Lock of "Che's" hair sold at Dallas auction

lock of socialist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara's hair and related items were auctioned on Thursday in Dallas to a Houston-area bookstore owner for the very capitalist sum of $119,500. The curious collection had belonged to Gustavo Villoldo, 71, a former CIA operative who helped hunt Guevara down in the jungles of Bolivia in 1967 and who claims he cut off the lock before burying the guerrilla fighter with two of his comrades. There was media speculation that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a leftist who greatly admires the iconic Guevara, would bid for the items. In the end, it went to Houston-based Bill Butler. "Butler ... is thrilled to own items from Che (and) will display them in his store," said Kelley Norwine, vice president of marketing for Heritage Auction Galleries, which auctioned the mementos. The auction house said the hair could provide DNA proof that the remains of Guevara -- affectionately known by his admirers as "Che" -- are in Cuba, where he is venerated as a hero of the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power five decades ago. Then 39, the bearded rebel was captured by CIA-backed Bolivian soldiers on October 8, 1967 and shot dead the next day in a schoolhouse. Some remains believed to be his were dug up decades later and taken to Cuba. "This may be the only DNA that could prove that Castro has his body. Gustavo helped bury Che and he claims there were only two other bodies with his corpse," Norwine told Reuters shortly before the auction, as she pointed to the dark lock of hair sealed in a plastic envelope in a glass display case.

Teenager in go-kart leaves police standing

A teen-ager speeding through a German town in a go-kart with seven squad cars in hot pursuit managed to give the frustrated officers the slip, police said on Friday. After leading the convoy on a 5-km (3-mile) chase through the winding streets of Moenchengladbach, the 18-year-old driver spotted a private garage with an open door, where he decided to lie low, police said. "We were chasing him across town, but the squad cars couldn't keep up because the go-cart was able to take the corners faster and he was able to get away," police spokesman Willy Thevissen said. However, police later discovered his hiding place. He was questioned and charged with driving without a license and driving a go-kart on a public street, which is not permitted in Germany. "He told us he knew driving a go-cart on the street is illegal," the spokesman said. "But he had purchased the vehicle from a friend and said he had no other way of getting it home." Moenchengladbach has produced two Formula One racing drivers. Both Nick Heidfeld of the BMW Sauber ream and former racer Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who retired in 2003, were born there.