A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Thieves make off with Picasso sketch
MADRID – Spanish thieves stole a truck containing 28 works of art worth millions last week, including a sketch by Pablo Picasso, Madrid police reported yesterday.
The art works – worth €2.7 million – had come from an exhibition recently held in Germany and belonged to six galleries based in Madrid, Barcelona and the German city of Cologne, police said in a release. The truck was later found not far from the scene on Tuesday. – (Reuters)
Potato diet man loses 20lbs
SEATTLE – The head of the Washington State Potato Commission has neared the end of a self-imposed diet of only potatoes that he said had allowed him to shed more than 20lbs (9kg) in two months.
Chris Voigt (45) began his diet to protest at a US department of agriculture rule barring low-income recipients of food vouchers from using their benefits to purchase white potatoes.
Mr Voigt says his diet helped him lower his blood sugar, cut his total cholesterol by over a third, and reduce his weight from 197 to 176lbs. He plans to end the diet on Monday at midnight. – (Reuters)
Record art and collectibles sale as Chinese millionaires spend
HONG KONG – Christie’s sold a record $409 million (€309.5 million) worth of Chinese art and collectibles at its autumn Asian sales that ended in Hong Kong yesterday in another sign of strong demand for high-end Asian and Chinese art.
The tally was the auction house’s best in a single Hong Kong auction season, powered by the purchasing power of mainland Chinese millionaires who made up 40 per cent or so of sales. “There was significant participation again from Chinese bidders. It was a perfect storm of great property and hungry demand, said Jonathan Stone, Christie’s Asia managing director. – (Reuters)
Fans pray before Franklin surgery
DETROIT – Soul singer Aretha Franklin was scheduled to undergo surgery yesterday for an undisclosed reason, a Detroit City Council member who organised a prayer vigil for the “Queen of Soul” said.
Franklin (68), a multiple Grammy award winner, in early November cancelled her concert and personal appearances until May 2011 on the orders of her doctors.
Councilwoman Jo Ann Watson said she had organised a prayer vigil held on Wednesday for the singer to bring “people who know and love and admire Ms Franklin” together. Franklin sang at President Obama’s 2009 inauguration. – (Reuters)