the magazine editors, the clients. Nicolas Ouchenir is a calligrapher, a member of a rarified profession whose ink appears on the must-have invitations of Europe’s fashion shows.He may not personally meet all the VIPs attending the catwalk parades. But his personalized flourish to them, deliberately evoking the elegance of times past is carried close in thei

NEW YORK (AP) ― How’s that new year, new you fitness pledge going? January, the start of New Year’s resolution month, sees a healthy uptick in sign-ups at gyms and specialized studios offering such things as Pilates, kickboxing and yoga. But money-saving expert Andrea Woroch in Bakersfield, California, said recent statistics show 67 percent of people who join don’t use their memberships at all. With the average monthly fee at $58, that means a potential waste of up to $700 a year or more, she sa

Where there’s a resolution, chances are there’s a style solution to help conquer it.Before you let winter doldrums and self-defeat drown your goals for the new year, check out some of these simple beauty and fashion tips for looking and feeling your best in 2015.If you want to ...Get in shape: Weight loss tops the list of most-common resolutions each year and often is among the most commonly broken ones, too. What you wear ― and how you wear it ― can help you look more slim and trim. Opt for tai

When it started out as a simple reading club, Barry Welsh had no idea that his book club would become a forum for Korea’s most famous authors.But 3 1/2 years since it started out, the Seoul Book Club has hosted not only expat writers but literary luminaries including Kim Yong-ha, Hwang Sok-yong and Gong Ji-young.The book club meets again on Saturday, this time for a discussion with Ko Un, one of Korea’s best-known poets and an occasional tip for the Nobel Prize in literature.He will be discussin