Big diamond, big bucks

Big diamond, big bucks

GENEVA — An 84.37-carat white diamond touted by Sotheby’s for its size and beauty sold at auction Wednesday to Guess clothing company founder Georges Marciano for just under $16.2 million. The jewel — the largest top-quality, brilliant-cut white diamond ever to appear at auction — had been valued by Sotheby’s at between $13.3 million and $17.8 million. Marciano’s winning bid, made by telephone, came to $16,189,769 including the buyer’s premium. It was just short of the auction record for a stone or piece of jewelry, a record held by the same Sotheby’s branch in Geneva for a 100.1-carat diamond that fetched $16.5 million in 1995.

O.J. to face trial

LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson must face trial on kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges stemming from a suspected sports memorabilia theft, a justice of the peace ruled Wednesday. Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure ruled after a preliminary hearing on the charges and arguments against the case by attorneys for Simpson and co-defendants Clarence “C.J.” Stewart and Charles “Charlie” Ehrlich. No charges in the 12-count complaint against the three men were dropped. The case stemmed from a Sept. 13 confrontation in a casino hotel room where Simpson and a group of men are accused of stealing items from two sports memorabilia dealers.

Drill sergeant convicted

SAN DIEGO — A Marine boot camp drill instructor was convicted Wednesday of abusing recruits under his command. A military jury found Sgt. Jerrod M. Glass guilty of cruelty and maltreatment, destruction of personal property, assault, and violating orders on the proper treatment of recruits. Glass, who was relieved of duty as a drill instructor in February, faces as many as 10 years of confinement, dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank, and forfeiture of pay and benefits.

Cold medicine lawsuit

CHICAGO — A mother whose 4-month-old son died after taking over-the-counter cough and cold medicines sued two distributors of the drugs, saying they should have known the dangers of a key ingredient and warned consumers. The lawsuit filed Wednesday is one of the first since Federal Drug Administration hearings last month where health experts testified that parents should not give children younger than 6 such medicines because they don’t work and can be harmful. Dimitria Alvarez of Bloomington in central Illinois found her son dead in his crib Oct. 8, 2001, four days after he had begun sniffling and coughing with an apparent cold. Alvarez gave her son McNeil-PPC Inc.’s Infant Tylenol Cold Decongestant Plus Cough and Walgreens-brand Pediatric Drops-Cough Plus Cold, according to the lawsuit. Both contain dextromethorphan. A coroner’s report says Devon Mehlberg-Alvarez died of dextromethorphan intoxication.

Earthquake rocks Chile

MARIA ELENA, Chile — A major earthquake crushed cars, damaged thousands of houses, blocked roads and terrified people for hundreds of miles around Wednesday. Chilean authorities reported at least two deaths and more than 100 injuries. The quake, which struck at 12:40 p.m., shook the Chilean capital 780 miles to the south of the epicenter, and was felt as far away as 1,400 miles east.

Russian troops pull out

MOSCOW — A top Russian general said early today that Russia has completed its withdrawal of troops that had been based in Georgia since the Soviet collapse, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. The presence of Russian troops in the ex-Soviet republic was one of the longtime irritants between Georgia and its giant neighbor. “There are no more Russian troops in Georgia, there remain only peacekeepers ... in Abkhazia and those that are part of the combined forces in South Ossetia with the participation of Georgia,” the news agency quoted Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Troops Gen. Alexei Maslov as saying.