PARIS (AFP) ― Italian designer Giambattista Valli is to join the exclusive club of haute couture fashion, showing a spring-summer collection in Paris next month, organisers said Monday.A Paris commission including existing haute couture labels has awarded the 45-year-old designer the coveted appellation, France’s fashion federation said in a statement ahead of the Jan. 23-26 shows.Haute couture exists only in Paris, where it is a legally protected appellation subject to strict criteria such as t

NEW YORK (AP) ― The biggest draw in television is going mobile. The Super Bowl will be streamed online and to phones in the U.S. for the first time, the NFL said Tuesday. NBC’s broadcasts of wild card Saturday, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl will be available on the league’s and network’s websites and through Verizon’s NFL Mobile app.The service will include additional camera angles, in-game highlights and live stats ― and replays of those always popular Super Bowl ads. NBC has been streaming i

South Korea should be good for at least 13 gold medals at next year’s London Olympics, the head of the National Training Center said Wednesday.Park Jong-gil, who is in charge of the Seoul-based training grounds for Olympic athletes, said the country could match its performance at the previous Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, when it won 13 gold medals to finish in seventh place. It was the country’s highest gold medal total at a Summer Games.“It’s possible we can even surpass what we did at t

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) ― If ever an award in golf needed an asterisk, it would be for Ai Miyazato winning the Ladies European Tour money list.She played in only two tournaments ― both part of the LPGA Tour schedule ― winning the Evian Masters and missing the cut at the Women’s British Open. Because the Evian Masters purse dwarfs everything else on the LET, the Japanese star earned $487,500, which easily beat out Melissa Reid and Carolina Hedwall.Reid won twice in 19 starts on the European tour, w

MIAMI (AP) ― To chronicle the first year of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh teaming up together, the television broadcasting side of the Miami Heat organization recently created a documentary about last season’s quest for an NBA title.And yes, art imitated life. In the film, Miami still lost the 2011 finals to Dallas.“All movies that we love don’t always end in great endings,” Wade said. “But it leaves you thirsty for more, hungry for more.”Here comes the sequel: It’s Act Two for the Bi

LONDON (AP) ― Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined $62,000 on Tuesday after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United’s black defender Patrice Evra.An English Football Association panel accepted Evra’s allegation that Suarez had directed a racial insult at him during United’s Premier League match at Liverpool on Oct. 15.“The insulting words used by Mr. Suarez included a reference to Mr. Evra’s colour,” the FA said in a statement, adding that the Liv

Samsung Electronics is expected to merge with Samsung LED by next Monday, according to industry sources on Wednesday.Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics will hold a board meeting on Dec. 26 to decide on whether the flagship electronics arm will acquire the 50 percent stake of Samsung LED, currently owned by Samsung Electro-Mechanics, sources said.The merger is projected to be completed by the first half of next year with the board’s approval.Samsung LED is a joint venture made betw

The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could make it tough for local banks and firms to sell foreign currency-denominated bonds due to heightening geopolitical risks, a report showed.In particular, the sale of Samurai bonds denominated in the Japanese currency could be affected as Japanese investors may be more cautious about developments in their neighboring country, according to a report by the Korea Center for International Finance.“The sale of Samurai bonds has been brisk this year, bu