A harpoon gun from “Jaws,” a jacket worn by “The Terminator,” and a “Star Wars” lightsaber hilt and C-3PO head are among the eye-catching items to be sold at auction next month.The collection of around 1,550 pieces of film and TV history will go under the hammer over three days from March 25, with in-room bidding on the first day only at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.From props to costumes, a selection of the memorabilia will also go on show for a day — on March 11 — at The Maybourne Beverly Hills hotel.The lots, which also include the so-called Marauder’s Map from the “Harry Potter” films, have a combined pre-sale estimate of $9 million, according to Propstore, the auctioneers staging the sale.It noted that buyers from around the world, who increasingly utilise online bidding, were forging a new global collectors market.”We’re seeing 20 to 30 percent more engagement, more registration, more people bidding,” Ibrahim Faraj, Propstore’s UK consignments manager, explained at a media preview of some British-based items before they headed to California.”It’s growing bigger and it’s the new, modern thing people are collecting now.”- ‘Star Wars history’ -The fibreglass C-3PO head worn by “Star Wars” stalwart Anthony Daniels in “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) is near the top of the pricing charts, with an estimate of $350,000 to $700,000.Featuring illuminated eyes in the film, and with original wiring in the right socket, this particular C-3PO head boasts several unique features including a forehead antenna.”These things rarely come up… so it’s quite exciting,” Faraj said. Another “Star Wars” piece of memorabilia on offer is the lightsaber hilt from “The Force Awakens,” which is valued at up to $100,000.”This is no ordinary lightsaber,” he noted, branding it “the Skywalker” version as it was used by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Rey (Daisy Ridley).They rediscover it in the 2015 installment after prior generations wield it — albeit another model — in earlier franchise films.”It’s arguably one of the most important pieces in ‘Star Wars’ history,” Faraj argued.- ‘Absolutely brilliant’ -The harpoon gun wielded by Quint (Robert Shaw) and Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 favourite “Jaws” is expected to generate similar buzz.Estimated to fetch up to $500,000, it is being offered alongside Quint’s Fenwick fishing rod and reel, which featured during the film’s early shark encounter scenes.The rod is priced at up to $150,000, with Propstore branding the two props “the most significant artifacts to ever surface from the movie” at auction.The jacket from the 1984 cult classic “The Terminator” will require similarly deep pockets, with a price estimate of $75,000 to $150,000.It was worn during the first half of the film, after the T-800 cyborg steals and wears it through several violent sequences.Featuring a leather collar, metal chains over the left shoulder, and metal studs on the back, it has been heavily distressed with stage blood, rips, mock bullet holes, and burns. Two top lots from Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” (2000) will also be offered, including the helmet and mask worn by Maximus (Russell Crowe) in his arena battles. That is predicted to go for up to $250,000.Meanwhile the rare Marauder’s Map joins other “Harry Potter” movie props in the auction and is expected to fetch up to $80,000.”It pops up, it opens out, it’s absolutely brilliant,” Faraj said.

A man sentenced to death nearly 40 years ago for the murder of a grocery store owner was executed by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday.Melvin Trotter, 65, was convicted of the 1986 murder of Virgie Langford, 70, during a robbery of her store in Palmetto, Florida.Authorities executed Trotter at 6:15 pm (2315 GMT), the state Department of Corrections said.There have been three previous executions in the United States this year, one in Florida, one in Oklahoma and one in Texas.There were 47 executions in the United States last year, the most since 2009, when 52 inmates were put to death.Florida carried out the most executions in 2025 — 19 — followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, where there were five each.Thirty-nine of last year’s executions were carried out by lethal injection.Three were by firing squad and five by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and has called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Victims of Jeffrey Epstein will attend US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday and are seeking accountability for the crimes of the convicted sex offender, lawmakers said.”Today the world will see Donald Trump have to face these survivors right there in the House gallery,” Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state, said at a press conference.”Ambassadors and princes have been arrested in other countries,” Jayapal said. “But here in America, not a single investigation has been announced into the pedophiles and predators of Epstein’s horrific sex trafficking ring.””We demand investigations right here at home,” Jayapal said at the press conference attended by several victims of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.Only one person has been arrested or convicted in the United States in connection with the activities of Epstein — Ghislaine Maxwell, his ex-girlfriend and accomplice.Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2021 of providing minor girls to the wealthy and well-connected financier, whose friends once included Trump.While there have been no prosecutions beyond Maxwell, several prominent Americans have resigned from high-profile positions after files made public revealed they maintained relations with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for sex offenses.Lisa Phillips, an Epstein victim, called for every country to launch “independent investigations into every single person of power” named in the Epstein files released by the US Justice Department.”Some may have committed no crimes. Some may have. But every person connected to wrongdoing and Epstein’s world in any nation must be investigated, and, if appropriate, held accountable,” Phillips said.Trump fought for months to prevent release of the Epstein files but eventually signed the law passed by Congress requiring their publication. The 79-year-old Republican’s name appears in the files repeatedly but he has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Fifteen Democratic-run US states announced Tuesday they are suing President Donald Trump’s administration over its reduction in the number of recommended pediatric vaccines, which they criticize as contrary to science.The reform, announced in January by the US Department of Health and Human Services led by long-time vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr, means the country is no longer recommending that every child receive immunizations against several diseases, including rotavirus, influenza and Covid-19.Instead the seven vaccines in question are being recommended only for those children at particular risk, a move that upends years of scientifically backed recommendations that reduced disease with routine shots.”Secretary RFK Jr. and his CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) are flouting decades of scientific research, ignoring credible medical experts, and threatening to strain state resources and make America’s children sicker,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, leading the lawsuit with his Arizona counterpart, said at a press conference.Kennedy is named as a defendant, along with the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services.The other vaccines stripped of their universally recommended status are for hepatitis A, meningococcal disease, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the highly infectious hepatitis B virus.- ‘Leaves kids unprotected’ -Washington’s reorientation of the childhood vaccination schedule has raised concerns within the medical community. The Trump administration justified its actions last month by saying it was putting the US vaccination policies more in line with those of other countries, citing Denmark as an example.Some health experts point to Denmark as being a small, homogeneous country with a low prevalence of disease and a centralized health care system that guarantees universal access to care.Such conditions do not apply to the United States, where the largely privatized health care system is less comprehensive than in northern Europe and has left millions of Americans uninsured.”Copying Denmark’s vaccine schedule without copying Denmark’s health care system doesn’t give families more options — it just leaves kids unprotected from serious diseases,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said at the press conference.Vaccine skepticism has risen in the United States since Trump returned to the presidency 13 months ago. Vaccination rates have been declining since the Covid pandemic, raising fears of a resurgence in deadly and contagious diseases like measles.The issue has become deeply political, with California Governor Gavin Newsom, a fierce Trump critic and potential 2028 presidential candidate, weighing in.”California is going back to court because the Trump administration is violating federal law and pushing a reckless, unscientific childhood vaccine schedule that puts kids’ lives at risk,” Newsom said in a statement. The 58-year-old Democrat said undermining confidence in vaccines will lead to lower vaccination rates and more cases of infectious disease.Other states filing the lawsuit include Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey and Wisconsin.