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☆ Man pleads guilty to theft of solid gold toilet worth $6 million from Blenheim Palace
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A man has pleaded guilty to stealing a toilet made entirely from 18-carat gold and worth more than $6 million from the English stately home where wartime leader Winston Churchill was born. It had been plumbed into the building so the theft also caused significant damage and flooding, police reported at the time. "Daddy, Daddy", a large scale recreation of the drowning Disney character Pinocchio, created by artist Maurizio Cattelan, is seen in a pool at Blenheim Palace on September 12, 2019. The golden toilet, titled "America," was part of the same exhibition at the stately home. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesAt Blenheim Palace, the toilet was installed in a room next to the one in which Churchill was born.

Persons: Winston Churchill, James Sheen, Maurizio Cattelan, ”, Sheen, America ”, Donald Trump’s, Vincent Van Gogh’s, Leon Neal, Churchill, Cattelan, Michael Jones, Frederick Sines, Frederick Doe, Bora Guccuck Organizations: CNN, Oxford Crown, UK’s, Media, Prosecution Service, National Horse Racing Museum, America, Guggenheim, Blenheim, New Yorker Locations: Blenheim, Italian, Five Wells, Newmarket, New York City, United States, Oxford, Ascot , Berkshire, London

☆ Four Men Charged in the Case of the Missing Golden Toilet
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Alex Marshall | More About Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four years ago, a fully functioning 18-karat gold toilet was stolen from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. On Monday, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service announced that it had authorized charges against four men in connection with the theft of the golden loo — an artwork by the Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, titled “America,” which had been on display as part of an exhibition at the palace, which is in Oxfordshire, England. The Crown Prosecution Service said in a news release that it had charged James Sheen, 39, with burglary, conspiracy to transfer criminal property and transferring criminal property; Michael Jones, 38, with burglary; and Fred Doe, 35, and Bora Guccuk, 39, with conspiracy to transfer criminal property. The four men will appear at a court in Oxford, England, on Nov. 28 for the first stage in potentially lengthy criminal proceedings. Britain’s courts system has a severe backlog in cases.

Persons: Winston Churchill, Maurizio Cattelan, James Sheen, Michael Jones, Fred Doe, Bora Guccuk Organizations: Prosecution Service, Crown Prosecution Service Locations: Blenheim, Italian, Oxfordshire, England, Oxford

☆ World Cup 2023: Previous World Cup finals
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

PARIS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - On Saturday, New Zealand take on South Africa in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France, with both teams hoping to win a record fourth title. Mapimpi scored the first try in the 66th minute, becoming the first Springbok to score a try in a World Cup final, despite South Africa having won two previous titles. The teams had met in the pool stage with South Africa winning 36-0. Fullback Jonathan Webb scored two penalties for England, whose decision to ditch their forward-reliant tactics for an expansive running game backfired. 1987 - NEW ZEALAND 29 FRANCE 9 (AUCKLAND)The All Blacks laid down the marker in the first World Cup final, dominating from start to finish as flyhalf Grant Fox's kicking helped his team gain territory time and again.

Persons: Makazole, Cheslin Kolbe, Handre Pollard, Mapimpi, Richie McCaw, Flyhalf Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett's, Tony Woodcock, Stephen Donald, Percy Montgomery, Francois Steyn, Alain Rolland's, Mark Cueto, England's Jonny Wilkinson, Australia's Elton Flatley, Wilkinson, Matt Burke, Ben Tune, Owen Finegan, Nelson Mandela, Jonah Lomu, Joel Stransky's, Webb Ellis, Tony Daly, Michael Lynagh, Fullback Jonathan Webb, flyhalf Grant Fox's, Michael Jones, David Kirk, John Kirwan, Pierre Berbizier, Rohith Nair, Aadi Nair, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Stade de France, England, Springbok, South, Blacks, Wallabies, Springboks, South Africa, ZEALAND, Fullback, Fox, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, South Africa, ENGLAND, YOKOHAMA, Japan, AUSTRALIA, TWICKENHAM, FRANCE, AUCKLAND, France, PARIS, England, SYDNEY, CARDIFF, Australia, JOHANNESBURG, Bengaluru

☆ FCC issues historic $300 million fine against the largest robocall scam it has ever investigated
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday cracked down on a massive illegal robocall operation responsible for billions of auto-warranty scam calls in recent years, with regulators imposing a record $300 million fine on what authorities said is the largest such network it has ever investigated. The globe-spanning illegal operation violated US telecom laws by making more than five billion robocalls to more than half a billion phone numbers over the course of just three months in 2021, the FCC said in a release Wednesday. But the campaign had been in existence for even longer, the FCC added. At the same time, the FCC directed US voice providers to stop carrying calls originating from providers used by the network. “We know the scam artists behind these calls are relentless — but we are coming for them and won’t stop until we get this junk off the line,” Rosenworcel said.

Persons: —, Roy Melvin Cox Jr, Aaron Michael Jones, Dave Yost, Jessica Rosenworcel, ” Rosenworcel Organizations: CNN, Federal Communications Commission, FCC, Ohio, of, Justice Department Locations: United States, Ohio, of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, New Mexico

☆ The FCC just fined an international network of robocallers nearly $300 million for making 5 billion calls in a three month span
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The FCC just fined a group of scammers a record-breaking $299,970,000. The commission said the fraudsters made 5 billion auto warranty-related scam calls in three months. Two of the men charged, Roy M. Cox and Aaron Michael Jones, had already previously been banned from making telemarketing calls. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Additionally, Insider reported that the prevalence of COVID-related phone scams have risen in 2023, three years after the virus shut down the country.

Persons: Roy M, Cox, Aaron Michael Jones, Jones Organizations: FCC, Service, Federal Communications Commission, State of, Federal Trade Commission, Medicare, Medicaid Services Locations: Wall, Silicon, State, State of Texas

☆ A New Front in Reparations: Seeking the Return of Lost Family Land
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Audra D. S. Burch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For much of their lives, the Jones siblings had passed by a parking lot on the campus of the University of Alabama in Huntsville without giving it much thought. Then one day, a relative casually pointed to the spot and said she thought it was once owned by their ancestors, who had farmed the land since the 1870s. The Joneses want it back. “For our family and others, it’s not just about the taking of the land, it’s about the taking of our ability to build wealth,” said Michael Jones, 63, the youngest of five brothers and sisters. African American families across the country — particularly in the South — are pushing for the return of land they say was taken in government seizures, an emerging attempt to provide economic restoration for the long saga of Black land loss and deprived inheritances.

Persons: Jones, it’s, ”, Michael Jones Organizations: University of Alabama Locations: Huntsville

☆ 'Sharks circling in the water': Contentious cram-down rounds are coming and going to dilute startup shareholders. Founders and investors should be wary.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Funding rounds are set to become more contentious; "knives tend to come out," said one investor. Having been in the VC game for more than 25 years, he knows what inevitably follows periods of irrational exuberance: cram downs. A cram-down round refers to a situation in which a company raises money at terms favorable to new investors, at the expense of current shareholders. In good times, when valuations are going up and VCs have money to spare, exercising pro rata rights is usually a no-brainer. The investors that step up to fill that void — usually late-stage VC growth funds or strategic investors — often demand terms that severely dilute or "cram down" the shares of existing shareholders.

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