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We have also become too accustomed to thinking of love as something simple, like a relationship status changing on a screen. Yet for some people, love is far more difficult than that. It can mean choosing someone despite the expectations of your family, your religion, your class, or your society. It can mean disappointing the people you love, giving up the life that was planned for you, or standing against rules that were never written with your happiness in mind.

For some, to love another person is not simply to add someone to your life, but to risk changing the life you have always known.

So, how do we write about love? Perhaps we begin by understanding that love is not simply something we feel, or something we announce. It is something we do. And sometimes, it is something we are willing to sacrifice for.

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This is the kind of love story that doesn’t read like it is only focused on the love between two people. It is far larger than the two of them, because what binds them together is more than just the waves of emotion they feel for one another. It is a cause, a belief, something that outlives them and gives their love a meaning that extends far beyond the two of them.

Their love cannot really be separated from their political and literary lives. Mourid's experience as a displaced Palestinian and Radwa's commitment to social and political resistance shaped both their relationship and their writing.

The opening quotation captures this beautifully: “You’re as beautiful as a liberated homeland, and I’m as tired as a colonized one.” The metaphor connects romantic love with Palestine: Radwa represents beauty, hope, and liberation, while Mourid's exhaustion reflects the burden of occupation and exile.

Read the article here.

It may be slightly cliché to choose Nizar Qabbani when writing about love poetry. But there is still so much to learn from Qabbani. No other poet could write something as clever and intimate as this particular line: “take off your clothes, for I am mute, but your body knows every tongue.”

Unpacking this line, Qabbani expresses the passionate feeling that sometimes no words can truly express the depth of your love for someone, leaving physical touch as the only way to communicate it. The use of “tongue” here is particularly interesting, as it is written as though there are many tongues, suggesting that when we are in love, we never run out of emotions or ways to express what we feel. There is not simply one tongue, but a different tongue for every emotion and every mood.

Read more here.

If you are looking for an album that feels like a raw, beating heart, you need to listen to Supernova by Cairokee. Every track sounds intensely human, echoing the kind of late-night thoughts we all try to hide from the world.

The title track draws on the astronomical phenomenon of a supernova—a star exploding at the height of its brightness—as a metaphor for burnout, fleeting success and personal transformation.

Across its 10 tracks, the album moves between introspective ballads and guitar-driven anthems, delving into themes of nostalgia, fractured identity, unrealized ambitions and the pressures of navigating economic uncertainty and middle age.

Listen here.

Adam, a wealthy French-Egyptian Christian who was raised abroad, returns to Cairo carrying the privilege and expectations of a world far removed from the one Hanan knows. Hanan is a working-class Muslim journalist whose life is rooted in the city, its politics, and the realities of those who have little power within it. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, the two fall deeply in love and secretly marry, believing that their relationship can exist beyond the religious, social, and class divisions that surround them.

Watch it here.

The Banana Latte sounds like a strange combination at first, but somehow, it really works. The banana adds just a hint of sweetness to the espresso, while the whole thing is smooth, creamy and surprisingly comforting. It’s definitely one of those drinks that sounds a little odd until you actually try it. It’s basically the ultimate "I’m treating myself, but make it sophisticated" move.

Find out more here.

Not sure what to do with the last few days of summer? Why not spend a day playing around with clay? This one-day Ceramic Workshop is a chance to try something a little different, get your hands messy, and make something with your own two hands. You’ll get to learn a few different ceramic techniques, experiment with clay, and just enjoy the process without needing any previous experience.

Find out more here.

In the global competition for outbound Chinese travellers, the field is crowded. Thailand has been their dominant destination for years. Japan has rebuilt its tourism economy around them. The United Arab Emirates has spent the past decade methodically building Chinese-ready infrastructure, from Mandarin-speaking concierges at Dubai luxury hotels to direct flight networks linking Shenzhen and Chengdu to Abu Dhabi. Across Asia, Europe, and the Gulf, governments are competing for the same high-value visitor: the Chinese middle-class traveller looking for somewhere new.

Read more here.