NEW YORK (AP) — A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat has been sold for $13.5 million at an auction in New York City.

The 1982 painting, "Untitled (Boxer)," was consigned to Christie's auction house by Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica. Christie's didn't identify the buyer.

The painting shows a black heavyweight fighter with his arms thrust in the air against a white graffiti-filled background. It surpassed its pre-auction estimate of more than $12 million.

The current auction record for a Basquiat is $14.6 million for "Untitled," which sold at Sotheby's last year.

Francis Bacon's "Study for Self-Portrait" didn't sell. Christie's says it had been estimated to sell for about $40 million.

Untitled (Boxer), painted in 1982, is an important "proxy self-portrait,'' Brett Gorvy, Christie's international co-head of postwar and contemporary art, tells Bloomberg. "The black artist as defiant hero.'"

In 2002, Ulrich, a noted collector, sold Basquiat's 1982 Profit I at Christie's for $5.5 million. In July, Irish rock band U2 sold the artist's Untitled (Pecho/Oreja) for $10.1 million at Sotheby's in London.

(AP) — A pink chiffon blouse worn by Princess Diana goes on sale through an online auction.

The Elizabeth Emanuel engagement blouse was worn by Diana for a famous portrait photograph by Lord Snowdon in 1980 and appeared in Vogue magazine. The pale pink blouse with its fluted neckline and ribbon had a romantic look that appealed to Diana.

The garment is expected to fetch up to £25,000 on the Internet sale hosted by auction house Atrium.

Other Emanuel dresses connected with Diana go on sale in the 10-day auction, including a miniature copy of her royal wedding dress made with the remaining silk taffeta, pearls and sequins from the original dress.

Fashion designer Elizabeth Emanuel said: "We have waited 27 years to sell our archive, and the blouse, which we were so thrilled to lend to The Princess.

"It was through this blouse that our relationship with Diana started, and it was always a tremendous honour and privilege to work so closely with her."

Dresses worn by Hollywood actresses Jane Seymour and Elizabeth Hurley form part of the 200 Emanuel pieces in the collection being sold.

The auction closes on November 13.

NEW YORK (Jennifer Peltz/AP) — Punk rock is on the block. Make that the auction block.

Memorabilia from some of punk rock's biggest acts and seminal moments - including a scrawled flyer for one of the Clash's first shows and publicity photos signed by the Sex Pistols - is headed for a Nov. 24 Christie's auction.

The event includes more than 120 records, photos and promotional pieces for such punk, garage rock and new wave legends as the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, the Ramones, David Bowie, Blondie, the Cure and the Smiths.

The auction is Christie's first to focus on punk mementos, signaling the collectible status of a brash, anti-authoritarian rock movement that largely thumbed its nose at posterity.

"Ten years ago, punk memorabilia probably wouldn't be something we'd be auctioning here," said Simeon Lipman, Christie's pop culture chief. "But now, people of a certain age have a certain ability to splurge on this material."

Should they care to, highlights include a rare poster for a 1976 Ramones concert in London widely credited with helping inspire such British punk titans as the Clash and the Sex Pistols and a flyer for a show later that year featuring the latter two bands and the Buzzcocks.

Other prime finds: a copy of the Sex Pistols' first press release and a 1966 promotional packet in which an up-and-comer called David Jones promulgated his new last name: Bowie.

The various punk items are expected to fetch between $300 and $6,000 apiece.

The items generally weren't designed to last for decades, making the few that have survived all the more tantalizing, Lipman said.

The auction also features artist-designed toys and several big-ticket classic-rock collectibles, such as the portable organ John Lennon played in the Beatles' indelible 1965 appearance at Shea Stadium.

It was broken during the show and quickly traded in at an Atlanta music shop, where the owner realized its significance and held onto it, Lipman said. The now-functioning organ is expected to fetch $150,000 to $200,000.

WINDHOEK, Namibia (Rodrick Mukumbira/AP) — The first ivory auction in a decade sold over 7 tons of tusks to Chinese and Japanese bidders Tuesday, raising more than $1 million for elephant conservation.

The sale took place under a special exemption to the international ban on trade in ivory.

Last year the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ruled that Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe could make a one-time sale of 108 tons of government ivory stocks.

Some environmentalists have condemned the sales, fearing it will encourage smuggling and poaching.

