Christie's New York art sale sets post-war contemporary record
The US art season ended with a record-breaking sales total of $412m (£259.9m) for Christie's, with records set for works by 11 artists.
Jeff Koons sculpture Tulip, which graced New York's Rockefeller Center plaza, achieved an artist record of $33.7m (£21.2m).
New records were also set for Franz Kline and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Christie's claimed the $412m figure was the most successful sale of post-war and contemporary art in history.
"This truly was an extraordinary sale," said Jussi Pylkkanen, president of Christie's Europe, Middle East and Russia.
"Clearly there's an enormous amount of energy in the post-war and contemporary market. It's highly likely that we'll see a continuation of records being broken."
Smashing record
The previous day, rival auction house Sotheby's had staged its most successful auction in its history, taking $375m (£236m).
Koons' Tulip became the second highest figure paid for a living artist, following on from Gerhard Richter's 1994 painting Abstraktes Bild, which sold in October.
Tulip was created between 1995-2004 and is one of five versions of the work.
Kline's canvas, featuring broad black strokes, sold for $40.4m (£25.4m), smashing the previous $9.3m (£5.8m) record for his work.
The Christie's sale also included Andy Warhol's Statue of Liberty, which sold for $43.7m (£27.5m).
Basquiat's untitled work from 1981 sold for $26.4m (£16.6m), beating the artist's previous record of $20.1m (£12.6m), which was only set in June.
Basquiat started out as a graffiti artist before finding fame as a contemporary artist. He died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at the age of 27.
Rothko's Red Strip sold for $23.4m (£14.7m), just a day after large-scale masterpiece No 1 (Royal Red and Blue) sold for $75.1m (£47.2m) at Sotheby's.
Justin Bieber paparazzo case thrown out by US judge
Criminal charges filed against a photographer who chased Justin Bieber have been dropped by a judge.
Paparazzo Paul Raef was charged in July with two counts of violating a law which makes dangerous driving while taking commercial photographs a criminal offence in California.
He had been chasing Justin Bieber at high speeds on a road in Los Angeles.
LA superior court judge Thomas Robinson called the state's anti-paparazzi law "problematic".
He said the law was too vague in its definition of commercial photographs.
'Protecting celebrities'
If convicted Paul Raef could have faced up to a year in prison and a fine of $3,500 (£2,200).
His lawyer, Brad Kaiserman, said the law was "about protecting celebrities".
The photographer will still face charges of reckless driving and failing to obey police orders.
At the time of the incident, Bieber was stopped by police for driving at 80mph (130kph) in a 65mph (105kph) zone and received a speeding ticket.
He told officers that he was being chased by paparazzi.
The singer called police half an hour later to report that his car was still being pursued.
Raef was later identified by police in downtown LA.
Dave Lee Travis arrested on suspicion of sexual offences
Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been arrested as part of the police probe set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the BBC understands.
The 67-year-old was arrested at his home in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, on suspicion of sexual offences.
He was bailed on Thursday evening to return in early January, police said.
The Met said their investigation into alleged abuse by Savile and others - Operation Yewtree - had so far recorded 200 allegations of sexual assault.
They have now identified about 450 potential victims of sexual abuse.
The arrest of Mr Travis is the fourth so far in connection with the Savile investigation.
In a statement, the Met said the latest arrest "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Others'", meaning the allegations are unrelated to Savile.
But the force said that the "vast majority" of the 450 possible victims were alleging sexual abuse by former BBC TV presenter and DJ Savile, who died last year aged 84.
Mr Travis has not been officially named by police, who made the arrest at 07:45 GMT. He was released on bail late on Thursday.
The DJ - known by the nicknames DLT and the Hairy Cornflake - is best known for his 25-year stint on Radio 1.
Japan averts 'fiscal-cliff' as it passes financing bill
Japan's lawmakers have approved a crucial bill that will ensure that the government does not run out of money at the end of this month.
It will allow the government to borrow additional money by selling bonds to pay for a large chunk of its expenses.
The approval comes amid fears that Japan's economy may be heading towards a recession.
