Hockney sells for $90.3 million, smashes record

New York: A masterful swimming pool painting by British legend David Hockney sold for $90.3 million in New York, smashing a new auction record for a living artist. “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” was snapped up after more than nine minutes of bidding, dominated by two rival telephone bidders. The $90 million price tag was all the more astonishing given the roughly $20,000 that Hockney told CNN his dealer originally sold the painting for in 1972, subsequently believing it had been undervalued. AFP

Lennon’s killer feels ‘more and more shame’

LONDON: Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon, has confessed to feeling “more and more shame” over his actions. Chapman, who shot the Beatles legend outside his Manhattan apartment in December 1980, made his 10th unsuccessful bid for parole in August. Chapman, 63, is serving 20 years in the Wende Correctional Facility in New York. Chapman claimed he felt no animosity for Lennon, even though he loaded his gun with more lethal hollow-point bullets. Chapman will be up for parole again in August 2020. PTI

Teen dies after inhaling deodorant to get high

Amsterdam: A 19-year-old recovering drug addict died after inhaling deodorant in a bid to get high, doctors who treated him in the Netherlands have revealed to highlight the fatal consequences of inhaling chemicals. Doctors shared the story of the unnamed teenager in a  warning to people of the dangers of sniffing solvents. The teen, believed to have been in Rotterdam, died after his heart stopped and he could not be revived by paramedics.IANS

Abe at darwin: Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison lay wreaths at the Cenotaph War Memorial in Darwin, Australia, on Thursday. Abe is the first Japanese leader to visit the port city where 250 persons were killed in bombing raids in 1942-43 during World War II. REUTERS

Bunga-bunga’s back: New trial looms for Berlusconi 

Rome: Italian former PM Silvio Berlusconi is to go on trial for allegedly paying a witness to give false testimony about his notoriously hedonistic parties (“bunga-bunga” parties). A judge in Bari on Friday set the first hearing in the witness tampering trial for February 4. The case dates back to 2008-2009 when businessman Giampolo Tarantini brought escort girls to parties at Berlusconi’s residences in Rome and Sardinia. Tarantini is appealing an eight-year sentence for procuring prostitutes for Berlusconi. The former PM is accused of having paid Tarantini to keep quiet about the details of his parties. AFP