World Scene

Penn turns actors' eyes to Haiti crisis

Guests at Cannes bid up to $255,656 at a Haiti fundraiser for items including a Bono-autographed guitar as the film festival's recent glitzy, global spotlight turned to charity.

It was the first time the French Riviera festival has attracted attention for a cause not connected with a movie.

Actor Sean Penn, director Paul Haggis and model Petra Nemcova brought their individual charities together for a black-tie dinner to benefit their organizations and renew attention to the Caribbean country. Designer Giorgio Armani co-hosted the gala.

Are sweaty brokers more ethical?

If you want to know how ethical your broker is, give them a moral dilemma and see how much they sweat before deciding what to do. It's quite a jump from the laboratory to real-world decisions about asset management but British researchers have found that gut feeling can override rational thought when people are faced with financial offers that look unfair.

'Rice balls' sharpen Japanese skills

Japan athletes have come up with a novel way of preparing themselves for this year's London Olympic men's soccer tournament - training with odd-bouncing triangular 'rice balls.' The balls, shaped like the traditional Japanese onigiri rice ball wrapped in seaweed, were fired at goalkeepers during training last weekend, local media reported on Monday.

Foundation objects to 'blood' auction

Ronald Reagan's foundation expressed outrage last week at a British company's auction of what it says is a vial of the late US president's blood taken at the hospital where he was treated after a 1981 assassination attempt. PFC Auctions, a company based in Guernsey in the United Kingdom, announced on Sunday that it would sell the vial of blood in an online auction.

Jackson is still Bad 25 years after album

Michael Jackson's Bad returns this September with new music and never-before-seen concert video footage in the first re-release of a full album from the King of Pop's catalog since he died in 2009, his record company and estate said last week. The Bad 25 deluxe package, released on Sept 18, commemorates the 25th anniversary of the original, Grammy-winning album with hits like The Way You Make Me Feel, and it will include demos and songs that didn't make the final cut of the original version.

DHL foot couriers run during London Games

An international delivery service is turning to a team of runners to beat the London Olympics crush.

With close to 5 million visitors expected for the July 27 to Aug 12 games - along with stringent security measures and special Olympic lanes reserved for athletes and employees - getting around is expected to be a challenge. So, German express delivery service DHL is enlisting London-based JogPost's team of foot couriers to help make sure packages get to their recipients on time.

JogPost co-founder JJ Harding describes his 400-odd roster of largely part-time runners as "congestion-busters". During Olympic chaos and gridlock, "we'll still be able to get crucial documents to business," he says.

I spy, the secret world of espionage

The mysterious cloak-and-dagger world of international espionage and its real-life heroes and villains are exposed in a new exhibition, the first to be sanctioned by US intelligence agencies. Spy, the Secret World of Espionage, which opened this month at the Discovery Times Square museum in New York City, includes hundreds of artifacts, some from the vaults of the CIA and FBI and the National Reconnaissance Office.