NEW YORK (AP) ― “It’s shocking, I know,” says Gloria Steinem, allowing herself a wry grin.And for once, the author, activist and feminist icon isn’t talking about a case of gender inequity at home or a human rights violation across the globe. This time, she’s talking about her age.Steinem is 77, and

People Aug. 15, 2011

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) ― Elvis Presley fans love an anniversary.Every year, thousands of Elvis devotees flock to Memphis to remember the singer’s death on Aug. 16, 1977. The main event of “Elvis Week” is the solemn candlelight vigil at Graceland, his longtime home, at midnight Tuesday.This year, fa

Performance Aug. 15, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― On a “King Lear” day, the torture starts early in the morning for Greg Hicks.Even before the actor opens his eyes in his hotel room, the lines of Shakespeare’s great play come coursing through his brain like some dastardly internal alarm clock, more fiendish than any real one. And th

Performance Aug. 14, 2011

NEW DELHI (AP) ― A star-filled Bollywood film on India’s caste system churned up passionate debate as it opened Friday, with angry lower caste groups trying to torpedo its release, saying it reinforces social prejudices against them.The furor makes clear that caste ― the millennia-old Hindu custom t

Film Aug. 14, 2011

MACHU PICCHU, Peru ― At the top of the mountain, where an attendant will take your $46 ticket, foot traffic is steady and cellphone reception is excellent.At the bottom of the same mountain, the town teems with pizzerias, tourists chatter in half a dozen languages and a school band director is herdi

Travel Aug. 12, 2011

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other influential figures in Seoul on Wednesday for the opening of photo exhibition aimed at rallying support for the United Nations’ development goals.Hosted by Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s key wire service, the show features more than 80 award-winning

Performance Aug. 10, 2011

For the past six years, Korean and American university students have gathered at Ewha Womens University to participate in the Harvard Summer School in Seoul program. This summer, the program offered for the first time “Cinema Seoul: Documenting Korea Through Film,” a course that presented students w

Film Aug. 8, 2011

Lee Ho-lim, like all the other Templestay participants at Myogaksa in the last weekend of July, stood before the staff and the other visitors to introduce himself. Describing how he chose the English nickname of “Tiger Woods,” he explained that “Ho” is the first syllable for the big cat’s Korean nam

Culture Aug. 5, 2011

PHOENIX (AP) ― From the sandhill crane to the red-faced warbler, rock stars of the birding world have spawned a tourism industry in Arizona that draws bird-watchers from around the world.“It’s one of the two or three best places in the United States to look for birds,” said David Pashley of the Amer

Travel Aug. 5, 2011

Say what? A Sauvignon Blanc from Burgundy? Under $15?I was skeptical. But when I tasted the 2009 Saint-Bris from Domaine Bersan, I understood why Saint-Bris is the only appellation in Burgundy where the required grape is Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp and bone dry, Bersan’s Saint-Bris has an enticing minera

Food Aug. 5, 2011