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German auction house pulls disputed painting - 11/21/2009
A German auction house says it has withdrawn from sale a painting that the Max Stern estate claims was one of hundreds the Jewish art dealer was forced to sell off by the Nazis. Karl-Sax Feddersen, responsible for legal affairs at the Duesseldorf-based Lempertz auction house, said the picture by Alexander Adriaenssen had been pulled f

"Going Rogue" is going big - 11/20/2009
"Going Rogue" is going big. Publisher HarperCollins said Friday that Sarah Palin's memoir sold 300,000 copies its first day, among the best openings ever for a nonfiction book. In 2004, Bill Clinton's "My Life" debuted with sales of 400,000 copies. The year before, Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Living History"

Heidi Klum wows crowd at Victoria's Secret show - 11/20/2009
Heidi Klum and her post-baby body led the parade at the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show, which returned to New York with some fresh faces after four years on the road. The lingerie retailer inducted five more women into its "Angel" ranks _ a designation reserved for top models _ in front of a packed house Thursday nigh

Palin's book tour to include stop at Fort Hood - 11/20/2009
Sarah Palin's tour to promote her new memoir will include a stop at Fort Hood to benefit the victims of the shooting rampage and their families. An updated schedule for the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and former Alaska governor includes a Dec. 4 visit to the sprawling Texas post where an Army psychiatrist is accused of k

Top SKorean model found dead at Paris apartment - 11/20/2009
A top South Korean model who was a fixture at fashion week in Paris and London was found dead at her apartment in Paris, an official said Friday. Daul Kim, 20, was found dead Thursday by French police, a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said. The official declined to provide further details and asked not to be named, citing ministry

Latin American art fair in the Big Apple - 11/20/2009
The only art fair in the United States featuring works exclusively from Latin American artists is under way in New York and drawing artists, collectors and museum representatives from around the world to the PINTA art fair. "We're reaching an international market from this cultural capital," said Alejandro Zaia, vice preside

Army limits media access at Palin event at NC base - 11/19/2009
The U.S. Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, but will bar reporters from interviewing her or her supporters on the post, officials said Thursday. A Fort Bragg spokesman initially said the Army would ban the media from Palin's book signing next week, fearing it would turn into political

WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST-SELLERS - 11/19/2009
FICTION 1. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King (Scribner) 2. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books) 3. "Ford County: Stories" by John Grisham (Doubleday) 4. "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown (Doubleday) 5. "The Help" by Kath

WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST-SELLERS - 11/19/2009
FICTION 1. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King (Scribner) 2. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books) 3. "Ford County: Stories" by John Grisham (Doubleday) 4. "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown (Doubleday) 5. "The Help" by Kath

BC-US--Best Sellers-Books-USAToday - 11/19/2009
Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback 1. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King (Scribner) (F-H) 2. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books) (F-H) 3. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-P) 4. "Push

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS - 11/19/2009
HARDCOVER FICTION 1. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King (Scribner) 2. "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown (Doubleday) 3. "Ford County: Stories" by John Grisham (Doubleday) 4. "The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time)" by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson (TOR Books) <

Winning author tells story of civil rights pioneer - 11/19/2009
Maine author Phillip Hoose said winning a National Book Award for his chronicle of a young civil rights pioneer was all the more moving because she took the stage with him when he accepted the honor. Hoose won the young people's literature award for "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" at the 60th annual National Book Aw

Parker-Broderick surrogate takes stand in Ohio - 11/19/2009
The woman who bore twin girls for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick says she was living in a West Virginia motel around the time a police chief is accused of breaking into her eastern Ohio home. Michelle Ross says ultrasound photos and tax information were gone when she returned, and that some items were misplaced, including

Golden cross in Vatican's collection gets new look - 11/19/2009
One of the gems of the Vatican's priceless religious art collection _ a 6th century reliquary containing what is revered as fragments of the cross on which Jesus was crucified _ has been restored to its Byzantine-era glory. The Vatican on Thursday unveiled the restored Crux Vaticana, a foot-high (40-centimeter-high) jewel-encrusted go

Kate Moss criticized after skinny-is-good remark - 11/19/2009
Eating disorder experts criticized Kate Moss on Thursday after the supermodel cited as her motto a phrase used on Web sites that encourage girls to avoid eating. In an interview with the fashion Web site WWD, Moss said one of her mottos was "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." The same slogan is posted on Web

Anatomy drawings owned by Ben Franklin on display - 11/19/2009
Rare anatomical drawings that once belonged to Benjamin Franklin are on display in a new exhibit at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The 16 pastel drawings were cutting edge in their day. They show internal organs, bones and muscles of male and female subjects. They were given as a gift to Franklin in 1762 from a doct

Artist Jeanne-Claude dies; co-created 'The Gates' - 11/19/2009
Artist Jeanne-Claude, who created the 2005 Central Park installation "The Gates" and other large scale "wrapping" projects around the globe with her husband Christo, has died. She was 74. Jeanne-Claude died Wednesday night at a New York hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm, her family said in an e-mail s

Colum McCann novel wins national award for fiction - 11/19/2009
The 60th annual National Book Awards was a night to celebrate literature and to wonder about its future. Lifetime achievement winner Gore Vidal envisioned only pulp and dust Wednesday as he contemplated the state of books, while fellow honorary winner Dave Eggers declared that we live in a golden age. The evening's host, Andy Borowitz

Hundreds cheer Palin in Mich. for book tour - 11/18/2009
College students ditched class, employees skipped work and some huddled in the cold overnight just to make sure they get an orange wristband Wednesday that would let them meet Sarah Palin. A line of more than a thousand people _ some sporting Palin Power stickers and Palin T-shirts _ moved slowly into a Barnes & Noble store Wednes

Big Hubble instruments now Smithsonian artifacts - 11/18/2009
Two instruments that helped save the Hubble Space Telescope from failure in 1993 were recently returned to Earth and are going on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The first phase of a new human spaceflight gallery opens Thursday at the museum on the National Mall. The new "Moving Beyond Earth" gall