lifestyle WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2015

Features BB King death probed as homicide after poison claim

olice in Las Vegas have launched a homicide investiga- “I hope they have a factual basis that they can demonstrate from African American spirituals in the Deep South. In tion into the death of BB King, a Nevada coroner’s office for their defamatory and libelous allegations,” Brent Bryson Memphis, his longtime place of residence, the BB King Psaid Monday, after the blues guitar legend’s daughters said in a statement, according to the entertainment site. Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened in 2008 to reportedly accused his aides of poisoning him. King died at Earlier the local coroner confirmed the homicide investigation showcase artifacts from the legendary guitarist, as well as the age 89 on May 14 in Las Vegas, where he kept his residence and said that King’s remains would undergo an autopsy. “Our cultural heritage of the Mississippi Delta. His final resting while he kept up a grueling schedule of tours that ended only coroner takes jurisdctn over #BBKing body, performs autopsy. place could turn the museum into even more of a tourist last year. Two of King’s daughters-Karen Williams and Patty Results: 6-8wks min. Homicide investgtn w/ @LVMPD,” the draw. Elvis Presley was buried at his Graceland estate, which King-have alleged he was poisoned by his business manager Clark County, Nevada coroner’s office announced on Twitter, draws some 500,000 visitors a year and is by far the biggest Laverne Toney and his personal assistant, Eonline reported. referring to the Las Vegas police department. Given the time- tourist attraction in Memphis. — AFP “I believe my father was poisoned and that he was adminis- frame for the autopsy, King’s funeral in his beloved Memphis trated foreign substances to induce his premature death,” the has been postponed, local media reported. Riley B King was daughters wrote in separate but identical affidavits, the enter- born in poverty and grew up working in cotton fields, but tainment site said. “(I) request a formal investigation into this went on to master the guitar and entered the music business matter,” the court documents reportedly said. Toney, who is the after traveling to Memphis and working for radio stations. executor of King’s estate, shrugged off the daughters’ charge. He became known as the Beale Street Blues Boy, which File photo shows US blues artist BB “They’ve been making allegations all along. What’s new?” eventually earned him the moniker BB King. For decades, King performing during the 8th Toney said, according to Eonline. An attorney for King’s estate King played shows almost every night, becoming the premier edition of the Nice Jazz Festival in also dismissed the daughters’ accusations as “ridiculous”. ambassador for the blues-the music genre that emerged Nice, southeastern France. — AFP

General views show the forest of cedars in the Moroccan town of Azrou. — AFP photos ’s majestic cedars threatened by climate change