Tuesday's auction, held behind closed doors in the capital, was monitored by Willem Wijnstekers, CITES Secretary General. In all, 7.2 tons of ivory were sold, fetching a total of $1.3 million at an average price of $164 per kilogram (2.2 pounds).

Proceeds will go to the Game Product Trust Fund created in 1999 to promote conservation in communities where elephants range. Most of Namibia's elephants are found outside protected areas and have to compete for land and resources with communities, which often leads to conflict between people and the animals.

"Without a way of benefiting from elephants, elephants can only be seen as a liability or loss to rural communities, who lose significant subsistence crops and even human lives," Leon Jooste, deputy minister of environment and tourism, told reporters.

The two Chinese and two Japanese buyers were not named.

Most of the tusks came from elephants who died of natural causes. Southern Africa is home to about 300,000 elephants — half of all the giant creatures on the continent.

Namibia had expected to sell over 9 tons of ivory and the remaining tusks will be distributed to communities involved in making traditional jewelry.

Over 44 tons will be sold in Botswana on Friday, while auctions next month will see 51 tons being offered in South Africa and almost 4 tons offered in Zimbabwe.

No new sales from the four southern African countries will be allowed for the next nine years.

Ivory trade was banned globally in 1989, but reviving elephant populations allowed African countries to make a one-time sale a decade later to Japan, the only country which had previously won the right to import.

In July, CITES said China should also be allowed to bid for ivory as it had dramatically improved its enforcement of ivory trade rules. The organization said it will monitor Chinese and Japanese domestic trade controls to ensure traders do not use this opportunity to sell ivory of illegal origin.

The auctions have prompted widespread protests by animal rights activists, leading online auction giant eBay Inc. to say it would ban ivory sales.

"The elephant ivory trade is responsible for the slaughter of at least 20,000 elephants a year," Christina Pretorius of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said.

"Relaxing the current international ivory trade ban, such as these stockpile sales, will signal to poachers that it is open season on elephants and provide them means to launder their illegal ivory stocks," she said.

But CITES' Wijnstekers disputed this.

"There is no proven scientific explanation that ivory sales lead to poaching," he told The Associated Press.

DALLAS (AP) — A woman distraught over losing her house showed up to watch it auctioned off, but that wasn't the end of the story. Tracy Orr will return home after a stranger bought the house back for her Saturday.

"It means so much to all of us," Orr said. "It's not just a house."

Marilyn Mock said she decided on the spot to buy the house after striking up a conversation with a sobbing Orr at the auction Saturday. Mock was there to help her 27-year-old son bid on a house.

Mock successfully bid $30,000 for Orr's house in Pottsboro. Orr will make payments to her once the deal is finalized.

"She needed help. That was it," Mock said. "I just happened to be there, and anybody else would have done the same thing." 

Orr bought the house for $80,000 in 2004 but lost her job a month after taking out the loan. She fell behind on her payments and lost the house this year — an increasingly common story across the nation.

"She didn't even know if I had a job or was a nut case," Orr said in the Wednesday online edition of The Dallas Morning News. "She didn't even see a picture of the house."

The two are waiting on final approval from mortgage giant Fannie Mae before visiting the home. Mock's son also bought a house at the auction.

NEW YORK (Dennis Waszak Jr./AP) — Sold! For $16 million, 620 personal seat licenses for choice spots in the New York Jets' new stadium.

Team executives celebrated Tuesday as they announced the results of an unprecedented online PSL auction, though the nine-day sale occurred as the stock market plunged and more than two-thirds of the seats originally up for bid went unpurchased.

"The fact that the Jets have sold this many seats in a brand-new process, I think is absolutely amazing," team owner Woody Johnson told The Associated Press.

Bidding ended Monday night as the team initially auctioned 2,000 PSLs for the exclusive Coaches Club — located near the 50-yard line and behind the Jets' bench — on the ticketing Web site StubHub. It was the first time a U.S. sports team auctioned off PSLs online.

"We thought this was an unprecedented opportunity for fans to buy these seats and they stepped up and bought them," Johnson said. "It kind of validated our thought that there is value to a PSL because people paid a lot of money in the open market in a way that had never been done before."

The average winning bid was $26,000.

Buyers "have the vision to look over this deep valley we're in right now," Johnson said. "They can look out two years and look out for their kids and grandkids that come along and realize that this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy something for the long-term."

The highest bid came in the auction's final hours at $82,000 for front-row seats around the 45-yard line.

