WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Here is Little Red Riding Hood, rifle slung over her shoulder, confidently striding through the forest. Now we see her granny, taking aim with a shotgun at the Big Bad Wolf.　What’s that? You don’t recall your favorite Brothers Grimm characters packing heat? 　Then you must not have read the versions of classic fairy tales that have been reworked by the National Rifle Association, to help empower children by teaching them that well-armed citizens -- even in the world of storybo

“The President’s Book of Secrets” 　By David Priess　PublicAffairs (384 pages, $29.95)　On Aug. 6, 2001, the third day of his August vacation in Texas, President George W. Bush welcomed two visitors into the living room of his ranch house.　Steve Biegun, the executive secretary of the National Security Council, was filling in for National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Michael Morell was a CIA analyst assigned to brief Bush daily on intelligence developments. He handed Bush the President’s Daily

“Half a Lifelong Romance” 　By Eileen Chang　Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (400 pages, $12.33)　“Half a Lifelong Romance” is broad in its scope and exceptionally moving in its characterizations, painting a picture of life in China in the 1930s.　The novel, by Eileen Chang, was originally published in serialized form in Shanghai in 1950, under the name “Eighteen Springs (Shiba chun).” A translated U.S. edition recently was released.　“Half a Lifelong Romance” introduces a broad cast of characters a

“No Flower Blooms Without Wavering”　By Do Jong-hwan, translated by Brother Anthony and Jinna Park　Seoul Selection (182 pages, 11,000 won, $18)Do Jong-hwan’s poems have been translated into English for the first time in “No Flower Blooms Without Wavering,” a bilingual compilation of the popular poet’s most recognized work. Overall, the translation stays faithful to the text, never veering too far from the literal definition. The book is divided into four chapters, each containing poems that cente

The Korea Tourism Organization’s international food guide “Hansik,” about the history and culture of Korean cuisine, has received the Gold Award at the 2015-2016 Mercury Excellence Awards. 　The Mercury Awards are part of the American-based MerComm Inc. International Awards Programs, which has been honoring outstanding achievement in professional communications for 29 years.  A page from the Korea Tourism Organization‘s Mercury Excellence Awards gold-winning book, “Hansik” (Korea Tourism Organiza

LOS ANGELES(AFP) - Harper Lee, one of America's most celebrated novelists who died in February, thought Donald Trump’s infamous Taj Mahal casino was hell on Earth, a stash of her private correspondence revealed Monday.　The “To Kill a Mockingbird” author, whose masterpiece about racial injustice was read by millions, slammed the billionaire presidential hopeful's boardwalk resort in New Jersey in a letter to a friend in 1990.　“The worst punishment God can devise for this sinner is to make her spi

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodia on Monday welcomed home a 10th-century Khmer statue that was looted during the country's civil war before spending the past three decades at an American museum.　The sandstone Torso of Rama statue, which stands 157 centimeters high and is missing its head, arms and feet, was formally handed over at a ceremony in Phnom Penh attended by government officials, the US ambassador and the director of the Denver Museum of Art. Christoph Heinrich, director of the Denv

PARIS (AFP) - A Syrian expert for the UN‘s cultural body said Monday she was “very doubtful” the destruction caused to Palmyra’s ancient monuments during its occupation by the Islamic State group can be repaired.　“Everyone is excited because Palmyra has been ‘liberated,’ but we should not forget everything that has been destroyed,” said Annie Sartre-Fauriat, who belongs to a group of experts on Syrian heritage set up by UNESCO in 2013. 　“I am very doubtful about the capacity, even with internati

Chinese general supported the Korean Liberation Army from base in Xi’an

Touring exhibition of iconoclastic designer’s archive makes a final stop in Seoul

DAMASCUS (AFP) -- Ancient artifacts in the city of Palmyra are in much better shape than expected, Syria's antiquities chief said Sunday after regime forces recaptured the desert oasis from the Islamic State group. 　Antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim said much of Palmyra’s old city was intact and his department would try to restore relics destroyed during the jihadists' nearly year-long rule over the city. A general view shows the remains of the entrance to the iconic Temple of Bel that was

Multilingual international lifestyle magazine Eastern Trends is emerging as the go-to source for in-depth, culture-related reporting on major cities in Asia. In its April edition, the magazine features perspectives on Korean television programs and their dynamic production process.The cover of the Eastern Trends April edition, featuring Korean actor Hong Jong-hyun (Eastern Trends)　Titled “Television, A Spectacular Frame,” the cover story peers behind the scenes of Korean TV production, with anec