Biological and genetic factors, not traumatic events, usually cause of depression

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ― The former black marketeer has read it. So has the beautiful young librarian, and the aging philosophy professor who has spent his life teaching the ruling doctrine of this isolated outpost of totalitarian socialism. At times it seems as if everyone in Pyongyang, a city full of monuments to its own mythology, has read the book. In it they found a tortured love story, or a parable of bourgeois decline. Many found heroes. They lost themselves in the story of a nation

‘Who I Am’By Pete Townshend (Harper)Pete Townshend has always been rock ‘n’ roll’s reluctant warrior.The driving force behind the legendary band the Who, Townshend revolutionized rock with his guitar and pen. He wrote numerous anthems, including “My Generation,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Baba O’ Reilly” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and, when he wasn’t smashing guitars, embraced his role as the thinking man’s rock star.At the same time, Townshend spent much of his life offstage trying to avoid all tha

“Lost Girls”By Caitlin Rother (Pinnacle)On the day in 2010 when a San Diego judge sentenced John Albert Gardner to life in prison for the rape and murder of two teenage girls, the fathers of his victims referred to him in court as a monster and a predator.“Lost Girls” by veteran journalist and true-crime writer Caitlin Rother is a deeply reported, dispassionately written attempt to determine what created that monster and predator. It is a cautionary tale and a horror story, done superbly by a wr

Fourth installment of series of classics features works of Nietzsche, Bunyan and Jung Do-jun

Gangneung plays host to international festival of intangible culture

Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo will sign a memorandum of understanding on technology investment with Russian Technologies State Corp. Friday, Gyeonggi provincial office said Thursday.Kim visited Moscow to sound out Russian joint investments with Gyeonggi-based small and medium-sized companies, and met with Alyoshin Aleksei Vladislavovich, first deputy director general of the Moscow-based state institution with about 420 leading public firms under its wing. During their meeting, Kim offered to strike

HONG KONG (AFP) ― Kung fu legend Bruce Lee’s former residence in Hong Kong will be put up for sale after a plan to turn the property into a museum dedicated to the icon failed, a report said Wednesday.Philanthropist Yu Panglin, who owns the mansion, which became a rundown ‘love hotel,’ said he was planning to sell the property for HK$180 million ($23million) after talks with the government for the museum collapsed last year.“I’m no longer considering (the museum plan) since the government is not

A Thailand-trained therapist says anti-aging treatment is possible just by slapping and massaging the face, according to U.S. news sources.Tata Sombuntham, who claims to be the first face-slapping practitioner in the western hemisphere, says she can remove wrinkles and tighten skin with this unusual treatment. She and her husband Mawan run a beauty salon in San Francisco where they charge clients $350 (385,000 won) for each 15-minute session of face-slapping. Sombuntham says this is “ancient Tha

A statue that made worldwide news as the “Iron Man” and was purportedly carved from a meteorite a thousand years ago is likely a modern fake, a researcher says.While supposedly made by the 11th-century Bon culture of Tibet and looted in the 20th century by a Nazi ethnologist, incorrect “pseudo-Tibetan” features of the carved Buddha figure suggest it‘s a modern European fake, Buddhism specialist Achim Bayer of the University of Seoul said.The 10-inch statue bears 13 features Bayer said are easily

Guatemala's Mayan people accused the government and tour groups on Wednesday of perpetuating the myth that their calendar foresees the imminent end of the world for monetary gain."We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit. They are not telling the truth about time cycles," charged Felipe Gomez, leader of the Maya alliance Oxlaljuj Ajpop.Several films and documentaries have promoted the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts