A 33.19-carat diamond ring once owned by the late Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor sold for 10.1 billion won ($8,818,500) to Korean conglomerate E-Land Group at a Christie’s auction in New York on Tuesday.The ring was given to the late actress by her fifth husband, actor Richard Burton in 1968. He had purchased the ring through an auction for $ 300,000 at the time. The ring was estimated to sell for $2.5 million to $3.5 million during Tuesday’s auction.Taylor, who died of congestive heart failure

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― “The Help,” a film about the lives of black housekeepers in the U.S. south before the civil rights era, and hit silent movie “The Artist” topped nominations at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards on Wednesday.“The Help” scored four nods for the SAGs including best actress for Viola Davis, while “The Artist,” a black-and-white tribute to the silent movie era, was shortlisted in three categories.On the small screen, Emmy-winning sitcom “Modern Family” won five nominations incl

DUBAI (AFP) ― A tale of forbidden love in the Gaza Strip won the top prize at the eighth Dubai Film Festival on Wednesday, where a new generation of Arab women directors stole the spotlight.“Habibi” (My Love in Arabic), directed by Susan Youssef, won Best Arab feature film, and the film’s star, Maisa Abdel Hadi, won best actress.The film, which also won the best editor award, tells the story of two Palestinian lovers, Qais and Leila, growing increasingly religious under the control of the Islami

About 40 percent of rheumatoid patients are likely to die of cardiovascular disease, a group of doctors claimed here Tuesday. They called for higher public awareness of rheumatoid arthritis and other disorders conventionally referred to as rheumatism here. According to Dr. Bae Sang-cheol and Dr. Choi Chan-beom’s joint study of 4,721 rheumatoid arthritis patients, about 25 percent suffered from various cardiovascular diseases. About 15 percent had diabetes or other endocrine system disorders and

Lactobacillus has been proven effective in easing atopic eczema, osteoporosis, diabetes symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome. According to eight-week research by professor Choi Chang-hwan of Chung-Ang University Medical Center, IBS patients given Duolac7, an agent containing lactobacillus, showed 50 percent improvement compared to those given placebo’s 13 percent improvement.In other research by Dr. Lee Hyun-ki of Cell Biotech, the manufacturer of Duolac7, those given calcium and lactobacillus

CHICAGO (AP) ― Ritalin and other drugs used to treat attention deficit disorder are safe for adults’ hearts, even though they can increase blood pressure and heart rate, according to the largest study of these medicines in adults.The results echo findings in a study of children with ADHD, by the same researchers, published last month.The review of health records for more than 440,000 adults aged 25 to 64 showed those taking ADHD drugs had about the same number of heart attacks, strokes and sudde

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ― Peyton Manning has some rare good news for the NFL’s only winless team: His ramped-up rehabilitation program includes more throwing.Coach Jim Caldwell said Wednesday that Manning has picked up his regimen, though the four-time league MVP was not scheduled to practice with his teammates Wednesday. It’s still unclear when or if Manning will return to the practice field and what the repertoire includes, though he acknowledged two weeks ago that throwing more was the next step in