The butt of a cigarette far-right Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn smoked moments before he was gunned down in 2002 fetched 850 euros (US$1,200) on auction on Saturday, the auction house said.
Fortuyn had stubbed out the hand-rolled cigarette in an ashtray next to his bed as he left home hours before his assassination.
The auction of the populist politician’s personal effects fetched a total of 496,000 euros seven years after he was shot in a street, auctioneer Richard Hessink said.
A painting of Fortuyn and his two dogs, Carla and Kenneth, fetched the highest price for a single item at 41,000 euros, while the lighter Fortuyn had in his pocket when shot was sold for 9,400 euros.
LIBRARY
His library containing some 7,000 books was sold for 35,000 euros to the city of Rotterdam for its library, Hessink said.
“It was one of our finest auctions. We sold every last item,” he said.
Other items included Fortuyn’s pens, glasses, cellphone, photographs, furniture, bicycle, books and wine collection. Even a pair of slippers and half-used toiletries were sold.
MURDER
The flamboyant and openly gay Fortuyn was shot five times at close range by an animal rights activist in the central town of Hilversum 10 days before general elections in which his far-right party made sweeping gains.
Hessink said about 650 people attended the 11-hour auction and another 450 bid online.
Fortuyn’s house is to be sold through a property broker despite objections by a foundation that lobbied the Rotterdam city council to turn it into a museum.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
A US federal judge on Tuesday ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt efforts to shut down Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, the news broadcasts of which are funded by the government to export US values to the world. US District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is overseeing six lawsuits from employees and contractors affected by the shutdown of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to restore employees and contractors to their positions and resume radio, television and online news broadcasts. USAGM placed more than 1,000
RSS