"The Kennedy Curse Strikes Again," British newspaper the Independent declared when a daughter-in-law of Bobby Kennedy committed suicide last year.

It was a nod to the idea that the most closely-watched American family -- sometimes likened to American royalty -- have been struck by enough calamities that they could star in a Greek tragedy.

Technology has given readers new ways to curl up with a good book, but the latest trend in Washington is surprisingly old-school: "little libraries," stuffed with paperbacks, cropping up on front lawns.

There's no card catalogue or late fees. The informal lending libraries work under a simple principle: "take a book, return a book."

For centuries, the Malay royal title "Datuk" -- Malaysia's equivalent of "Sir" -- was a high honor that unlocked doors to the elite. But Datuks like K. Basil don't feel so special these days.

"Just throw a stone in the street and you'll hit a Datuk," complains Basil, a policeman-turned-politician and one of many who feel the awarding of the coveted titles has got out of hand in a status-obsessed Malaysian society.

It's kimchi-making season in South Korea, with households across the country preparing and laying down stocks of the ubiquitous spicy side-dish for the coming winter.

But many foreign visitors, including the most intrepid foodies, will probably leave without ever tasting a Korean-made version of the national dish of fermented, chili-soused cabbage.

An adult education center in Berlin has hung a collection of nude paintings days after censoring them out of deference to Muslim immigrants in what critics Wednesday called an overzealous bid at cultural sensitivity.

The paintings' exclusion from an exhibition Friday met with public outcry in a neighborhood where tensions were already running high after demonstrations against a new refugee center earlier this year.

A villa near Florence that inspired the author of Pinocchio is on the market for 10.5 million euros ($14 million) -- a world away from the humble workshop where the marionette is born in the book.

The 3,000-square-meter (32,000 square feet) mansion has three hectares (seven acres) of garden including a lawn known as the "Field of Miracles" where a gardener famously found a hoard of coins in the 19th century -- a story that was included in "The Adventures of Pinocchio".

South Korea's botched attempt to restore a burned-out national treasure to its 600-year old glory has triggered a bout of national hand-wringing over cultural mismanagement and the loss of traditional skills.

The destruction of the 14th century Namdaemun Gate in an arson attack in February 2008 was viewed as a national tragedy.

A triptych by British painter Francis Bacon -- "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" -- sold for $142.4 million on Tuesday, smashing the world record for the most expensive piece of art auctioned.

The work by the 20th century figurative artist, who lived from 1909 to 1992, had never before been put under the hammer until Christie's flagship evening sale. It was bought by a New York gallery.

"End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy" (William Morrow), by James Swanson

Questions remain and conspiracy theories abound 50 years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Author James Swanson takes readers on a minute-by-minute account of that fateful day in Dallas in "End of Days."

Bowing to pressure from Jewish groups and art experts, the German government made public details of paintings in a recovered trove of some 1,400 pieces of art, many of which may have been stolen by the Nazis, and said it would put together a task force to speed identification.

The German government said in a written statement that about 590 of the pieces could have been stolen by the Nazis. In a surprise move, it quickly featured some 25 of those works on the website www.lostart.de and said it would be regularly updated.