Rights battle over Polaroid sale

Former judge urges artists to go to court over original contracts before June auction Instant art snaps: Polaroid photos by Lucas Samaras, Chuck Close and Andy Warhol are up for sale LONDON. A group led by a former US magistrate judge has launched an 11th hour campaign to prevent the auction of photographs from the Polaroid collection. Judge Sam Joyner and others are working towards filing a motion for a rehearing at the Minnesota bankruptcy court that awarded sale rights to...

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Stolen Juan Gris painting recovered by FBI

A sting operation in Florida ends a six-year case that started with a break-in at a private home in St Louis, Missouri A dramatic six-year-long case of a stolen art work is nearing its end following an FBI sting operation. The FBI has announced that a Juan Gris painting, stolen in 2004, has been recovered in Florida and a suspect, Robert Dibartolo, has been charged with transportation of the stolen art work. According to the criminal complaint and affidavit cited by the FBI and the United States Attorney for the Southern District...

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Celine leaves €1m to her daughter, But killer husband will get half shareof three homes and bank account

 BUSINESSWOMAN Celine Cawley, killed by her husband Eamonn Lillis at their Dublin home in 2008, has left her young daughter a €1m legacy. The 17-year-old will inherit her mother's net estate totalling €1,059,988.06 when she turns 18 later this year, the Irish Independent has learned. Ms Cawley (46) was a highly successful TV and cinema advertising executive who ran her own firm, Toytown Films. Mr Lillis also worked there. Probate papers show she made a will in 1993 just two...

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Top 10 Bar Exam Passer

One out of 4 bar examinees passed the 2009 Philippine Bar Exam, with 1,451 passers out of a total of 5,903 examinees. The passing rate is 24.58%, higher than last year’s 20.58%. September 2009 TOP 10 Bar Examinees 1. Yebra, Reinier Paul R. (San Beda College) – 84.80% 2. Tapic, Charlene Mae C. (San Beda College) – 84.60% 3. Lim, John Paul T. (Ateneo de Manila University) – 84.50% 4. Lagos, Caroline P. (University of the Philippines) – 84.40% 5. Tan, Eric David C. (Ateneo de Manila University) – 84.05% 6. Gonzalez, Yves-Randolph P. (Ateneo...

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Architect came close

 The top architects behind Thomond Park have become the latest high-profile victim of the property bust, it was revealed. Award-winning Murray O Laoire Architects has collapsed with the loss of 127 jobs in offices in Dublin, Cork and Limerick as well as Moscow, Bratislava in Slovakia and Aachen in Germany. The firm also had a presence in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Barbados and Abu Dhabi. Directors of the company, set up in 1979 by Hugh Murray and Sean O Laoire, blamed mounting debts...

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Belfast New Hub

A major new transport hub for both buses and trains could be bound for Belfast city centre, the government announced. The all-in-one facility would be built in the area around Great Victoria Street and the Grosvenor Road that currently houses separate bus and rail stations and adjacent land owned by operator Translink. Transport Minister Conor Murphy said he had reached an agreement with Translink and the Strategic Investment Board to explore the opportunities for the integrated hub. Mr...

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Fast Food Chain staff held after raid

A raid targeting illegal immigration led to the arrests of 21 Phoenix-area McDonald's workers, and authorities were still seeking 30 other employees as part of their investigation. Those arrested during the raid of four McDonald's in three Arizona cities were being held on suspicion of identity theft. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says it will take more time to determine whether any of them are illegal immigrants as officials suspect. Deputies also searched a mansion in the tony...

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Novelty Tshirts rub salt in wounds of the faithful

Within hours of the court decision paving the way for Good Friday drinking, Limerick traders rushed to cash in on the move with special T-shirts. But the garments are sure to rile some Catholics, such as one that reads "Officially bigger than the Catholic Church, Munster Rugby". Others produced by the Repeat Style T-Shirt shop read "Mass will now take place at Thomond Park", while two others showed showed Christ dressed in a Munster shirt and described as "The 16th Man". "We have no bishop,...

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GM calls recall

General Motors is recalling about 5,000 heavy-duty Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans because of a faulty alternator. The carmaker also halted sales of the vans. It also stopped production of them until it can fix the problem. GM spokesman Alan Adler said there were no injuries related to the recall. Purchasers of the recalled vans, built in February and March, are urged to stop driving them and park them outside away from buildings and other vehicles. It is rare for a carmaker...

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Press Jailed because of Insult

A district court judge convicted a newspaper editorial writer of insulting the head of the Ecuador government's National Financial Corporation and sentenced him to three years in prison. Emilio Palacio, who works for the newspaper El Universo, also was ordered to pay legal costs of 10,000 US dollars. The case centred on an August 27 editorial that made fun of official Camilo Saman for supposedly sending bodyguards to the newspaper to complain about a news story. While a group of people...

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Thailand Protest Continue

Tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters threatened to force soldiers from the historic heart of Thailand's capital, raising tensions in what so far has been a non violent bid to bring down the government. Riding on motorcycles and in pick up trucks, protesters travelled in a noisy parade to seven locations including the Bangkok zoo and Buddhist temples being used by soldiers as temporary camps. Some of the soldiers packed their belongings and left to avoid clashes, drawing raucous...

