Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Se7en tops iTune’s R&B chart in U.S., 2nd in Canada
Korean singer Se7en has surprised the country’s music scene on Wednesday as his new mini-album topped Apple’s iTunes online music charts.According to iTunes Chart operated by U.S. IT giant Apple, Se7en’s album was ranked at the top of its R&B/Soul chart in the United States and second place in the same category in Canada.“Se7en has not even made a comeback show yet, but his new album is drawing attention from in and out of the country,” his agency YG Entertainment said.His new album features the
Feb. 1, 2012
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Re-crafting a violin masterpiece
ST. PAUL, Minnesota ― Stradivarius violins are so prized that their name is synonymous with perfection. Three Minnesota men say they have come close to re-creating that ideal using a mix of modern technology and old-school artistry.Dr. Steve Sirr, a radiologist from Minnetonka, Minnesota, teamed with two St. Paul violinmakers, John Waddle and Steve Rossow, to make replicas of a 308-year-old violin known as the Betts Strad, owned by the Library of Congress. Sirr, who works at FirstLight Health Sy
Jan. 31, 2012
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A choreographer’s happy homecoming at City Ballet
NEW YORK (AP) ― At the end of the all-Christopher Wheeldon evening at New York City Ballet this weekend, the choreographer came out alone for a curtain call. The crowd stood and cheered. It would have been a rare moment for any choreographer, let alone one who isn’t yet 40.Wheeldon looks even younger than his 38 years, and may always seem like a wunderkind. But he’s already created more than 40 ballets and is steadily burnishing a reputation as one of the world’s very top choreographers.The occa
Jan. 31, 2012
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Williams, first black opera diva, dies at 92
CHICAGO (AFP) ― Camilla Williams, the first black woman to perform with a major US opera company who became both a cultural ambassador and civil rights activist, has died at the age of 92, officials said Monday.“I can confirm that she died at home of complications from cancer,” Alan Barker, a spokesman for Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where Williams taught for 20 years, told AFP.Born in a small town in the segregated southern state of Virginia, Williams began her singing career at
Jan. 31, 2012
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Asian stars in Cannes to woo Western record market
CANNES, France (AFP) ― Asian stars flew into the French Riviera resort of Cannes at the weekend for the global music industry’s annual MIDEM pow-wow, in a state-backed bid to woo Western markets.Chinese authorities have sent one of the country’s biggest rising stars, Ruhan, to MIDEM to promote her debut album, “Time to Grow”, which features tracks sung in both Chinese and English.It is the first time that Beijing has brought an artist to the MIDEM fair.Taiwan also came to town with one of Asia’s
Jan. 31, 2012
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Fans honor Seo Taiji with Brazilian rainforest
Ardent fans of legendary K-pop musician Seo Taiji are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the singer’s debut by naming a forest after him.Seo Taiji Mania, Seo’s fan club, announced on Tuesday that they are creating “Seotaiji Forest” in Brazil’s Guapi Assu rainforest. They signed an MOU last year with World Land Trust, a British environmental organization which conducts tree-planting projects, about the forest creation and conservation. “The documentary ‘Tears of the Amazon’ came as a great shock
Jan. 31, 2012
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‘American Idol’ alum heading to Broadway
NEW YORK (AP) ― A former “American Idol” contestant is heading to Broadway with a character who, it’s safe to say, is truly two-faced.Constantine Maroulis will play the title dual role in a revival of the musical “Jekyll & Hyde” that’s slated to come to New York in spring 2013 after a 25-week national tour that starts in San Diego on Oct. 2, Nederlander Presentations Inc. announced Sunday. Maroulis, who was a finalist on the fourth season of “American Idol,” had a three-year run in Broadway’s “R
Jan. 30, 2012
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Verdi’s first opera, ‘Oberto,’ gets rare airing
WILMINGTON, Delaware (AP) ― The year was 1839, and a young, unknown Italian composer was having his first opera produced at La Scala.Though only a modest success, “Oberto’’ launched the career of a man who over the next half-century would turn out nearly 30 operas, many of them now staples of the repertory, like “Rigoletto,’’ “La Traviata’’ and “Aida.’’But Giuseppe Verdi’s first work is rarely heard today. So it’s a service that the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia is presenting it in conce
Jan. 30, 2012
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Stars cover Bob Dylan songs for Amnesty International
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) ― Anyone who ever doubted the transformative power of Bob Dylan’s music need only look to Ke$ha.Yes, Ke$ha.The irreverent pop star known for singing about brushing her teeth with “a bottle of Jack’’ turns poignant while covering a song from one of music’s great lyricists on the new four-disc “Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.’’ The project features 75 newly recorded Dylan songs by 80 artists, including Adele, Sting, Su
Jan. 30, 2012
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Voyage to heart of Islam opens at British Museum
LONDON (AFP) ― It is a rite that all followers of Islam are supposed to perform at least once in a lifetime, yet for the rest of the globe the hajj is veiled in mystery.Now the British Museum in London has opened the first ever major exhibition on the pilgrimage, to give non-Muslims a glimpse of the heart of this world religion.“This exhibition is for everybody, Muslims and non-Muslims, everyone who wants to know more about this extraordinary phenomenon, which is one of the great religious manif
