World Briefs

An auction house has withdrawn from sale a set of surgical instruments it claimed had belonged to the commandant of a Nazi concentration camp, alleging its staff had received death threats.

Villa Hall Auctions said it had pulled Lot 342, a box of tools it claimed belonged to SS Major Anton Burger, commandant of the Theresienstadt camp in what was then Czechoslovakia, after receiving threatening e-mails and telephone calls from people unhappy that it was selling the box, including one which said it hoped they “died of cancer”.

Major Burger, who went into hiding after the war, died in 1991 at the age of 80.

A Villa Hall spokesman claimed the money raised from the box was to be donated to a charity for child survivors of war, along with their fee.

Long lost jewels found

Nearly six years after the US ambassador’s wife reported jewellery worth millions of euros stolen from a Dutch hotel room, police said yesterday it had actually been gathering dust in a forgotten drawer.

The seven-million-euro collection of gold- and diamond-set jewellery was found in the hotel room where the couple stayed for a few months leading up to the supposed 2006 theft.

Dawn Arnall did not even know her jewellery was missing until months after the hotel stay. She assumed it was stolen, but workers had handed the rings, necklaces and earrings to management for safekeeping.

The items went unclaimed for six months, so a female employee was allowed to keep them, in line with hotel policy.

The female employee put the jewels away in a cupboard and forgot about them.

Last year while, doing housework, she rediscovered the items and decided to have them valued.

Rescue capsule on display

A rescue capsule central to the safe recovery of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground has gone on display in Britain.

In a tale of hope which attracted worldwide attention, the San Jose miners were rescued in October 2010 after surviving 69 days at the bottom of the mine, 700 metres below the surface.

Now one of the main pieces of rescue equipment has gone on display at the Science Museum in London. The 3.9-metre steel capsule, known as Fenix 2, is just 54 centimetres wide. The capsule, which weighs 460kg, is one of five created for the rescue mission.

Sesame Street doll scam

A Taiwanese man was taken into custody for allegedly swindling millions of Taiwan dollars by selling Sesame Street dolls and other items which he claimed had “magic powers,” police said yesterday.

The suspect, identified by his surname Lin, was accused of conning some Tw$3 million ($100,000) from a businessman with products including an Elmo doll, a Sesame Street muppet, which he said was “holy” and could bring luck. The man, who claimed Mr Lin also asked him to “buy property in the underworld,” contacted the police after he realised he had been scammed.

Mr Lin was also suspected of selling the dolls to other victims for up to Tw$1 million apiece, as well as touting a variety of products for their alleged healing effects.