LONDON (AP) ― Jane Austen’s House Museum says it has received a 100,000-pound ($155,000) donation to help it buy the “Pride and Prejudice” writer’s ring back from singer Kelly Clarkson.Earlier this month the British government placed a temporary export ban on the gold-and-turquoise ring in the hope money could be found to keep it in Britain.The museum said Monday it had raised 103,200 pounds of the 152,450 pound asking price, most of it from a single anonymous donation.Clarkson, an Austen fan, b

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen jailed in North Korea, has been moved from a prison camp to a hospital in Pyongyang as his health deteriorates, U.S. media reported.Bae’s sister Terri Chung told The New York Times and CNN on Sunday that her 45-year-old brother has lost more than 23 kilograms and has problems with his kidneys and liver.“He has a host of ailments,” Chung said. “Some of them have worsened considerably enough to warrant a hospital transfer.”Chung said that the U.S.

Johan Friso, the bespectacled Dutch prince who avoided the limelight and gave up his position in line to the throne after getting entangled in a scandal with his bride-to-be, died Monday _ 18 months after a skiing accident that left his brain gravely injured. He was 44.The royal house said the prince, known as Friso, died of complications from the accident, without giving more details. It said he had never regained more than “minimal consciousness.”Friso was struck by an avalanche while skiing o

HAVANA (AP) ― Cuba’s first English-language bookstore offers a selection that would just about stock the lobby of an average Vermont bed and breakfast. Next to what’s available in English elsewhere in Havana, it might as well be the Library of Congress.The brainchild of a longtime U.S. expat, Cuba Libro launched Friday as a bookshop, cafe and literary salon that offers islanders and tourists alike a unique space to buy or borrow tomes in the language of Shakespeare. Cuba Libro also gives custome

CHICAGO (AFP) ― Bed bugs, bad service and terrible food used to be inevitable risks when traveling, but a host of online review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor are helping savvy consumers pick the best hotels and eat like locals.The power of good reviews quickly shows up in the cash register, producing a virtuous circle in which business owners bend over backwards to keep them coming.But bad write-ups can take a big bite out of a business ― and give frustrated customers a taste of revenge ser

The Philippines Department of Tourism has opened an exhibition in partnership with Olympus that shows photographs and videos of the Philippines through the camera lens of various amateur photographers. A total of 30 photographers were hand-picked from an estimated 300 candidates that signed up for the event and were sent to numerous locations within the country with a PEN E-P5 model in tow. Locations included Davao, Illocos, Banaue, Subic, Manila and Legazpi. Photographers were encouraged to dep

A train service that operates across the southern part of Korea will be launched on Aug. 27.The “S-train” will travel on two major routes running between Busan and Yeosu Expo, and Gwangju and Masan, Korail said.The train will stop at more than 20 stations along the way, including locations such as Gunpo, Jinyoung, Boseong and Suncheon. One-way trips on both routes will take about five hours. Inspired by the famous Korean warship Geobukseon, both the exterior and the interior of the S-train will