Three men on trial over $6 million gold toilet stolen in ‘audacious raid’
CNN
According to prosecutors, it took thieves less than five minutes to swipe the 18-carat gold artwork, which has never been recovered.
It was not your typical smash-and-grab burglary and the booty was precious: a toilet worth more than its weight in gold. The one-of-a-kind 18-carat gold toilet was swiped in under five minutes from Blenheim Palace, the sprawling English country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born, in the predawn hours of September 14, 2019, a prosecutor told jurors Monday. Attorney Julian Christopher said in his opening statement in Oxford Crown Court that it was an “audacious raid.” One of three men on trial in the case of the purloined potty was involved in stealing it and the other two helped to sell the spoils. The toilet has never been recovered but is believed to have been cut up and sold. The satirical work, titled “America” by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, poked fun at excessive wealth. It weighed just over 215 pounds (98 kilograms) and was insured for £4.8 million ($6 million). The value of the gold at the time was £2.8 million ($3.5 million). The piece had previously been on display at The Guggenheim Museum in New York. The museum had offered the work to US President Donald Trump during his first term in office after he had asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting.
During the last major measles outbreaks in the US, it took extraordinary measures to stop the spread
Six years ago, two communities in New York – one in Brooklyn and one in Rockland County – were facing the worst measles outbreaks the United States had seen in decades. It was the closest the nation has gotten to losing elimination status for the extremely contagious disease, a milestone that was achieved in 2000.
The Fall-Winter 2025 shows had infectious energy and eye-catching looks seen both on and off the runways.
Nearly 230 measles cases have been identified in outbreaks in West Texas and a nearby New Mexico county.
A team from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Texas this week to aid in the response to a growing measles outbreak, and US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged that they would talk to “front-line doctors and see what is working on the ground” and learn about therapeutics “ignored” by the agency.
Gaines County is a vast, flat expanse far in the west of Texas: more than 1,500 square miles of sparsely populated farmland. And right now, this is the epicenter of a measles outbreak the likes of which this state hasn’t seen in more than 30 years. Many here say the Mennonites, a tight-knit Anabaptist community that works much of this land, are at the root of the outbreak’s lightning spread.
The first time Cindy Crawford worked with the photographer Helmut Newton, the supermodel shed her all-American persona for a dalliance with Monte Carlo for US Vogue. Now, a lesser-seen outtake from the shoot is back on view.
As a measles outbreak in West Texas continues to grow, the response from US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has leaned heavily on treatment with vitamin A, as well as “good results” from the use of the steroid budesonide, the antibiotic clarithromycin and cod liver oil.
Speaking to CNN ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, the founder of one of China’s first private architecture firms reflects on a career designing unpretentious buildings in an era of excess.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on the ground in Texas to respond to the growing measles outbreak. The agency posted on X that it’s partnering with the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The measles outbreak is surging in West Texas, especially in under-vaccinated communities, but it’s not just coverage with the measles vaccine that is lagging behind. The use of other key vaccines in the childhood immunization schedule has decreased too.
Selena Gomez was among the celebrities to wear intricate, hand-embroidered gowns featuring thousands of shimmering embellishments to the 2025 Oscars.
As a measles outbreak in Texas has grown to nearly 150 cases, US Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an opinion piece on Fox News on Sunday that parents should consult with health-care providers “to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine” for their children.
Selena Gomez was among the celebrities to wear intricate, hand-embroidered gowns featuring thousands of shimmering embellishments to the 2025 Oscars.