A new exhibition hails Katharine Hepburn as a fashion icon, which at first blush seems odd given that she mostly wore her trademark khakis and open-collar shirt — decidedly unconventional especially in the 1930s when girdles and stockings were de riguer.

The fiercely independent Hepburn famously once said: "Anytime I hear a man say he prefers a woman in a skirt, I say, 'Try one. Try a skirt.'"

Residents of Arsal, a Sunni Muslim town of 40,000, say they have strong motives to help those trying to topple Syria's regime: they themselves were harassed and abused by it during three decades of de facto Syrian control of Lebanon.

But in siding with the rebels, many of them fellow Sunnis, Arsal is also deepening rifts with its Shiite Muslim neighbors in the Bekaa Valley that runs along Lebanon's eastern border with Syria. Large areas of the scenic valley are controlled by Hizbullah that is supporting and — according to the U.S. and the Syrian opposition — also fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

Electronically managed steering that completely bypasses the mechanical link of a clutch is among the new safety technology from Japanese automaker Nissan. Other vehicles are smart enough to park themselves. And some swerve automatically to avoid pedestrians.

Nissan Motor Co. Executive Vice President Mitsuhiko Yamashita said the latest safety advancements are proactive, unlike air-bags and other "passive" features that are triggered by a crash.

A glance at history suggests it's easier for a Chinese woman to orbit Earth than to land a spot on the highest rung of Chinese politics.

In June, a 33-year-old air force major marked a major feminist milestone by becoming the first Chinese woman to travel in space. With a once-a-decade leadership transition set to kick off Nov. 8, many now are waiting to see if another ambitious Chinese female, State Councilor Liu Yandong, can win one of the nine spots at the apex of Chinese power.

Bollywood stars Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan have gotten married after dating for five years.

They were wed in a small ceremony in Mumbai on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. A few friends and family members attended the ceremony at Khan's house, it said.

Televised dating might not be the right fit for Emily Maynard.

The single mom's second turn on ABC's "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" series has ended in a broken engagement.

Seven paintings by artists including Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet were stolen from a museum in Rotterdam in an early-hours heist, Dutch police said Tuesday.

The theft at the Kunsthal museum is one of the largest in years in the Netherlands, and is a stunning blow for the private Triton Foundation collection, which was being exhibited publicly as a group for the first time.

Have you spent your life hunting for the perfect wife? Maybe you have met the one but are feeling gun shy?

An Iowa jeweler is offering free rifles for husbands-to-be who spend at least $1,999 on an engagement ring at his store near Iowa City.

Judges are choosing the winner of Britain's most prestigious literary trophy from a shortlist that includes novels set in the court of King Henry VIII and the opium dens of Mumbai.

Hilary Mantel is favored to win the 50,000 pound ($82,000) Booker Prize with "Bring Up the Bodies," a tale of Tudor treachery centered on the king's right-hand man, Thomas Cromwell. It is a sequel to "Wolf Hall," for which Mantel won in 2009.

How cool is this: Johnny Depp is going to help run a publishing imprint.

Already on the list of books is one by Bob Dylan, "The Unraveled Tales of Bob Dylan," which aims to set the record straight on the songwriter's enigmatic life and career and will be based in part on interviews with Dylan by best-selling historian Douglas Brinkley.