A poker tournament is one of several events taking place May 27-29 at Rhythm & Booze in Bucheon to raise money for underprivileged children.“Raising Hope: A Fundraiser to Help Underprivileged Children Get Ahead” is presented by Rhythm & Booze and BaboPromos. Participants in its poker tournament must pay an entry fee of 50,000 won, and a maximum of 50 can take part. The tournament starts Saturday,

A charity auction to raise cash for abandoned animals will be held in a Busan bar Saturday. The night to raise funds for Busan Abandoned Pet Sanctuary is to be held at the Wolfhound bar, in Haeundae. Bidding will start at 11 p.m. with prizes on offer including a steak dinner at Sharky’s restaurant, as well as meals at Ono in Haeundae. Burger & Pasta and Paris restaurants in Gwangan are also donati

Entries to the 2011 Voice for Freedom Songwriting Competition should be submitted by Friday. The contest aims to select a song on the theme of freedom to feature on the “Free Burma: Dedicated to Freedom” album to be produced in Taiwan. The competition is open to all Asia residents aged between 18 and 35 years old, who can submit completed songs of six minutes or less. Songs can be in any language

This Saturday is international volunteer day for an orphanage near Seoul. Angel House is looking for happy volunteers to donate some time to help the 50 kids living at the home northwest of Seoul. No previous training or experience is required for the helpers asked to chip in to clean the house, wash clothes, make food and have fun with the children. Foreign volunteers should bring their ARC card

K-pop stars JYJ and actress Han Hye-jin are to perform at Park Ji-sung’s charity soccer match in Vietnam. The game to be played at a stadium in Ho Chi Minh city on June 15 will be the first ever Asian Dream Cup organized by the Korean soccer star’s charity foundation. JYJ are to perform at half time at the match against Navibank Saigon, and are also to participate in a Vietnamese boy’s soccer sess

An animal rights group has said it will stage an anti-fur protest at Fendi’s Seoul fashion show if the Italian designer thwarts the city government’s ban on fur on the catwalk. Government officials told the Italian fashion house Monday to remove all fur items from a show of its fall/winter collection due to complaints from animal rights groups. But Fendi said it would negotiate with city officials

The North Korean military has around 30,000 electronic warfare specialists with capabilities rivaling those of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Fox News reported Tuesday, citing defectors and other sources.The U.S. broadcaster’s report titled “North Korea’s cyber army gets increasingly sophisticated,” came after a series of cyber attacks on key government and corporate websites in South Korea

The U.S. Navy is operating remote-control surveillance helicopters on missions over the Middle East, including Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The multipurpose Fire Scouts that spy on targets and mark them for attack are expanding the U.S. offensive capabilities without risking American casualties.“Whether pinpointing enemies, hunting pirates or tracking drug smugglers, the

They don’t want money from cash register or jewels from the safe. Thieves in the U.S. are now on a quest for human hair, The New York Times reported Tuesday.During the past two months, robbers looking for human hair have killed a beauty shop supplier in Michigan in the worst of a rash of crimes involving the theft of human hair nationwide. Thugs have taken tens of thousands of dollars of hair at a