A string of art heists at New York galleries and hotels went unsolved until an arrest in the theft of a Picasso drawing in San Francisco led authorities to a treasure trove inside a non-descript New Jersey apartment.

Police believe Mark Lugo is responsible for at least eight thefts since June totalling nearly $700,000 worth of artwork, including a $350,000 drawing by French artist Fernand Leger.

Pieces from seven of those thefts were recovered during a police raid of Lugo’s Hoboken, New Jersey, home, as he awaited arraignment in the eighth case in San Francisco.

Lugo, 30, pleaded not guilty to charges of grand theft, burglary and possession of stolen property for allegedly stealing the 1965 Picasso drawing called Tete de Femme (Head of a Woman).

Burma gem auction reaps $1.5 billion

Burma’s state-sponsored gems auction has reaped another $1.5 billion in foreign exchange despite US sanctions against the industry.

The weekly Voice news magazine reported yesterday that 22,317 lots of jade, 284 lots of gems and 355 lots of pearls were sold between July 1-13 at the mid-year Gems Emporium.

Some $2.8 billion were earned at the main auction in March and more than $1.44 billion at last year’s mid-year auction.

Burma is one of the world’s biggest producers of jade and rubies.

The sales are a major foreign exchange earner for the military-dominated government, which faces sanctions from the West because of its poor human rights record.

In 2008, the US enacted legislation banning the import of gems from Burma.

Moves to boost penguin population

South African scientists are fitting young penguins raised by humans with satellite transmitters so they can track them once released into the wild, hoping to gather information that might one day lead to new breeding colonies of the endangered birds.

Researchers used tape and glue to attach a transmitter the size of a matchbox to a 10-week-old African penguin.

The 6.6lb bird named Richie will be given a week to get used to swimming in a pool with the 1oz device before he is released into the ocean from the southern tip of Africa.

The first penguin in the project was released last month, and in all, five are to be released over a few months.

The African penguin, endearingly awkward on land and a gracefully efficient hunter in the water, is found only in southern Africa.

Obama urged to snub Dalai Lama

China has called on the US to withdraw an invitation for the Dalai Lama to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House, saying it could hurt relations between the two countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement yesterday that China opposes any foreign official meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader and asked the US to withdraw its invitation to avoid interfering in China’s internal affairs.

Mr Obama’s planned meeting coincides with the Dalai Lama’s visit to Washington for an 11-day Buddhist ritual expected to draw upward of 10,000 followers a day.

Mr Obama last met with the Dalai Lama in February 2010, infuriating Chinese officials, who accuse the Nobel Peace Prize laureate of seeking Tibet’s independence from China.

Gunmen kill 10 bus passengers

Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying Sunni Muslims and killed all 10 passengers in a troubled north western tribal region of Pakistan today, a government official said.

Seven people were killed on the spot and three died at a hospital in the Kurram region, said Mohammed Ali, a local government official.

At the time of the ambush, the bus was travelling in an area dominated by minority Shiite Muslims, Mr Ali said. He said it was unclear who targeted the bus and officers were still investigating.

Kurram has witnessed attacks on Sunni and Shiite Muslims in recent years.

The Pakistan military has also launched offensives against local Taliban militants there, but violence has continued.