Jan. 30, 2012
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Seoul’s favorite Quasimodo back in the city
‘Notre Dame de Paris’ star Matt Laurent loves his role, even after 13 yearsWithout the make-up and the heavy costume of his famous hunchback character, “Notre Dame de Paris” star Matt Laurent resembles nothing of Quasimodo. Clad in blue jeans and a black jacket, the 44-year-old musical star shows off his cheerful personality during the photo shoot in central Seoul, with his impish and original poses. Then he grabs a bottle of orange juice for “some Vitamin C.”“This is a million dollar production
Jan. 30, 2012
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U.K. radio’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ turns 70
LONDON (AP) ― Margaret Thatcher chose Beethoven, Michael Caine picked Frank Sinatra and boxer George Foreman selected The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love.’’They are among almost 3,000 guests who have appeared on the radio program “Desert Island Discs,’’ a British broadcasting institution that turned 70 on Sunday.The show’s simple format hasn’t changed since 1942: Ask an illustrious or famous figure to choose the eight pieces of music they would take with them to a deserted isle, and talk about wh
Jan. 30, 2012
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Fairy tale, drug war epic win at Sundance
PARK CITY, Utah (AFP) ― Fairy tale “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and drug war epic “The House I Live In” were among the winners at the Sundance film festival, which presented its top awards late Saturday. The Grand Prix for best American fiction went to “Beasts of the Southern Wild” directed by Benh Zeitlin, a film full of imaginary animals, which recounts a fictional journey of a six-year-old girl to some of the remote corners of the world.The film was developed as part of a program launched by
Jan. 30, 2012
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‘The Help’ wins big at SAG awards
LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― “The Help,” a big-screen drama focusing on race relations in America, was the big winner at the Screen Actors Guild awards ceremony here Sunday, sweeping the top prizes for best actress, best supporting actress and best ensemble. The film, which tells the story of an aspiring journalist who decides to write a book exposing racism faced by domestic help in the 1960s, beat black-and-white silent movie “The Artist,” “Bridesmaids,” “The Descendants” and other films that had been
Jan. 30, 2012
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Girls’ Generation No. 2 on U.S. world music chart
K-pop group Girls’ Generation’s special album “The Boys” ranked second place in U.S. Billboard World Albums chart for the week of Feb. 4. After topping the charts in South Korea, the album was released in the U.S. and Europe on Jan. 17. The title song “The Boys” was composed by Teddy Riley, who is well-known for producing albums for Michael Jackson. The special album also came in 22nd in Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart, which ranks up-and-coming artists who broke into the market. The result
Jan. 30, 2012
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Hitler painting fetches 32,000 euros in Slovak auction
A 1913 painting by Nazi Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler sold for 32,000 euros ($42,300) in a Slovak internet auction on Sunday, the Darte auction house said. A man looks on a computer screen at an image of a painting by Adolf Hitler, done before he became Nazi Germany's dictator, titled "Maritime No
Jan. 30, 2012
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For Malkovich, the struggle of the sexes changes little
PARIS (AFP) ― More than two decades after John Malkovich starred in “Dangerous Liaisons” as the film’s arch seducer, the American actor is revisiting the classic French work, this time directing a stage version in Paris.For Malkovich, the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos published in 1782 highlights the centuries-old struggle between men and women.“I’m not saying war between men and women, but the struggle between them. I don’t think that’s changed since the time of Choderlos de Laclos,” Malk
Jan. 29, 2012
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Louvre’s Da Vinci restoration ignites art world row
PARIS (AFP) ― Delicate work to restore a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece, to be unveiled in March, has turned into a headache for the Louvre, after experts accused the Paris museum of putting the precious oil work at risk.Da Vinci began painting “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne” in 1503 and when he died in France in 1519 the unfinished work, depicting Christ beside his mother and grandmother with a sacrificial lamb, was acquired by King Francis I.Restoration carried out in the past century le
Jan. 29, 2012
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Searching for identity in Springfield
Artist Moon Ji-ha blurs identity borders through color, symbol-saturated paintingsHer paintings look unmistakably “Korean” at first glance, like what female shamans might have used in rituals during the Joseon Dynasty. Animals, mountains, letters and all sorts of characters are confusingly strewn on the canvas in rainbow colors. But Moon Ji-ha told the press Thursday that she was surprised to hear many Koreans comment that her works have a strong Asian vibe. “I never thought so. I guess they cou
Jan. 29, 2012
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Vinyl records make the world go around again
NEW YORK (AFP) ― In today’s brave new world of MP3 players, compact discs are dying, cassettes are Stone Age, and old-fashioned vinyl records ... they’re back!It might seem that nothing short of a wind-up gramophone could be more out of place today than the nostalgia-laden, crackly-sounding 33 and 45 RPM disc.Yet in his Brooklyn, New York, factory, 40-year-old Thomas Bernich churns them out by the tens of thousands, feeding a vinyl revival that has record decks ― and cash tills ― spinning. “It’s
Jan. 29, 2012