A young woman grabs the microphone and yells: "Listen to the new generation of Afghans!" In the crowd throngs of young men leap about, shaking their fists. On this October night, Kabul awakens to rock 'n' roll.
The timing of a unique rock festival held in Kabul this week is highly symbolic for the war-torn capital -- 11 years ago this month the Taliban was routed by a U.S.-led invasion, having banned music and erased women's rights.

South Korean rapper Psy will perform his global hit "Gangnam Style" at a free concert in Seoul on Thursday that is expected to draw 50,000 fans, with millions more watching live on YouTube.
The two-hour concert, dubbed "Seoul Style", has been promoted as a personal "thank you" from the 34-year-old singer to his home fans, following his improbable rise to international stardom.

Honeycomb dresses, insect-like visors and caramel corsets cinching their waists, designer Sarah Burton sent a procession of queen bees buzzing into Paris at the Alexander McQueen spring-summer show on Tuesday.
Guests waiting for the show to begin were greeted by a giant screen with nature footage that morphed and spun kaleidoscope-like into the symmetrical patterns beloved of the designer.

After being buried alive, nearly drowned and frozen in an ice cube, U.S. magician and daredevil David Blaine is going electric -- a million volts of electricity aimed right at him for three days.
Starting Friday in New York, he'll stand on a pillar without sleep or food for 72 hours with nothing but a special metal suit protecting him from being zapped.

Chanel's veteran designer, with trademark humor, thus summed up an important message of this Paris season.
The iconic house's fun, young collection headlined the penultimate day of Paris' spring-summer 2013 show.

Arnold Schwarzenegger says he still hopes to salvage his marriage despite admitting multiple affairs, including one in which fathered a child with the family housekeeper.
And, in a tell-all memoir published Monday, he insists he is "still in love" with Maria Shriver, his wife of 25 years who filed for divorce after he admitted he was the child's father.

Cascada Village is determined to bring back the glory days of the Bekaa! It is therefore proud to announce its main sponsorship of the Bekaa Mobile Film Festival which is committed to discover talented youth from the Bekaa Valley, a press release said Tuesday.
The film festival, exclusively open to people residing or from the Bekaa, invites passionate film makers from all ages and backgrounds to submit creative 1-3 minute videos of any genre of their choice, ranging from romance and drama to documentary, science fiction, and animation.

British Grammy-winning singer Adele said Monday she will perform the theme song for the upcoming James Bond movie "Skyfall", following in the footsteps of artists including Shirley Bassey and Madonna.
Adele's official website announced that it would premiere the song at 12:07 am London time on Friday (2307 GMT Thursday) and gave fans the opportunity to pre-order it first.

Country star Jason Aldean has apologized to fans after pictures of him acting "inappropriately" last week popped up.
Aldean tweeted Sunday that he wanted to talk to fans directly instead of letting gossip websites tell his story. The tweet comes after photos appeared showing Aldean and former "American Idol" contestant Brittany Kerr together at a bar last Wednesday in Los Angeles. In one photo, they appear to kiss.

Drew Barrymore is a mom.
The 37-year-old actress and her husband, Will Kopelman, welcomed a baby girl named Olive Barrymore Kopelman on Sept. 26.
