Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Korea enters full election mode
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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Seoul’s bus union prepares for strike
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[Herald Interview] Son Suk-ku chooses to be swayed by others in navigating life
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Artist Hockney jokes about appointment to Order of Merit
LONDON (AFP) ― British artist David Hockney has responded to his appointment to the Order of Merit with typical humor, saying he was glad his controversial campaign for smokers’ rights had not worked against him.Hockney, who came to prominence during the British pop art movement in the 1960s, was named as a member of the exclusive order on Sunday by Queen Elizabeth II.Accepting the royal honor is a turnaround for the 74-year-old who famously turned down a knighthood in 1990, has refused to paint
Jan. 3, 2012
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Ancient villain-hitting ritual thrives in H.K.
HONG KONG (AFP) ― Squatting at a makeshift shrine with joss sticks burning beside her, Granny Leung starts bashing a manlike paper cut-out with a pair of sandals.“I beat you little people, I’m sending you away!” chants the 76-year-old woman, one of the last practitioners in Hong Kong of the ancient Chinese ritual of “da siu yan,” or “beating the petty little people.”Granny Leung performs her mysterious incantations in the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay. And business is booming.For as
Jan. 3, 2012
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South Africa’s iconic black glamour magazine Drum turns 60
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) ― Yellowed cover pages of South Africa’s iconic Drum magazine evoke a 1950s black fashion and jazz culture which perished when apartheid forces razed Sophiatown, a racially-mixed Johannesburg suburb.This year Drum turned 60 and even today South Africans link the magazine to Sophiatown, a restless and vibrant suburb which was home to blacks, coloureds, Indians and Chinese.Between 1955 and 1960, residents were forcibly removed and relocated to townships outside Johannesburg beca
Jan. 2, 2012
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Golden year for Gustav Klimt as Austria marks 150th anniversary
VIENNA (AFP) ― His golden “The Kiss” adorns scarves and coffee mugs worldwide, while his portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer sparked a decades-long restitution battle: in 2012, Austria celebrates 150 years since Klimt’s birth.Gustav Klimt, born on July 14, 1862, is one of the best known figures of the Jugendstil art period. In honour of this milestone anniversary, Vienna’s biggest museums ― led by the Belvedere, the Albertina and the Leopold Museum ― are proposing no less than nine exhibits during the
Jan. 2, 2012
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Spoleto Festival USA unveils lineup
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) ― The American premiere of the Philip Glass opera “Kepler,’’ a concert by vocalist k.d. lang, and the return of Dublin’s Gate Theatre highlight the 36th season of the Spoleto Festival USA this spring.Chamber music, acrobatic performances and orchestral concerts are also on the schedule for the festival that will light up 13 venues including theaters, churches and open-air sites from May 25 through June 10.The festival, which released the lineup this weekend, featu
Jan. 2, 2012
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Sunshine Daydream, award-winning rose, featured in parade
The sun will surely shine on the Rose Parade Monday in Pasadena, Calif., thanks to the Sunshine Daydream rose, the 2012 All-America Rose Selections award winner.The yellow rose will be among 20,000 roses on the Garden of Imagination float created by Bayer Advanced. The company makes some of the best rose products I’ve ever used, especially its 2-in-1 systemic rose and flower care product.Roses on the float include a riot of color in various shades of red, orange, yellow, gold, white, light orang
Jan. 2, 2012
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’50s women may be behind obesity epidemic
After long days discussing America’s obesity problem, Melinda Sothern has had enough of windowless conference rooms.“I need to exercise,” she says, pausing to review her plans in the San Diego Convention Center lobby. She plans to rent a bicycle in Coronado, California, and ride, fast and far.Sothern, 55, is a woman who practices what she preaches. And one of her messages about obesity is aimed at women like herself: mothers.Fat mothers. Thin mothers. And especially mothers-to-be.A leading fitne
Jan. 2, 2012
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Viennese cafe icon Hawelka dead at 100
VIENNA (AP) ― Andy Warhol stopped by for a cup of his coffee. So did princes, paupers, playwrights, poets and untold thousands for whom a visit to Vienna was unthinkable without a cup of steaming brew served by the bow-tied little man with the perpetual dancing smile.In this city of more than 1,900 cafes, Leopold Hawelka was an icon, as much part of Cafe Hawelka as its tables ― scarred by burned-out cigarettes, their marble tops worn smooth by the elbows of four generations. He served tourists,
Jan. 1, 2012
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Woody Guthrie archive to land in his native state
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ― Woody Guthrie’s writings, recordings and artwork will land in his native state after an Oklahoma foundation bought the collection, with plans for a display that concentrates on his artistry rather than the populist politics that divided local opinion over the years.Guthrie, known for the anthem, “This Land is Your Land’’ and his songs about the poor and downtrodden, is remembered mostly as a musician, composer and singer, but was also a literary figure and an artist, said Bo
