Artists arrested for nude display

Some artists got naked on Wall Street during a performance art piece -- and were promptly arrested.

The two men and a woman were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct yesterday morning outside the New York Stock Exchange.

Manhattan artist Zefrey Throwell organised the five-minute social critique of Wall Street with dozens of volunteers acting like people at work. He says he didn't intend to provoke police and his target was US and world financial institutions.

Killer's blood put in database

A vial of serial killer Ted Bundy's blood has been found in Florida and investigators will use the newly discovered evidence to try to solve cases that went cold decades ago.

The blood was taken in 1978 when Bundy was arrested over the death of a 12-year-old girl. He confessed to more than 30 murders before he was executed in 1989 but was suspected of many more. A complete DNA profile has not been developed until now.

Harry Potter tops box office

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 took the top spot in the international box office race this weekend, conjuring up $66.4m and tying Avatar for the fastest sprint to the $1bn mark at just 17 days.

There was little anti-American sentiment in evidence as audiences in 31 foreign territories rallied around Captain America: The First Avenger for a No 2 gross of $48.5m on its first weekend of wide release overseas.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon continued its strong international performance.

California bans caffeine in beer

California became the seventh state to ban beer drinks laced with caffeine, which gained attention last year when nine Washington college students were hospitalised after downing cans of such a malt beverage.

Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed a bill yesterday that prohibits the sale of "beer to which caffeine has been directly added as a separate ingredient"

State Senator Alex Padilla said the drinks were often marketed to underage drinkers.