"That was the cherry on top," said Matt Higgins, the team's executive vice president of business operations.

The next-highest winning bids were: $65,100, $61,100, $60,500 and $55,500, while the lowest was $10,500.

"In terms of what we did, we're very happy with what occurred, extremely happy," Johnson said.

StubHub, an eBay company, also was pleased with the results of the auction after dealing in the past with fixed pricing for events.

"It was unique and groundbreaking, and that was one thing we knew going in and unlike something StubHub had supported in the past," spokesman Sean Pate said. "It was an extremely huge success for us on a number of levels. Certainly, the overall output from the auction and the results that the Jets realized were very exciting for us."

Pate said the auction became more manageable when the Jets scaled back on the number of PSLs they made available to bid on. "There was literally a surplus of supplies," he said. "Once it was determined that there was a better opportunity to scale it back, the prices shot up and were very healthy."

The Jets were still analyzing data from the auction and were uncertain of the nature of the winning bidders, but believed it was a mix of fans and corporate buyers.

"The types of fans willing to shell out this kind of money are probably secure, or hopefully secure, with their economic futures and what they have and what they can spend," said Jon Greenberg, executive editor of the Chicago-based Team Marketing Report. "These types of deals aren't for everyone. Obviously, they're not for the average fan."

Given the tough economy, some financial analysts said they'd be surprised if most of the winning bidders weren't corporations.

"They use them for marketing and advertising purposes and as an investment," said Bernard Baumohl, managing director of The Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J. "If there was evidence that it was individuals and not mostly corporations that bid that high, I'd be shocked."

The Jets are offering winning bidders five- and 15-year financing plans to pay for all PSLs, including those that have not yet gone on sale. The team is planning to sell the remaining PSLs over the next several months.

The online event was kicked off at an auction preview party Oct. 16 at The Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan, where the winning bid for a pair of PSLs on the 50-yard line was $200,000 per seat.

Winning bidders also have to pay $700 for each Jets game ticket, but they'll have the opportunity to leave their seats in the stands and watch the game from a fenced-off section of the field 5 yards behind the Jets' bench, or from a bar and lounge area directly behind them.

"I think you'll really feel like you're part of the team and you're really going to know the coach, really going to know the team," Johnson said. "This is for the fan who wants the best, expects the best and will be getting the best."

In August, the Jets announced their PSL plan, including for seats that weren't in the auction. They'll cost some season-ticket holders between $4,000 and $25,000, but spares 27,000 upper-level seats from the new fee.

"There were fans that have expressed some feelings initially without really knowing that we've left a third of the stadium PSL-less," Johnson said.

The Giants' most expensive PSLs will be sold at $20,000 per seat, but they are imposing a $1,000 fee for the upper-level seats that are spared in the Jets' plan.

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government announced Thursday it intends to shake up New York's congested airports by bringing in new airlines in an effort to reduce delays and lower fares.

The controversial program is designed to bring more competition and efficiency by auctioning off the right to take off at some of the nation's most desired — and most delayed — airports. Airline carriers will be allowed to bid for slots at LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International.

Over five years, the Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to take 10% of flight slots at those airports away from current airlines and auction them. The proceeds will go to airport improvements. In the first auction set for Jan. 12, 23 LaGuardia slots would be sold and 18 slots each at Newark and Kennedy.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the move will reduce delays and lower air fares. "Without slot auctions, a small number of airlines will profit while travelers bear the brunt of higher fares, fewer choices and deteriorating service," she said.

Airlines, airports and lawmakers reacted with anger. The Air Transport Association, which represents the large carriers that would have to give up slots, vowed to sue to block the regulation. It argues that auctions will increase fares as airlines pass on the costs to passengers.

Opponents cited an opinion last month by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, that said such auctions are illegal.

"It is simply shocking that the DOT is unabashedly continuing this ideological battle despite the staunch opposition from the entire aviation community," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

The Justice Department said the government has the authority to hold the auctions.

The Bush administration and Peters have signaled for about a year that they wanted to impose the auctions despite growing opposition and the end of Bush's term. The first auction comes eight days before a new president takes office.

With so few slots at stake initially, it will be difficult for an airline to buy enough to set up a beachhead at one of the airports, said airline industry analyst Roger King of CreditSights.

"You really have to have a market share to have any effect on consumer behavior," King said.