The opposition had previously stalled the bill, demanding that the government call for elections first.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had said that he was ready to dissolve the parliament and hold snap elections.
He is expected to make a formal announcement on the issue later on Friday.
'Signs of weakness'
In a separate move, Japan's government warned that the economy is showing "signs of weakness", adding to concerns about the health of the world's third-largest economyIt said that industrial production is falling and exports continue to remain weak due to slowing global demand.
It added that private consumption and business investment also remain subdued.
Japan's economy shrunk 0.9% in the July to September quarter, from the previous three months, and there are fears it may contract further in the current quarter.
"Concerning short-term prospects, weak movements would remain for the time being," the Cabinet Office said in its monthly report.
This is the fourth successive month that Japan has lowered its assessment of the economy, the longest such streak since the 2008 - 2009 global financial crisis.
Bernanke blames banks for holding back housing market
Ben Bernanke has said that the overly stringent lending requirements of banks are hurting the US housing recovery.
In a speech, he said the housing market showed signs of recovery but was "far from being out of the woods".
The Federal Reserve chairman said "the pendulum has swung too far" from the easy lending days of the housing boom.
While mortgage interest rates have fallen to record lows, he said many borrowers, especially minorities and low earners, could not get a loan.
Mr Bernanke was addressing a summit in Atlanta held by Operation Hope, a charity that provides financial advice to American citizens on middle and low incomes.
'Missing piston'
The Fed has been actively supporting the housing market since September, by restarting its policy of buying up mortgage debts.
It has helped to push long-term average mortgage interest rates down to new lows, setting a record of 3.34% for a 30-year fixed rate on Wednesday.
However, Mr Bernanke complained that "overly tight lending standards may now be preventing creditworthy borrowers from buying homes, thereby slowing the revival in housing and impeding the recovery".
The housing sector traditionally leads recoveries in the US economy following recessions, and the weakness of the housing market is a major reason why the recovery has been so sluggish this time around, prompting the Fed chairman to dub it "the missing piston".
The low interest rates have prompted an increase in borrowers refinancing their existing mortgages.
However, those able to take advantage of the lower interest rates have been wealthier or higher income earning Americans who are considered more creditworthy by the banks, and who have a lower propensity to spend the extra income they save on mortgage interest payments.
Mr Bernanke noted that 20% of mortgage borrowers remain underwater on their loans after house prices fell 30%, meaning that their mortgages are worth more than their homes and they are unable to refinance and benefit from lower interest rates.
Cheaper borrowing has also spurred a recovery in demand for housing, and house prices have been rising for the last nine months.
But Mr Bernanke noted that, despite these positive trends, house prices, sales and new homebuilding still remain far below their pre-recession levels.
Minutes from the Fed's last meeting, released on Wednesday, indicated that the policy-setting committee may step up its debt purchases, perhaps by shifting into longer-term debts.
However, Mr Bernanke made no indication about possible future policies in his speech.
US Postal Service in $16bn loss
The US Postal Service has reported an annual loss of a $15.9bn (£10bn), ending a year in which it defaulted on payments twice to avert bankruptcy.
Its financial losses were more than triple the previous year's.
Most of the mail agency's financial woes come from mounting mandatory costs for future retiree health benefits.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the Postal Service's hands are tied by congressional inaction on a bill that would allow it to reduce the payments.
"It's critical that Congress do its part and pass comprehensive legislation before they adjourn this year to move the Postal Service further down the path toward financial health," Mr Donahoe said, calling the situation "our own postal fiscal cliff".
One version of the bill would cut down on the required $5bn annual health-benefit payment and allow it to eliminate Saturday mail delivery.
Earlier in 2012, the Postal Service defaulted for the first time in its history on two of the health payments.
The Senate passed a postal bill in April that would have reduced the mandatory advances and refunded overpayments to a federal pension fund.
But legislation proposing an end to Saturday delivery has stalled in the House of Representatives.
The mail agency has seen other structural problems in declining mail volume, but has seen growth in it shipping services, up 9% in 2012.
Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, blamed Congress for mandating the annual health pre-payments in 2006, but suggested lawmakers should wait to act on legislation until next year.
His union is opposed to the current version of the House bill, which gives the Postal Service wide leeway to close post office branches and make employee cuts to balance its budget.
Dell's profits slump by 47% on weak sales
Computer-maker Dell has seen its quarterly profit fall by 47% after it was hit by falling sales to both consumers and large companies.
The US group made a net profit of $475m (£300m) in July to September, compared with $893m a year earlier.
Dell's consumer revenues fell 23% to $2.5bn, while those from sales to big corporations declined by 8% to $4.2bn.
The company, the world's third-largest maker of personal computers, saw overall revenues dip 11%.
Despite the poor results, Dell said it was more confident about the October to December period, which includes Christmas sales.
It expects group-wide revenues to rise by as much as 5% in the last three months of the year, despite the continuing "challenging" global economic environment.
BP gets record US criminal fine over Deepwater disaster
BP has received the biggest criminal fine in US history as part of a $4.5bn (£2.8bn) settlement related to the fatal 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Two BP workers have been indicted on manslaughter charges and an ex-manager charged with misleading Congress.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) said BP must hand over $4bn. The sum includes a $1.26bn fine as well as payments to wildlife and science organisations.
As part of the agreement, BP will also plead guilty to 14 criminal charges.
The company apologised for its role and said it regretted the loss of life.
BP will pay an additional $525m to the Securities and Exchange Commission over a period of three years, the firm said.
The resolution with the DoJ includes a record criminal fine of $1.26bn, as well as $2.4bn to be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $350m to be paid to the National Academy of Sciences, over a period of five years.
DoJ Attorney General Eric Holder said its resolution "stands as a testament to the hard work of countless investigators, attorneys, support staff members, and other personnel".
He went on: "In addition to the charges filed against BP, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the two highest-ranking BP supervisors, who were on board the Deepwater Horizon on the day of the explosion, with 23 criminal counts - including 11 counts of seaman's manslaughter, 11 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
"The grand jury also charged a former BP executive - who served as a deputy incident commander and BP's second-highest ranking representative at Unified Command during the spill response - with hiding information from Congress and allegedly lying to law enforcement officials."
The executive, David Rainey, is alleged to have intentionally under-estimated the amount of oil spilling from the well.
The two oil well supervisors accused of manslaughter were named in the indictment as Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, according to the news agency Associated Press.
They were accused of negligence in the way they oversaw safety tests on the Deepwater Horizon rig before the accident, and failing to alert onshore engineers to problems with the drilling.
As a result of the settlements, the company said that it was setting aside an additional $3.85bn on top of the $38.1bn it has been raising to cover its liabilities from the incident. The UK-based oil giant has been selling assets to raise the funds.
"All of us at BP deeply regret the tragic loss of life caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident as well as the impact of the spill on the Gulf coast region," said Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive.
"From the outset, we stepped up by responding to the spill, paying legitimate claims and funding restoration efforts in the Gulf. We apologise for our role in the accident, and as today's resolution with the US government further reflects, we have accepted responsibility for our actions."
BP added that the resolution allowed the company to vigorously defend itself against the remaining civil claims and to contest allegations of gross negligence in those cases.
BP has agreed to plead guilty to:
- eleven felony counts of Misconduct or Neglect of Ships Officers relating to the loss of 11 lives
- one misdemeanour count under the Clean Water Act
- one misdemeanour count under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
- one felony count of obstruction of Congress
The resolution is subject to US federal court approval.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 workers and released millions of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days.
Stuart Smith, a Louisiana lawyer representing some of the businesses affected by the accident, told the BBC the deal was far from over.
"They have not settled with the state of Louisiana for the natural damages... they haven't settled with Florida, Alabama [or] Mississippi yet."
He added that there were other significant claims still to be settled, including offshore oil and gas industry damages as a result of the moratorium on deepwater drilling put in place after the accident, casino losses, fisheries, financial institutions and real estate developers.
