| Canadian couple's rare painting fails to reach reserve price at ...
TORONTO (CP) - "Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May," the 1909 John William Waterhouse painting inspired by a Robert Herrick poem of the same name, failed to gather the windfall that a Canadian couple was looking for at auction Wednesday. Sotheby's in New York said the oil-on-canvas work depicting young women picking flowers in a meadow failed to reach its reserve price - the confidential, minimum price that the seller is willing to accept. Bidding on the painting stopped at US$1.35 million and the couple withdrew it from sale, said Sotheby's, which had estimated it would fetch between US$1.75 million and $2.5 million. The auction estimate wasn't unreasonable, since pieces by the famed British artist typically sell for high prices, said Ben Doller, vice-chairman of Sotheby's.
Science Scene
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams may have been orbiting over 210 miles above the surface of the Earth on Apr. 16, but she still managed to compete in the annual Boston Marathon - a grueling 26-mile run.
Attached to her treadmill with a harness so she wouldn't float away, Williams began the race along with scores of others on the ground at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. While most competitors ran in the chilly 58-degree Fahrenheit weather, Williams completed her trek in the climate-controlled 78-degree Fahrenheit conditions of the International Space Station.
"Those guys are kicking butt even though it's cold," said Williams when told of the times of her friends and sister, who were also competing in the race.
With energy from pieces of orange tossed her way in the weightlessness of space by her crewmembers, Williams finished with an unofficial time of 4 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds.
ABN Amro Is `Disingenuous' on Bidding Talks, TCI Says (Correct)
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- ABN Amro Holding NV's refusal to meet with rival bidders to Barclays Plc before next week is ``disingenuous and disadvantageous for shareholders,'' according to London-based TCI Fund Management LLP. ABN Amro yesterday extended exclusive takeover talks with London-based Barclays for the next three days. The biggest Dutch bank said it will meet with Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Santander Central Hispano SA and Fortis ``early next week.'' TCI is urging shareholders to pressure ABN Amro's board at the annual meeting on April 26 to split up the bank. Investors will have to decide whether ABN Amro should become a unit of Britain's third-biggest bank, or be divided between the Scottish, Spanish and Belgian-Dutch companies. ABN Amro shares have risen 33 percent in the past month, valuing the Amsterdam- based company at 69.2 billion euros ($94.1 billion).
Ticketmaster sues eBay over ticket auctions
LOS ANGELES - Ticketmaster is suing eBay Inc. in Los Angeles, accusing the Internet auction company's subsidiary StubHub of fraudulently obtaining premium tickets to sell online. The lawsuit, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, said StubHub induced artists' representatives or promoters to demand tickets from Ticketmaster's venue clients as part of a deal to bring an act or sports team to a location. In some cases, representatives for the acts had the tickets held back for “fan clubs" but intended to sell them via StubHub, according to documents filed with the lawsuit. A StubHub spokesman said the company believes “the lawsuit filed by Ticketmaster is without merit and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these unsubstantiated claims." Representatives for eBay could not be reached for comment.
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