A Hong Kong auction offering the chance to dine with world-renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adria, known for his revolutionary "molecular cuisine", has fetched a winning bid of over $28,000, Sotheby's said Thursday.
The "vigorous" bidding war started with an offer of HK$40,000 ($5,000) and ended with a winning bid of HK$220,500 ($28,269) when the hammer fell in the southern Chinese city Wednesday, according to the auction house.

Michael Jackson's jailed former doctor refused Tuesday to testify at a trial in which the singer's mother is seeking massive damages from tour promoters she blames for hiring the medic.
Commenting as jury selection began for the wrongful death civil trial between Katherine Jackson and AEG Live, Conrad Murray said he is appealing his 2011 involuntary manslaughter conviction and does not want to incriminate himself.

A man was jailed for life on Wednesday for plotting to rob and kill British pop star Joss Stone with an accomplice and dump her body in a river.
Kevin Liverpool, 35, and his co-accused Junior Bradshaw, 32 -- who will be sentenced at a later date -- were arrested in June 2011 a few miles (kilometers) from Stone's rural home in the county of Devon, southwest England.

Veteran U.S. late-night TV host Jay Leno will bow out after 22 years on the "Tonight Show" next year, making way for the young star Jimmy Fallon, NBC announced Wednesday.
Confirming weeks of reports, the broadcaster said production of the iconic show will move from Los Angeles to New York, where Fallon's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" is already made.

Veteran Indian actor and director Manoj Kumar has filed a lawsuit against Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan for releasing a popular 2007 film in Japan without deleting scenes that make fun of him.
Kumar is seeking 1 billion rupees ($18.5 million) in damages from Khan and Eros International, the producers of the film, "Om Shanti Om."

A sequel to animated fish saga "Finding Nemo" is set to splash onto the big screen in North America in November 2015, Disney Pixar announced Tuesday.
"Finding Dory" will focus on the character brought to life by the voice of comedian and TV host Ellen DeGeneres, which swam its way into the hearts of young and old in the 2003 original animated hit.

Epic medieval-fantasy drama series "Game of Thrones" will return for a fourth season, U.S. cable channel HBO confirmed on Tuesday.
The critically acclaimed show -- which chronicles the myriad power struggles in the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos -- returned for its third season on March 31.

Ageing Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias Monday said he may never be "in" but at least he can still draw a crowd, as he was given an award in Beijing as the world's best-selling male Latin artist.
The 69-year-old, who has sold more than 300 million records worldwide, was in China ahead of a three-show tour of the country, where he remains hugely popular due to his inoffensive, idealistic brand of singing.

Officials in West Virginia are investigating the death of a 21-year-old reality TV star after his body was found Monday in a vehicle on an remote logging road.
Cable network MTV said on its website that Shain Gandee, 21, from its hit series "Buckwild," was among three people found dead inside a Ford Bronco a day after he went missing.

Supermodel Heidi Klum plunged into the ocean to save her seven-year-old son from drowning during their vacation in Hawaii, U.S. media reported Monday.
The German model, also well-known for her reality television show "Project Runway," said her son, Henry, and two nannies were swept away by a big wave on the beach in Oahu on March 31.