Jan. 1, 2012
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A human touch for ancient scripts at Italy’s book hospital
ROME (AFP) ― Ancient manuscripts are treated like hospital patients at a famous book restoration institute in Rome that has worked on everything from the Dead Sea Scrolls to one of the oldest Korans in the world.“Look at this poor man suffering!” exclaimed Marina Bicchieri, head of the chemistry department at the Institute of the Pathology of the Book, as she examined oxidation levels on the unique institution’s most recent project.Bicchieri was looking at a chart with the scientific analysis of
Jan. 1, 2012
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McDonalds serves up McWeddings
Jan. 1, 2012
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Wedding and baby boom expected for ‘black dragon year’
Many couples and mothers-to-be believe 2012 will be luckyPlanning to wed sometime next winter, 27-year-old Jeon Hye-seong said that she would choose December 2012 rather than wait until 2013. “I heard that 2012 is supposed to be lucky, being the black dragon year. Given that I get to choose sometime in the winter, why not choose the lucky year?” said the bride-to-be. “Although, it seems that there are so many special years, like the golden pig year which passed a few years ago, that I sometimes
Dec. 30, 2011
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Slower pace of living trend to watch in 2012
Consumers likely to react to hyper speed, hyper connectivity by seeking slower paceThe year 2012 promises to be a tumultuous one, with general elections and a presidential election taking place within eight months of each other. The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has introduced an additional element of uncertainty.While it would be difficult to predict the outcome of the elections or the state of South-North relations, many forecasts have been made concerning major trends that affect o
Dec. 30, 2011
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Pianist Paik’s ‘romance’ with Brahms Paik Kun-woo“Brahms-Intermezzi” (Universal Music)Paik Kun-woo’s second album on Brahms is more evidence that this Korean musician’s fingertips can bring back to life almost any composer.Filled with 13 pieces chosen among those written in the latter half of Johannes Brahms’ life, the album will serve as a gift for any fan of the German composer.Playing through the intermezzi, capriccios and romance pieces Op. 76 through Op. 119 (in random order), Paik has tran
Dec. 30, 2011
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Scholars want help identifying slaves' origins
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Almost two centuries before there was a man named Obama in the White House, there was a man named Obama shackled in the bowels of a slave ship. There is no proof that the unidentified Obama has ties to President Barack Obama. All they share is a name. But that is exactly the common
Dec. 30, 2011
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Thomas Jefferson estate highlights slaves’ stories
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) ― When Thomas Jefferson died, scores of slaves were sold from his Monticello plantation to settle his debts. Peter Fossett, 11, was among them, recalling that he was “born and reared as free, not knowing that I was a slave, then suddenly, at the death of Jefferson, put on an auction block and sold to strangers.’’Fossett’s story is one of many included in several new projects launching this winter to explore the slaves who lived and worked at Monticello.A website launching
Dec. 29, 2011
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Several theater festivals fire up cold N.Y.
NEW YORK (AP) ― Hanging around outside The Public Theater next week could turn you into an unanticipated actor.An hour or so before the group known as the Gob Squad hits the stage with its new offering for the Under the Radar Festival, four members will hit the streets armed with video cameras to create their new work, “Super Night Shot.”They’ll initiate and film some “comic and surreal adventures” that “celebrate unexpected encounters with strangers,” according to the group, a British and Germa
Dec. 29, 2011
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More cultural benefits for artists, underprivileged in 2012
Up to 1.71 million people will receive aid from the government for cultural activities and a foundation for artists’ welfare will be set up next year, as part of efforts to resolve the cultural divide among different social sectors, the Culture Ministry said Thursday. The ministry released its plans for the New Year as Minister Choe Kwang-shik briefed President Lee Myung-bak along with other cultural organization chiefs.Some of the plans for 2012 include increasing the number of people who recei
Dec. 29, 2011
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‘Forrest Gump’ to be preserved in film registry
WASHINGTON (AP) ― Forrest Gump’s oft-imitated line, “My momma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get’” will be immortalized among the U.S. treasures in the world’s largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994’s smash hit “Forrest Gump’’ starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry.The oldest reels are silent films both from 1912. “Th
Dec. 29, 2011
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France approves soda tax
France's top constitutional body on Wednesday approved a new tax on sugary drinks that aims to fight obesity while giving a boost to state coffers.The Constitutional Council approved the new soda tax, announced in August as part of the government's fight against obesity and within the framework of a
Dec. 29, 2011