The global hotel chain Accor is offering discounts on accommodations and breakfast for those who book online by June 27. Members of its loyalty program will receive a markdown of up to 40 percent and free breakfast, while regular customers will get a 30 percent discount with free breakfast.The sale applies to Accor’s brands, including Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure, The Sebel, Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure and ibis across the world. Some 2,200 hotels will participate in the Accor’s “Super S

Lee Gyeong-ae remembers Dec. 15 of last year as the most monumental day of her life.It was the opening night of the Heart to Heart Orchestra concert, of which her autistic son, Jae-yoon, is a member. Sitting in the Seoul Arts Center, one of the most prestigious venues for the performing arts in South Korea, Lee could not stop crying even before the curtain rose. “I never thought that such a day would come,” Lee said. “I never thought Jae-yoon would one day perform at the Seoul Arts Center. When

Pope Francis will visit South Korea on Aug. 14 to attend a Catholic youth festival and preside over a ceremony to beatify 124 Korean Catholic martyrs, the Vatican and the local preparation committee for the visit said Wednesday.During the five-day state visit, the pope will conduct four Masses, including one for the beatification ceremony and another for the closing ceremony of Asian Youth Day. He will attend an official welcoming ceremony at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and pay a visit

Lotte Hall, a classical music hall currently under construction in Jamsil-dong, southern Seoul, will open on Sept. 3, 2015, with a concert by maestro Chung Myung-whun and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the chief executive of the hall said Wednesday.The opening will be followed by a four-month music festival, during which the hall will make some necessary adjustments in acoustics and other installations.“From March onward, the hall will be made available to rent for concerts,” Kim Eui-joon sai

Eight kilometers equals approximately 10,000 steps.How do I know this?Because just as I made it to the 8-kilometer mark on the Kelly Drive loop Saturday morning, the teeny LED lights in my red Fitbit Flex started doing the happy dance. And the silicone wristband ― reminiscent of cyclist Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong bracelets ― vibrated.I stopped for a smoothie and did some grocery shopping. And when I got home, I synced the Flex to my laptop and ― drumroll, please ― my grand step total was 18,14

LONDON (AP) ― In the world of women’s fashion, London often plays second fiddle to other style capitals ― it lacks the allure of Paris’s haute couture or the polish of Milan’s luxury labels. Yet when it comes to dressing gentlemen, no city can rival the British capital’s heritage. Steeped in a rich history of tailoring for kings, army generals and the world’s wealthiest men, London is now being marketed as the home of men’s fashion ― the original birthplace of the tuxedo jacket, the bowler hat a

Many eyes are on the National Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee, as it is scheduled to finalize the health insurance payments for next year by Thursday. The costs are likely to rise as the Park Geun-hye administration last year announced that the national insurance program will gradually broaden its coverage of expenses related to “four major diseases” by 2017. The illnesses are: cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and a total of 138 yet-to-be cured conditions such as Crohn’s di

Daegu Softball League hosted a charity softball event Saturday in partnership with a local orphanage. The event itself involved 15 members of the DSL and 21 children from a local orphanage. It was funded by donations, weekly raffles and money raised from league merchandise sales this year. The DSL donated the necessary softball equipment, as well as jerseys and hats for each of the children. After arranging the kids into teams, some of the league’s veterans held introductory training sessions to

A Filipino language class program for Filipino-Korean children was launched in Seoul on Saturday by the Philippine Embassy.The Wika Nga! Filipino Language Classes for Filipino-Korean Children, run in partnership with the Seoul Global Center, Pinoy Iskolars sa Korea (PIKO) Inc. and Seoul Filipino Parents and Children Organization, will run for 10 weeks at the Seoul Global Center.“We hope we could continue this project not only until August, but make it the cornerstone of a more comprehensive and

Korea International Students Support Association will hold its first Seoul International Students Cultural Festival on Sunday.The festival will feature booths from 12 countries including Nepal, Guatemala and Kenya, as well as Espanol en Espanol and Revista N.There will also be a parade of nations, dance and music performances, a national costume fashion show and other activities. The festival will take place from 2-6 p.m. in Cheonggye Plaza in central Seoul.(paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)

Daegu Theatre Troupe will stage “Glitch,” a play by one of its members this weekend.Written and directed by Cara Markewicz, the play explores the relationship between two siblings -- Chloe and Richard. Chloes's obsessive compulsive disorder affects her relationship with her younger brother, who finds himself pressed into a protective role. This indirectly affects the relationships he has with others, too.“Because Richard has taken on a ‘guardian’ type role for his sister, any relationship he has

‘Dracula,’ ‘Priscilla,’ ‘Tale of Two Cities’ among season’s lineup