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UK sale of Star Wars actor memorabilia dropped after widow’s plea

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UK sale of Star Wars actor memorabilia dropped after widow's plea

A British auction house on Friday dropped the sale of “Star Wars” memorabilia once owned by actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, after a public plea from his widow.

Mayhew, who died in 2019, was a British-born actor who towered 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 metres) and played Chewbacca in the original film and sequels until 2015.

He and his American wife Angie sold their house in Keighley in northern England around 25 years ago, leaving early Star Wars memorabilia behind in the attic.

The next owners, who have not been named, found the material and eventually took it to local auctioneers, who were excited by the find and publicised it in national media, announcing its sale later this month.

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The lots included memos, scripts and call sheets from the production of the original film and “The Empire Strikes Back”, as well as signed photos and a scrapbook.

Ryedale Auctioneers set modest estimates of around £150 ($180) per item but said they expected wide interest.

Mayhew’s widow then posted on the Twitter account of the Peter Mayhew Foundation, a charity set up in his memory, saying: “It really breaks my heart to see our belongings auctioned off like this.”

She said that when the couple moved, Mayhew’s “movement challenges made it impossible for him to get into the attic to get the rest of these memories”.

She said that it was “one of Peter’s and my biggest regrets that we had to leave these items behind but his knees and joints had gotten to be so painful that he was no longer able to go into the attic to get them”.

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The foundation later said that it had held a video call with auctioneer Angus Ashworth and told him of “our desire that Peter’s items be returned to Angie and the Mayhew family”.

The auction house on Friday removed pictures of the lots from its website.

Ashworth said: “Knowing how much (the memorabilia) means to the foundation… the vendors are quite happy to donate it to the foundation to have permanently within their personal collection, not for profit, so that fans can access it in perpetuity”. 

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Batman wins EU trademark dispute with Italian designer

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Batman wins EU trademark dispute with Italian designer

Caped crusader Batman won a trademark fight with an Italian clothing retailer after Europe’s second-top court sided with an EU patent office, ruling that the Batman logo is distinctive enough to warrant its EU trademark.

Warner Bros Discovery’s DC Comics, which registered the Batman logo with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) more than two decades ago, faced a challenge from Commerciale Italiana Srl in 2019.

The Italian company had asked EUIPO to annul the trademark for clothing and carnival items, saying that it lacked a distinctive character.

After EUIPO rejected its application, Commerciale Italiana Srl took its grievance to the Luxembourg-based General Court. Judges backed the EU trademark body.

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“The evidence submitted to the General Court is not sufficient to show that the EU trade mark representing a bat in an oval surround was devoid of distinctive character on the date of filing of the application for registration,” the Court ruled. “For the relevant public, that distinctiveness makes it possible to associate, according to EUIPO, the goods covered by the trade mark with DC Comics and to distinguish them from those of other undertakings.”

The Italian company can appeal to the EU Court of Justice, Europe’s highest, on points of law.

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Taylor Swift accidentally swallows a bug during Chicago show

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Taylor Swift accidentally swallows a bug during Chicago show

American singer Taylor Swift accidentally swallowed a bug during her concert.

During her Sunday night Eras Tour performance at Soldier Field Chicago, the Grammy-winner briefly paused for a mild coughing fit. “I swallowed a bug,” explained the singer as she turned away from the crowd to cough. “I’m so sorry. It’s totally fine. It’s just stupid.”

“That was delicious,” the singer joked, as the crowd erupted in laughter. She added, “Is there any chance none of you saw that?”

Swift was in the middle of introducing the newest member of her band, pianist Karina DePiano, when the offending bug flew into her mouth.

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“This is going to happen again tonight,” Swift warned the audience. “There’s so many bugs. There’s 1,000 of them.”

The Grammy winner then finished the introduction and segued into the Evermore era of the show. Later, she introduced DePiano properly, coughed a bit more, and moved on to singing “Tolerate It.”

At the risk of consuming more bugs, Swift has several stops ahead on her Eras tour — including newly added concerts in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, where she’ll be joined by pop singer Sabrina Carpenter. In announcing those eight additional dates on Twitter, Swift promised “LOTS more international dates to come soon!”

As the name implies, Swift has divided The Eras Tour concert into sections paying tribute to every phase of her 17-year music career. The tour originally scheduled to end in August with the Los Angeles shows now allow the singer a few weeks off before continuing on to Latin America. The additional dates bring the Eras tour total concert count to 60, an especially impressive feat given the reported 3 hour length of her onstage performance.

While swatting flies onstage will certainly keep her busy, the “Mastermind” singer has more than just concerts on her summer agenda. Swift is fast approaching another album release, with her latest re-recording, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), set to debut on July 7. Earlier this week, she revealed that Fall Out Boy and Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams will be featured on two separate bonus tracks.

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Iftikhar Thakur got emotional talking about Madina

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Iftikhar Thakur got emotional talking about Madina

 Iftikhar Thakur is a famous Pakistani comedian and actor. He is considered one of the accomplished comedians of Pakistan. He has worked internationally as well.

Recently, he appeared in a podcast where he got emotional while talking about his visit to Madina. He said that he has been to more than forty countries but no place is like Madina.

He said, “my blood pressure was constantly getting low when I was visiting Baab Ul Salam. I was in shivers while visiting Roza E Rasool, it was a task for me to cross that place because of respect, it’s another feeling which I can’t explain. He started crying while sharing his experience of visiting Madina.

He further said that your life remains in peace till you are in Madina. 

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He got emotional on various occasions in the podcast while describing his experience in the holy city. The podcast host also started crying on his narration. Iftikhar Thakur said that he cried a lot seeing Bab Ul Bilal. 

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