WHEN Cork City Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty opens at Cork Opera House on Thursday, it’s probably safe to say the majority of the audience will be women.

Thousands of customers remained without power in San Francisco following a massive blackout that disrupted traffic, shut down transit stations and, at its height, left a third of the city without electricity on one of the busiest days of the holiday season.

One of the biggest events in the arts calendar was due to be launched tomorrow as festival fever continued to grip Scotland’s capital city.