‘Korea Sale Festa’ kicks off with huge discounts from retailersSouth Korea kicked off a nationwide shopping event Thursday with a variety of promotions, cultural and entertainment events to draw more shoppers at home and abroad, and revive the sluggish domestic consumption.The massive shopping campaign called the “Korea Sale Festa” runs until Oct. 9, involving major retailers, manufacturers and traditional markets, while cultural and entertainment programs for foreign travelers will be held thro

Choose the right path -- so says the sermon, convocation and nature guide. But if a trailhead offers only one route, and you’ve hiked it every autumn forever, you’re good to go.Underfoot, your path is springy with pine needles. Overhead, it’s shady and cool. Ahead it promises water crashing a narrow canyon and a boulder, wide and flat as a piazza, perfect for a picnic.You walk. You talk. You find your rock, scrabble up and are met not with waterfall, but with flat field, and, in the distance, ab

I’d been on Noah’s Ark all of 20 minutes when the question that hung over every step was finally put to me: “Do you believe?”It came from a man with a thin beard named Travis, who wore a Captain America T-shirt and had an excitable look in his eye. He was touring the new, five-story Ark Encounter with his wife and daughters after driving three hours from central Indiana.We stood on the ark’s second floor, in front of a display about the Garden of Eden, and Travis had just explained to one of his

Indian food fest at Millennium Seoul Hilton Millennium Seoul Hilton is offering a special Indian food festival buffet through Oct. 9 at the hotel’s restaurant, Cafe 395.Sponsored by the Indian Embassy in Seoul and the Indian Cultural Center in Busan, the event is a part of Sarang - Festival of India in Korea. The promotion offers authentic Indian cuisine -- best known for its diversity of flavors and spices -- prepared by guest chef Vikram Udaygiri. Starting at 91,000 won per person, the buffet

ROUEN, France (AFP) - Annick Colette-Fremond is the fifth generation of her family to practise the art of ivory carving -- and she may be the last of her line, due to new rules in France.She is one of just a handful of French ivory carvers left, plying a trade that conservationists say spurs the slaughter of elephants and rhinos. Colette-Fremond and her fellow craftspeople work with ivory imported before a ban over four decades ago, but say their future will be doomed when a new decree takes eff

The following was contributed by Chinar Pathak, a postdoctoral researcher at Seoul National University and one of the organizers of the Ganesh Festival. -- Ed.The Indian community in Korea on Sept. 11 celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi, the anniversary of the birth of Lord Ganesha, the god of intelligence, knowledge, wisdom and prosperity in Hinduism. The festival, held at Seoul National University, attracted its most participants ever this year, the 10th year running that it has been held here. In add

“I’m Judging You” By Luvvie AjayiHenry Holt (256 pages, $17)The wit of culture blogger Luvvie Ajayi (AwesomelyLuvvie.com) has earned her quite the following.She has been called upon by the likes of McDonald’s, Comcast and wine brand Rosa Regale to take over their social media accounts, live Tweet events and blog about “Scandal” and “Being Mary Jane.”And earlier this month, Oprah herself crowned the Chicago web strategist, naming her to the inaugural list of Super Soul 100 leaders recognized for

“Children of the New World” By Alexander WeinsteinPicador (240 pages, $16)The typical protagonist of Alexander Weinstein’s cautionary tales in “Children of the New World” is a man who could benefit from reading these stories, but probably never would, unless someone found a way to pipe them directly into his eyeballs.He’s no longer young, though sometimes youngish, emotionally connected to few people beyond his wife (if he has one) and easily swept away by virtual reality, shared-world environme

When Mara Wilson was a little girl, Hollywood couldn’t get enough of her.She was one of those child actors who seemed preternaturally mature. Her vocabulary was surprisingly expansive. She could carry on full-blown conversations with adults. And she appeared to be in full control of her emotions, bringing out the puppy dog eyes at just the right moment.Interviewing Wilson on the “Today” show in 1994, Katie Couric declared: “Every time I see you in a movie, I just want to put you in my pocket and

THE HAGUE (AFP) -- War crimes judges jailed a Malian jihadist Tuesday for nine years for demolishing Timbuktu’s fabled shrines, a landmark ruling seen as a warning that destroying mankind’s heritage will not go unpunished.In the first such case to focus on cultural destruction as a war crime, the International Criminal Court found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi guilty of directing attacks on the UNESCO world heritage site during the jihadist takeover of northern Mali in 2012.Mahdi “supervised the destru

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq opened a new antiquities museum in the southern city of Basra on Tuesday with pottery, coins and other artifacts dating back more than 2,000 years.Only one hall was opened due to a shortage of funds, Qahtan al-Obaid, the museum director, told the Associated Press by telephone. It will showcase artifacts dating back to 400 B.C. that tell the history of the oil-rich city on the Persian Gulf.He said there are plans to open other wings that would exhibit Babylonian, Assyrian and