Comic strip journalist calls it quits after 70 years of reportingBrenda Starr was born June 30, 1940, full-grown into a big-city newspaper office where she was an oddity, a female reporter.Also gorgeous, a fiery redhead, as they say, with a glamorous if out-of-place wardrobe. Straight away Brenda Starr demanded respect in a man’s world, insisting on hard-hitting news assignments.Hers was a call to

Books Jan. 26, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Sir Elton John is “fed up” with being a treated like a “second-class citizen” in the U.S.That’s why the 63-year-old gay singer said he took a stand last week during a performance at a private Beverly Hills fundraiser for the ongoing legal challenge to California’s gay marriage ban. The outspoken British piano man, who became a parent to a baby boy on Christmas Day with partner D

People Jan. 24, 2011

EL TARTER, Andorra (AP) ― It is less than 32 kilometers from border to border. It has two heads of state, a bishop from Spain and the president of France, but its official language is Catalan. Its mountains rise higher than 2,745 meters, and they accommodate some 20 kilometers of ski slopes.This is Andorra, a tiny landlocked principality that is almost all vertical, tucked in the eastern Pyrenees

Travel Jan. 21, 2011

MADRID (AFP) ― A new hotel has opened in the heart of Madrid proudly declaring that it is complete rubbish.More of a wooden shack than a five-star establishment, the walls of the Beach Garbage Hotel are strewn with detritus dragged up by the tide, recovered from landfills or snapped up at flea markets.Among the wall decorations: plastic drums, wooden frames, musical instruments, striped socks, tir

Travel Jan. 21, 2011

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

Film Jan. 21, 2011

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

Books Jan. 20, 2011

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

Film Jan. 20, 2011

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

Performance Jan. 20, 2011

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

Performance Jan. 20, 2011

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

Television Jan. 19, 2011

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

Travel Jan. 18, 2011

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

People Jan. 17, 2011