"So I think they're still looking at billions of dollars in exposure even with this settlement," he said.
The settlement is bigger than the largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Department of Justice, the $1.2bn fine imposed on drug maker Pfizer in 2009.
The oil giant has been selling assets worth billions of pounds to raise money to settle all claims. The company is expected to make a final payment of $860m into the $20bn Gulf of Mexico compensation fund by the end of the year.
BP launched an internal investigation in the immediate aftermath of the explosion which concluded that no single cause was behind the accident, but "multiple companies, work teams and circumstances were involved over time".
Other companies involved included Transocean, the owner of the rig and responsible for the safety valve known as the blowout preventer, and Halliburton, who provided cementing services.
BP is yet to reach a settlement with these firms. A civil trial that will determine negligence is due to begin in New Orleans in February 2013.
BP has settled all claims with Anadarko and Moex, its co-owners of the oil well, and contractor Weatherford, receiving $5.1bn cash settlements from the three firms, which it has put into its $20bn compensation fund.
It has also reached a $7.8bn settlement with the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, a group of lawyers representing victims of the spill.
US Congress Probes Libya Attack
U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials are testifying before Congress about the deadly September attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The House and Senate Intelligence Committees began closed-door hearings Thursday on the attack in which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
Many lawmakers are concerned over whether there was adequate security at the consulate, and if the Obama administration later attempted to hide information to avoid any embarrassment before the November 6 presidential election.
Former CIA director David Petraeus is among those scheduled to appear before the House committee Friday. Petraeus resigned last week following an FBI investigation that uncovered his extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that he felt “very secure” that there was no breach of national security in the Petraeus scandal. Holder said that if the investigation uncovered any security threat, he would have informed the president and Congress.
In another development, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify before a committee next month.
Ancient Stone Weapons Find in South Africa Pushes Human History Back in Time
Archaeologists digging at a site on the southern coast of South Africa have found a trove of sophisticated stone tools they believe were made 50,000 years before the technology to create them emerged in Europe and other regions of Africa.
The finding, reported in the journal Nature, could mean that the first modern humans evolved where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic.
Small blades, called microliths, were unearthed at Pinnacle Point, about 500 kilometers west of Cape Town, and dated back 71,000 years.
The thin, 3-centimeter-long blades were carefully crafted so they could be glued into slots at the tip of arrows or spears. Such projectile weapons gave these early humans a significant advantage when facing a prey animal – or a competing human.
According to Arizona State University professor Curtis Marean, director of the Pinnacle Point excavation, the lethal technology “probably laid the foundation for the expansion out of Africa of modern humans and the extinction [of] our sister species, such as Neanderthals,” who did not have such projectile weapons.
Previous digs have found similar stone weapons in use during an ice age 60,000 to 65,000 years ago. But the technology appeared in what archaeologists call a “flickering” pattern, with struggling cultures acquiring the weapons-making skills but failing to pass them on, and the technology seeming to vanish.
The new find means the method actually was passed on through generations and survived for more than 10,000 years. Professor Marean believes field work in Africa will continue to push back in time the evidence for uniquely human behaviors.
A University of Toronto-led team of anthropologists working at another site in South Africa has done just that, finding new evidence that early human hunters were attaching stone points to the tips of their spears half a million years ago — 200,000 years earlier than previously thought.
The researchers examined 500,000-year-old stone points from an excavation at Kathu Pan 1, in Northern Cape province, and determined that they had been used as spear tips. To do that, they recreated the ancient weapons and used a calibrated cross bow to shoot the replicas into an animal carcass.
Then, they compared the wear and damage on each set of stones. The prehistoric points showed the types of breaks that occur more commonly on spear tips than on stones used for other purposes, such as scraping and cutting.
The points were tied onto wooden spears, a process called hafting, which was an important advance in hunting weapons. Hafted spear tips are commonly found in 300,000-year-old Stone Age sites. The new study shows the technique was used in the early Middle Pleistocene, a period before Neanderthals and modern humans embarked on separate evolutionary paths.
The study is published in the journal Science.