A model holds up a ring mounting a rare translucent pink diamond during a Sotheby's auction press preview in Geneva. Mounted in a ring the 10.99-carat, emerald-cut stone that is classified as "fancy intense pink" sold for a price of $10.8 million(7.6 million Euro) during a Sotheby's auction in Geneva on May 17. (Yonhap News)GENEVA (AFP) - An extremely rare translucent pink diamond fetched a price

Lady Gaga, center, performs on the Main Stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, held at Carlisle Airport, Britain Sunday, May 15, 2011. (AP-Yonhap News)WASHINGTON (AFP) - Pop diva Lady Gaga has become the first person with more than 10 million followers on Twitter."@ladygaga just reached 10 million. Wow!" the San Francisco-based micro-blogging service said in a "tweet" on Monday.Lady Gaga had 10.06 mi

Fendi, Fall 2008 CollectionSEOUL, May 16, 2011 (AFP) - South Korea's capital city has told Italian fashion house Fendi to remove all fur items from a show of its fall/winter collection due to complaints from animal rights groups, officials said Monday."We have received complaints from animal rights activists and saw negative public opinion on the Internet... we can't let such a controversial thing

(MCT)SHANGHAI (AP) _ China's largest city is setting a limit of one dog per family in an effort to gain control over the soaring pet population and curb rabies.Cao Yi already was walking her dogs at 11 p.m., hoping to avoid trouble both with neighbors and with the authorities over her brown poodle and golden retriever.``I'm afraid one of the dogs might be taken away,'' she said.The rule that takes

Actress Gianna Jun poses on the red carpet before the screening of "The Artist" presented in competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2011 in Cannes. 웨인 왕 감독의 영화 '설화와 비밀의 부채'의 프로모션을 위해 제64회 칸 국제영화제를 처음으로 찾은 전지현은 칸 영화제 메인 상영관인 뤼미에르 극장에서 진행된 영화 'The Artist'의 레드카펫 행사에 참석했다. Photos by AP-Yonhap NewsActress Li Bing BingActress Uma Thurman blows a kiss as she arrives for the screening of

A rocket-propelled grenade exploded in the air near a base for South Korea's aid workers and troops in Afghanistan on Sunday, but no casualties were reported, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.The grenade exploded outside the base in the city of Charika in northern Afghanistan at 10:40 p.m., the ministry said. The base has come under rocket attack eight times this year, raising concerns about t

K.J. Choi holds up his trophy after winning The Players Championship golf tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. Sunday, May 15, 2011. Choi finished 13-under par and won on the first hole of the playoff, defeating David Toms. (AP-Yonhap News)South Korean golfer Choi Kyoung-ju won The Players Championship in the U.S. state of Florida on Sunday after nudging American David Toms in a playoff, becoming

South Korea pop singer and movie star Jung Ji-Hoon, also known as Rain, smiles during a news conference in Macau Saturday, May 14, 2011 as Rain will hold his concert in Macau May 14. (AP-Yonhap News)MACAU (AP) -– In nine years, Rain has gone from an unknown backup dancer to one of Asia‘s hottest stars. The South Korean actor-singer also has two Hollywood movies to his credit.But his thriving enter

In this photo released Friday by the FREEDLAND Fundation, a leopard cub looks out from a cage after being confiscated by Thai authorities at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport.  (AP-Yonhap News)Authorities at Thailand's international airport arrested a first-class passenger Friday whose suitcases were filled with baby leopards, panthers, a bear and monkeys. The animals had been drugged a

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, speaks during a news briefing at the 2010 WB/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington. (AP-Yonhap News)NEW YORK (AP) ― The leader of the International Monetary Fund and a possible candidate for president of France was pulled from an airplane moments before he was to fly to Paris and was being questioned Saturday by police in connection with the sexual assault

Police investigates two explosions at transportation centers in Seoul. Police said they have arrested three men on suspicion of setting explosives in lockers of two major Seoul transportation hubs. (Yonhap News)Police said Sunday they have arrested three men on suspicion of triggering a string of explosions involving what appeared to be butane gas that struck two major Seoul transportation hubs. P

As Daejeon is likley to be the site to host science research centers, other candidate cities protest against government's decision. (Yonhap News)The central city of Daejeon is likely to be the site to host a 3.5 trillion won (US$3.2 billion) science belt the government is pushing to build over the next seven years, a government official said Saturday.A government-private committee will announce th

High-speed KTX-Sancheon train was launched in March, 2011. (Yonhap News)CHILGOK - A high-speed KTX-Sancheon train from Seoul abruptly stopped Saturday in the southern part of the country for nearly an hour due to an apparent malfunction in its brake system, officials said.The train came to an unscheduled halt at 3:13 p.m. near Gimcheon, some 234 kilometer south of Seoul, on its way to Masan on the

Police are investigating two explosions at Seoul Station and Gangnam Express Bus Terminal about 30 minutes apart on Thursday.There have been no reports of injuries yet from the two blasts, officials said.The explosions caused chaos with citizens hurriedly leaving the two public transportation hubs. Police have not ruled out the possibility of terrorism, officials said.The blast at the bus terminal

Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome at Google Inc., speaks during a keynote address at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. Google Inc.'s new Chromebook line of laptops, manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co. and Acer Inc., will go on sale next month, furthering the company's push into computer hardware. (Bloomberg-Yonhap News)SAN FR

(MCT)ROME (AFP) - Rome had an empty feeling on Wednesday with some 20 percent of its somewhat superstitious residents failing to show up for work or going to school because of a prophecy predicting a devastating earthquake."Twenty percent of Romans didn't go to work today. On the other hand hotels and agritourism facilities have had a boom in bookings," said Primo Mastrantoni, head of the Associat

 

In this comic book cover released by Bluewater Productions Inc., an issue of "Fame" featuring singer Britney Spears, is shown. (AP-Yonhap News)PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Britney Spears is no stranger to music buyers and concert-goers. Now, her star power will be on display with web-slingers, shape shifters and superheroes.The pop music star is the subject of a new one-shot comic book courtesy of Bluewate

Renowned Korean author says he will resume podcast soon but never return to TwitterKorean author Kim Young-ha in New York  (Kim Yoon-mi/The Korea Herald)NEW YORK ― It has been quite a while since Korean novelist Kim Young-ha was last heard from. Apparently burned by the heated online debates over systemic problems in Korea’s literary scene and the tragic death of aspiring screenwriter Choi Go-eun,