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AT&T Join Health Care Bill

AT&T on Friday said it will record a $1 billion non-cash expense in the first quarter related to the newly passed health care law, joining a growing list of large U.S. companies. The AT&T write-down is the largest reported so far. Caterpillar this week recorded a $100 million charge in the first quarter and Deere & Co. said it will report a one-time $150 million expense. Among its many changes, the new health care law eliminated a tax deduction that companies used to cut the...

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11 killed in US trailer crash

Police in the US said the death toll rose to 11 in a crash between a tractor-trailer and a church van in Kentucky. The dead included an engaged couple and several members of their families. State police Trooper Charles Swiney said two children survived the crash. After the collision, the truck smashed into a rock wall and burst into flames. The driver, the lone occupant, was also killed. A pastor for the party said they were travelling to a wedding in Iowa, and the engaged couple planned...

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Arenas on House Arrest?

No jail. But no round-the-clock freedom, either, for Gilbert Arenas. The judge found a halfway point - literally - between prison and probation Friday when he sentenced the three-time NBA all-star to 30 days in a halfway house for bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker-room. Arenas remained expressionless as District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin described a litany of conditions associated with the sentence - two years of probation, a US$5,000 fine, 400 hours...

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Russia - US Nuke Progress

“We are, I think, very close to having an agreement on a START treaty, but won’t have one until President Obama and his counterpart, [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev, have a chance to speak,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at a press briefing March 24. The two leaders are expected to confer by telephone March 26. The United States and Russia have been negotiating a new treaty to replace the expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, signed in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev....

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Vettel show power in Australia

Red Bull-Renault’s Sebastian Vettel has claimed pole position for the Australian Grand Prix.The German beat off his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber to take his seventh career F1 pole.Vettel clocked a fastest lap in the third and final qualifying stage of one minute 23.919 seconds, just 0.116sec ahead of Australian Webber.Ferrari’s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain was third fastest and will start on the inside of the second row of the race grid with reigning world champion...

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"24" Last Season

Jack Bauer's latest rough day will be his last on TV. FOX drama "24" will conclude with its current eighth season, star Mary Lynn Rajskub Tweeted on Friday, breaking the news. "Just found out we got the word officially," she Tweeted. "This is 24's last season." FOX later confirmed the news, calling it a joint decision between "24" star and executive producer, Kiefer Sutherland, and showrunner Howard Gordon. "This has been the role of a lifetime, and I will never be able to fully...

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Chaves Crticize US on Media Arrest

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday defended the arrest of a major TV channel owner, calling him a criminal and denying the government is carrying out an assault on press freedom. The back-to-back arrests this week of two government opponents — including the owner of Venezuela's only remaining anti-Chavez TV channel — have drawn accusations that Chavez is growing increasingly intolerant and authoritarian as his popular support has slipped. Opposition...

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Gaza Assault

Two Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian civilian were killed Friday as a gunbattle between troops and Palestinian militants widened into some of the fiercest fighting in the Gaza Strip since Israel's military offensive there last year. Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers confirmed their gunmen were involved in Friday's violence — marking a shift from the group's tendency over the past year to avoid confrontation with Israeli forces. Palestinian groups did not confirm the Israeli military's...

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The Vatican Problem

The Vatican is facing one of its gravest crises of modern times as sex abuse scandals move ever closer to Pope Benedict XVI — threatening not only his own legacy but also that of his revered predecessor. Benedict took a much harder stance on sex abuse than John Paul II when he assumed the papacy five years ago, disciplining a senior cleric championed by the Polish pontiff and defrocking others under a new policy of zero tolerance. But the impression remains...

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Slashing Nukes Talk

The U.S. and Russia sealed the first major nuclear weapons treaty in nearly two decades Friday, agreeing to slash the former Cold War rivals' warhead arsenals by nearly one-third and talking hopefully of eventually ridding a fearful world of nuclear arms altogether. President Barack Obama said the pact was part of an effort to "reset" relations with Russia that have been badly frayed. And at home the agreement gave him the biggest foreign policy achievement of his presidency,...

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Iraq Polls Results

Former U.S.-backed prime minister Ayad Allawi and his secular, anti-Iranian coalition narrowly won Iraq's parliamentary elections in final returns Friday, edging out the bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who angrily vowed to challenge the results. If Allawi's coalition remains on top, it will get the first opportunity to form a parliamentary majority and Iraq's next government, and complete his emergence from what once appeared to be the political graveyard. But they...

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South Korean Naval Sink Near North Korea

Hopes faded Saturday for the rescue of 46 sailors missing 12 hours after an explosion occurred on a South Korean military ship that sank in one of the country's worst naval disasters, even as authorities continued searching the murky waters near the sea border with rival North Korea. Navy and coast guard vessels, as well as air force planes, were combing the waters near South Korea's Baengnyeong Island where the 1,200-ton Cheonan sank early Saturday in bad weather and rough...

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