DiCaprio's wildlife charity auction brings in $38.8 million

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Christie's auction house raised $38.8 million through a charity art auction and donations, Christie's said last week, with proceeds to benefit environmental and conservation causes. The 33 works in The 11th Hour Auction organized by the star of the new film The Great Gatsby sold for $31.74 million and set 13 records for artists including Carol Bove, Joe Bradley, Mark Grotjahn, Raymond Pettibon and Mark Ryden among others.

After Bieber's S Africa show, thieves steal $330,000

Robbers equipped with ropes, hammers and chisels broke into a strong-room at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium after a Justin Bieber concert and made off with 3 million rand ($330,000) in cash, local media and police said last week. An officer from the nearby Booysens police station in the sprawling Soweto township said officials at the stadium, which hosted the final of the 2010 soccer World Cup, only realized the cash was missing the next day.

Japan's stand-up restaurants head for New York debut

Japan's popular standing restaurants, where patrons eat food by former Michelin-starred restaurant chefs for a fraction of the cost at a seated restaurant, are about to hit New York. Michio Yasuda, an executive director at Oreno Corporation, which owns and runs 18 restaurants in Tokyo, hopes New Yorkers who are happy to drink while standing at bars will also be happy to eat while standing.

Astronaut's Space Oddity music video goes viral

A music video shot aboard the International Space Station went viral last week, turning an astronaut into an overnight music sensation with his zero-gravity version of David Bowie's hit Space Oddity. As the first Canadian to command the space station, a $100-million project of 15 nations, Chris Hadfield had already earned himself a place in the history books.

Eating insects could help fight obesity, UN says

The thought of eating beetles, caterpillars and ants may give you the creeps, but the authors of a new UN report say the health benefits of consuming nutritious insects could help fight obesity. More than 1,900 species of insects are eaten around the world, mainly in Africa and Asia, but people in the West generally turn their noses up at the likes of grasshoppers, termites and other crunchy fare.

US man on quest to dribble soccer ball to Rio hit by car

A man less than two weeks into a planned journey to dribble a soccer ball from his home city of Seattle to Brazil, the host nation for the 2014 World Cup, died on Tuesday after being struck by a car in Oregon, police and the man's supporters said. Richard Swanson, 42, was struck as he walked on the shoulder of a road on the outskirts of Lincoln City just east of the Oregon coast, a police spokesman said. Swanson's soccer ball was found nearby.

Hitting the highway loses appeal for young Americans

For six decades, Americans have tended to drive more every year. But in the middle of the last decade, the number of miles driven - both over all and per capita - began to drop, notes a report to be published on Tuesday by US Pirg, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

People tend to drive less during recessions, since fewer people are working (and commuting), and most are looking for ways to save money. But Phineas Baxandall, an author of the report and senior analyst for US Pirg, said the changes preceded the recent recession and appeared to be part of a structural shift that is largely rooted in changing demographics, especially the rise of so-called millennials - today's teenagers and 20-somethings. "Millennials aren't driving cars," he said.

Reuters

(China Daily 05/19/2013 page4)