NEWSMAKERS | The White Stripes are calling it quits

NEWSMAKERS

The White Stripes are calling it quits

NEW YORK

The White Stripes are done. The groundbreaking rock duo announced Wednesday they are splitting up and “will make no further new recordings or perform live.” Jack White and Meg White say there is a “myriad of reasons” for the breakup, but the main reason is to “preserve what is beautiful and special about the band.”

The last recording by the White Stripes was the live album “Under the Great White Northern Lights,” released last year. Over the years, Jack White has focused attention on other projects, including the bands the Dead Weather and the Raconteurs, as well as his Nashville, Tenn.-based Third Man Records.

Lohan faces scrutiny over necklace theft

LOS ANGELES

Lindsay Lohan is in the spotlight again for all the wrong reasons. Police got a search warrant Tuesday to look for a $2,500 stolen necklace at the troubled actress’s home near Venice Beach, a freewheeling boardwalk known for its mix of performers, tourist shops and seaside gym.

But before detectives could execute the warrant, someone — police wouldn’t say who — turned in the necklace. Now Lohan, who still is on probation for a 2007 drunken-driving case, is being investigated for possible grand theft, said Officer Bruce Borihanh on Wednesday. The store in Venice reported the necklace stolen Jan. 22.

Expert: Male model behind Mona Lisa

ROME

An Italian researcher says the main influence and model for the “Mona Lisa” was a male apprentice of the artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Gian Giacomo Caprotti, known as Salai, worked with Leonardo for years starting in 1490. Art historian Silvano Vinceti said Wednesday that several Leonardo works, including “St. John the Baptist,” were based on Salai and that similarities with the “Mona Lisa’s” nose and mouth were evident.

This is one of many theories surrounding the identity of the “Mona Lisa,” ranging from a self-portrait to a Florentine merchant’s wife.

Fawcett’s swimsuit going to Smithsonian

WASHINGTON

The red swimsuit that helped make “Charlie’s Angels” actress Farrah Fawcett an icon is going to the Smithsonian in Washington. Fawcett’s longtime companion Ryan O’Neal donated the swimsuit and other items to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Wednesday. A 1976 poster of Fawcett in the dampened red swimsuit sold millions of copies.

Also going to the Smithsonian are Fawcett’s copies of scripts for the first season of “Charlie’s Angels” and a 1977 Farrah Fawcett doll. Fawcett died in 2009 at the age of 62 after battling cancer.

Mummies removed after China objects

PHILADELPHIA

A museum in Philadelphia will remove two mummies and more than 100 historical artifacts from a long-awaited exhibit because of objections from Chinese officials. The exhibit “Secrets of the Silk Road” was to open Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

The main attraction was a nearly 4,000-year-old pristinely preserved mummy from far-western China.

Museum spokeswoman Pam Kosty said Wednesday she cannot discuss details of the dispute. The exhibit already has been displayed at museums in Texas and California.

Vindicator wire services