he cedar tree, considered by many to be cedars. Like the region’s 800,000 sheep, goat and ers. The fragrant wood is a favorite of cabinet mak- Morocco’s national treasure, is coming under cows, the animals have become more and more ers and essential oil produced from it is said to have Tattack from climate change, greedy humans sedentary due to water shortages that have led to medicinal benefits, as well as being used in aro- who indulge in illegal logging, and monkeys. The deforestation.”Water shortages compounded by matherapy. noble Atlantica covers about the behavior of the animals are contributing to the “This wood is gold,” said Miloud Bouyekhf, insist- 134,000 hectares (330,000 acres) of the North withering of the cedars,” said Abderrahim Derrou, ing that he, like others, respects the law and would African country. Although less well-known than its the director of the Ifran national park in the region. only cut down trees that had been designated for Lebanese cousin , the Moroccan cedar ‘This wood is gold’ felling by the forestry department. “Even sawdust is is still a potent symbol of national pride. The cedars The park was set up a decade ago in the Middle used,” the woodcutter said as he headed into the cover vast stretches of Morocco’s mountainous Atlas as part of a project to regenerate the forest forest with a chainsaw, vowing he would abide by , near the town of Azrou. and protect its fragile ecosystem. Hundreds of the rules. Illegal logging takes place under the cov- It is these rugged slopes that are home to a rare young cedars can today be seen sprouting sky- er of darkness, when poachers plunge their saws and iconic cedar, named after World War I French wards throughout the region. Morocco is also work- into trees that are hundreds of year old. general , who was stationed in ing on plans to secure the “endangered ” Abderrahim Houmy, secretary general of the Morocco to take charge of colonial troops. A key label for its cedars and a “world heritage” mention High Commissioner for Water, Forests and the Fight tourist attraction, the Gouraud cedar stands 42 from UN cultural body UNESCO. In the meantime, against Desertification, said that while illegal log- meters (140 feet) tall and is 900 years old, with one authorities have set up a plan to limit areas where ging is damaging, in constitutes a minor threat to distinctive branch that juts out like a candelabra. “It cattle can graze as part of efforts to protect the for- Morocco’s cedars compared to the grave danger is really beautiful, like being in Switzerland,” said est. “If the forest goes, everything will disappear. posed by climate change. “Climate change is the Badreddin, a recent visitor from Tunisia. The area is a The people here know that very well but life here is real threat,” he said, adding that rises in tempera- trekker’s paradise, and home to local monkeys tough,” said a shepherd in Ain Leuh forest, one of ture, droughts and flooding could spell doom for known as Barbary macaques, as well as sheep and the region’s most ecologically important. the cedar if nothing is done soon to protect the goats, which have in recent decades had to change Officials are also cracking down on poachers Biblical tree. — AFP their eating habits due to waves of drought. who are after prized cedar wood, as a cubic meter The monkeys are known to feed on and (35.3 cubic feet) can fetch 14,000 dirhams (around insects, and enjoy peanuts that visitors throw their 1,3000 euros, $1,475) at market price. Even if the way. But experts have noted that in recent years the price drops on the black market, the wood is still monkeys have been forced to alter their diets, highly valued. Earlier this month local media chewing on bark to boost their calcium intake and reported that a forestry department official was nibbling small branches that sprout from the killed in a car accident as he gave chase to poach- US returns 25 looted artifacts to Italy: Vases, frescoes

he United States yesterday officially returned 25 artifacts gallery listings, or as a result of customs searches, court cases “Italy is blessed with a rich cultural legacy and therefore Minneapolis museum director contacted the Italian culture that had been looted over the decades from Italy, includ- or tips. One 17th-century Venetian canon was seized by Boston cursed to suffer the pillaging of important cultural artifacts,” ministry after reading an article about one suspect piece, Ting Etruscan vases, 1st-century frescoes and precious border patrol agents as it was being smuggled from Egypt to Phillips said, adding that Interpol estimates the illicit trade in police said. Phillips praised the collaboration between Italy’s books that ended up in US museums, universities and private the US inside construction equipment, police said. cultural heritage produces more than $9 billion in profits each police and US Homeland Security and border patrol agents. He collections. Italy has been on a campaign to recover looted US Ambassador John Phillips joined Italy’s carabinieri art year. Police said several of the items were allegedly sold by also said the US had returned more than 7,600 objects to over artifacts, using the courts and public shaming to compel police to show off the haul. It included Etruscan vases from the Italian dealers Giacomo Medici and Gianfranco Becchina, both 30 countries and foreign citizens since 2007. — AP museums and collectors to return antiquities, and has won Toledo Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, convicted of trafficking in plundered Roman artifacts. After the back several important pieces. 17th-century botany books from Johns Hopkins University in objects were recovered, Italian authorities confirmed their The items yesterday were either spontaneously turned over Baltimore and a manuscript from the 1500s stolen from the provenance. to US authorities or were seized by police after investigators Turin archdiocese in 1990 that ended up listed in the University Police stressed that most collectors and museums willingly noticed them in Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction catalogues, of South Florida’s special collections. gave up the artifacts after learning they had been stolen. The

A first century BC fresco taken from Pompeii is displayed during a press conference in Rome.

The cover of a second century Roman marble sarcophagus, representing a woman, is displayed. — AP photos

An Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer stands A third century BC terracotta head, left, and a second cen- An Italian Carabiniere paramilitary police officer stands A Carabinieri Italian paramilitary police officer stands next to close to an ancient Etruscan ‘Kalpis’, a vase dated 500 BC. tury Roman bronze figure representing Mars, are shown next to an uncredited first century Fresco. a group of ancient artifacts returned Italy by The United during a press conference. States, on display in a Rome Carabinieri barracks, yesterday.