Kobe Bryant credits the return of teammates Lamar Odom and Luke Walton from injuries for making things easy for him. The All-Star MVP became the first Los Angeles player in 44 seasons to score at least 50 points in consecutive games, following a 65-point effort with 50 in the Lakers' 109-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on ­Sunday night.

Check out your local bookstore and you'll see that publishers have begun picking up on a cooking trend. You can buy the newly translated books of television's Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver.

With the spring equinox falling on March 21, it's time for Navruz. The most important event of the year for Zoroastrians, this holiday marking the vernal equinox and the onset of spring has remained a traditional celebration in lands that were historically controlled or influenced by Persians.

Straight after the debut of his ""democratic"" Dymov No. 1 chain of beer restaurants, Arkady Novikov has swung back to the more familiar field of upmarket dining with the opening of GQ Bar.

BEIJING -- The United States and North Korea have resolved a dispute over $25 million in frozen North Korean funds, clearing the way for progress in dismantling the North's nuclear programs, U.S. officials said Monday.

AYTHAYA, Myanmar -- The landscape could well be mistaken for the rolling, sun-drenched hills of Tuscany. But the monasteries perched on hilltops are Buddhist. And the workers aren't Italians with centuries of viticulture coursing through their veins, but Asian farmers new to the grape at Myanmar's first winery.

FRANKFURT -- It may trail the historic impact of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic, but the Spirit of St. Louis did not have a wingspan wider than a football field or space for more than 500 passengers.