LONDON (AP) ― The athletes and the Olympic torch have arrived in London ― and so has the party.For those keener on celebrity-spotting or dancing the night away than medal counting, the British host city has plenty of action to offer during games time. Away from the track and field, Hollywood royalty such as Brangelina and Nicole Kidman will be rubbing shoulders with diplomats and businessmen at the city’s glitziest clubs and grandest historic buildings. Meanwhile, Dizzy Rascal, Snow Patrol and o

Hannah, 2, awaiting groundbreaking procedure for windpipeThe sight of Lee Young-mi leading her nearly 2-year-old daughter Hannah along a hallway in Seoul National University Hospital might not sound too unusual. But when The Korea Herald visited her about one year ago, she could do nothing but lie on her back. Hannah can now walk if she holds on to her parents’ hands, though she can’t go far. Hannah was born without a windpipe. Because she needs to have her artificial airway cleared every fiftee

World-renowned story-teller Robert McKee says appealing to human nature matters mostHow to best produce hit dramas and movies based on traditional Korean culture is an important question for the government as it tries to promote the country’s heritage abroad.Robert McKee, a world-renowned teacher of story-writing and story-telling, said a strategy that focuses on cultural uniqueness is likely to fail because it has nothing in common with people in other countries. Stories that appeal to human na

Korea’s mecenat council urges National Assembly to pass bill that offers tax deduction to companies supporting the artsThe total amount Korean companies gave to the arts and spent on their culture-related activities last year decreased 6.2 percent from the previous year, as businesses have begun to feel the pressure from Europe’s fiscal crisis, the country’s mecenat council said on Tuesday.According to a survey conducted by the Korean Business Council for the Arts, a total of 624 local companies

LIMA (AFP) ― Archeologists said Friday they have discovered a tomb about 1,200 years old, from the pre-Inca Sican era, in northern Peru.Human remains and jewelry were found July 4 along with the tomb, likely that of a member of the aristocracy of the Sican or Lambayeque elite, head researcher Carlos Wester La Torre told AFP.A gold earflap, a silver-plated crown, and some 120 silver and copper ornaments that served as emblems of power, along with 116 pieces of pottery and seashells were found in

Gadget-fatigued people turn back to vinyl records, film cameras, fountain pensKoreans are often thought of as some of the world’s most tech-savvy people, quick to catch on to the newest digital gadgets.Using their mobile phones or tablets, they listen to music, manage schedules, take pictures and type emails.However, an underground shopping arcade in Hoehyeon-dong, central Seoul seems to resist the tide of digital culture. Vinyl record stores line the passageways, and everything feels slow. If y

With school break just around the corner, museums and art centers have lined up a variety of cultural events. The programs will suit the needs of children and teenagers looking for fun and entertaining events as well as parents seeking to find more educational opportunities. Although the vacation has been made shorter by the five-day school week this year, children and parents can still make the best of it in an enriching cultural atmosphere. Here are some fun yet educational summer programs tha

Vera Wang arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar party on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)Vera Wang’s publicist says the New York fashion designer has separated from Arthur Becker, her husband of 23 years.“They remain devoted parents to their two daughters,” Wang’s company president, Mario Grauso, said in a statement to Women’s Wear Daily.No reason was given for

The country’s first adoption center for rescued animals opened Saturday on Toegye-ro, Seoul, ironically, on a street lined with pet shops and puppy mills. Director of Coexistence of Animal Right on Earth (CARE) Park So-yeon explained that she specifically chose Toegye-ro as the location for CARE’s Adoption Center because the area is famous for puppy mills. “Hundreds of animals are locked up in small cages for reproducing pets. When the breeding dogs become useless, they are handed over to dog me

PARIS (AFP) ― The mausolea of Timbuktu, known as the “city of 333 saints,” are shrines in the Sufi brand of Islam dominant in Mali but a heresy to the fighters who follow the radical Wahhabi tradition, experts say.Fighters from the Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) group which controls large swathes of northern Mali on Tuesday started hacking away at two tombs that are part of the ancient Djingareyber mud mosque, the city’s largest.Equipped with pickaxes and shovels, the fundamentalist group start

Ross Kang didn’t see a future as an industrial parts buyer at LG. What he really enjoyed doing was learning English with native speakers, but couldn’t find comfortable places to conduct the meetings. So Kang left his stable job to create a business based on that experience. The first Culture Complex language and culture exchange cafe opened in 2005 and the CEO hasn’t looked back.“Foreigners, especially ones who just got to Korea, know little about Korea and they need help,” says the 35-year-old.

ROME (AP) ― Caravaggio was notorious for his brawling, so it might be fitting that a claim by two Italian art historians that they discovered as many as 100 drawings by the painter in his boyhood has sparked an art world uproar.The researchers say they found dozens of early drawings by Caravaggio in the collection of master Milanese artist Simone Peterzano, the painter’s teacher from 1584 to 1588. Many experts have responded with skepticism to the startling claim: Over the centuries, art histori