LOS ANGELES (AP) ― For Natalie Portman, 2011 is already shaping up to be an unforgettable year.The actress is getting big awards buzz for her turn as a ballerina gone mad in “Black Swan.” She already won a Golden Globe, she is up for a Screen Actors Guild award and she is sure to hear her name when Oscar nominations are announced next week.Portman also has four other movies slated for release this

BALTIMORE (AP) ― Telltale hearts beat with anticipation during a rainy, midnight dreary and beyond, hoping the mysterious visitor to Edgar Allan Poe’s grave would return after a one-year absence.Four impostors came and went. The real one never showed. Around 5 a.m., the dozen Poe fans who were left began to wonder if the eerie ritual is indeed nevermore, so they walked to Poe’s tombstone and perfo

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Anne Hathaway has clawed her way into the latest Batman movie, nabbing the role of Selina Kyle and her alter ego, Catwoman.Warner Bros. announced the casting Wednesday for Christopher Nolan’s latest film in the superhero saga, “The Dark Knight Rises.” Hathaway will appear opposite Christian Bale, who is returning as Bruce Wayne and Batman. Anne Hathaway. (AP-Yonhap News)The stud

TOKYO (AP) ― Sting wants to help save dolphins still being brutally slaughtered in Japan, but says the best way is by starting a debate, not by forcing foreign opinion.The British music star met backstage at a Tokyo concert hall Wednesday with Ric O’Barry, the star of the “The Cove,” the Academy Award-winning documentary that depicts the dolphin hunt in the town of Taiji in southwestern Japan.The

It’s been quite a while since Korean fans last heard from K-pop singer Tim. After a hiatus of three years, Tim recently got back to the K-pop scene with his fifth album “New Beginnings.” It is his first album with Sony Music Entertainment Korea.The biggest change occurred inside his heart. He said he became more mature and serious in the search for “his” music, after realizing that he was born to

MINNEAPOLIS ― A Plymouth, Minnesota, family with a recording studio in their basement is giving entertainment giants Nickelodeon, Universal Studios and Radio Disney serious competition for iTunes listeners.“Kid Friday,” a weekly podcast by Dave Swerdlick and his daughters, Hannah, 12, and Zoe, “almost 10,” consistently makes the top-10 list in iTunes’ Kids & Family section.“Because you are a kid i

Immigrants in Korea have become more active in enjoying cultural activities, a government survey showed Tuesday.According to the survey on 1,017 immigrants aged over 20 randomly picked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the percentage of the respondents who enjoyed stage arts, classical music concerts and dance performances at least once in the past year tripled to 22 percent in 2010

Incheon International Airport, the U17 Korean women’s national soccer team, and French scholar Guy Sorman will receive awards Wednesday for promoting Korea’s image. Sponsored and organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute, the annual CICI Korea awards previously honored female weightlifter Jang Mi-ran, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the Cheonggye Stream and singer Rain.This year, In

NEW YORK ― “Piers Makes Enemy of Madonna.” That’s the newspaper headline that’s pinned above Piers Morgan’s desk, as if it were an inspirational quote from the Dalai Lama.“I’ve said that Madonna can only come on my show if she gets on bended knee in Times Square and makes a public apology to me for crimes against humanity,” explains Morgan, grinning.Sitting in his office, which looks out over the

LAS VEGAS (AP) ― A 17-year-old from Nebraska became the youngest winner of the Miss America crown in 90 years on Saturday after beating 52 other young women from across the United States.Teresa Scanlan won a $50,000 scholarship and a yearlong run with the crown at the competition at the Planet Hollywood casino-resort in Las Vegas.She was the youngest Miss America since the pageant’s first competit

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ― A brick from The Cavern Club, a check for 11 pounds signed by Ringo Starr, an “authentic” Beatles wig. These and thousands of other objects related to the “Fab Four” are luring Beatles fans to a new museum in Buenos Aires.The museum is the product of the particular “Beatlemania” obsession of Rodolfo Vazquez, a 53-year-old accountant who became a fan at the age of 10

LONDON (AP) ― If you’re invited to the royal wedding, don’t go buying Kate Middleton an engraved gift ― the poor woman doesn’t know yet what her title’s going to be.She will be a princess, possibly a duchess, perhaps even a countess. But the exact title is unlikely to be divulged until shortly before April 29, the day she officially joins “the firm” ― as the lordly British royal family is known.Mo

PARIS (AFP) ― Whoever said economics is the dismal science never considered the prognostic powers of women’s taste in lingerie.To hear trend-spotters at the Salon International de la Lingerie tell it, a global swing towards a fuller feminine figure ― think the TV series “Mad Men”and 1950s pin-up queens ― is a harbinger of the waning of the Great Recession.“What were the 1950s? It was a post-war period,” explained Caroline le Grelle, a fashion consultant for Eurovet, organisers of the world’s mos

MILAN (AP) ― Color ― even in winter ― is the strong message coming off the current Milan menswear runway.Midway through the four days of preview showings for the fall-winter 2011-2012, it is clear that designers are asking men to brighten up their wardrobe, adding bold purple, blue, green and even yellow to their conservative black and gray palette.Sunday, day two of the Italian menswear preview s

NICE, France (AFP) ― Thanks to an autograph hunter in Las Vegas who asked to borrow a pen, a French perfumer is poised to launch his-and-hers fragrances in memory of Michael Jackson.Inspired by plants that grow at the late King of Pop’s Neverland Ranch, “Jackson’s Tribute” for men and “Jackson’s Legend” for women, both eau de parfums, will be formally launched on March 7 in the United States.Julia

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Hollywood’s annual awards season kicks off Sunday as stars and filmmakers gather for the Golden Globes, with British historical drama “The King’s Speech” hoping for a boost toward Oscars glory.Starring Colin Firth as the stuttering King George VI, the movie is nominated in seven categories at the Globes, seen as a key pointer to who will win prizes at the Academy Awards next mo

Cinephiles in Korea now have a novel way of enjoying a film festival in a novel way ― completely paperless and online.“The objective of the MyFrenchFilmFestival.com is to take fully into account the evolution of cultural consumption and to reach a new audience for French cinema abroad,” said Audiovisual Attach at the French Embassy Daniel Kapelian.Film lovers anywhere in the world will be able to

A surprising name recently has joined the pantheon of popular Tokyo tourist spots―Haneda Airport’s international terminal.Since the international terminal opened in October, it has been inundated with visitors who came to the airport not for flights but to stroll the terminal itself. The sightseers outnumber genuine air passengers by more than 2-to-1 on weekends and holidays, according to the airp

NEW YORK ― I practice intellectual-property law in New York, but as a dual U.S.-German national, I have considerable cross-border work, which is why I go back and forth quite often. I have a working wife and a toddler who has developed the ability to be in three places simultaneously; that means I have to keep my away time as short as possible and make every business hour count. But that is still

CHICAGO ― When it comes to that ever-curious species, the human consumer, peering through crystal balls is a long-practiced and practically irresistible art. Especially when we’re entering a new year, and we’re itching to know what the days ahead might bring.In the food department, we’re eager to know what we might find on our plates, in grocery aisles and on the pages of all the foodie slicks tha