- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Poland charges Russian over attack on Navalny ally: prosecutors
- Man City have rest 'advantage' in Arsenal showdown: Guardiola
- Maresca has 'no doubt' in Jackson as Chelsea's number nine
- EU chief announces 35 bn euro loan plan for Ukraine before winter
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.
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".
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".
A.F.Rosado--PC