A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” were returned to their owner, nearly 20 years after the iconic shoes were stolen from a museum in the late actor’s hometown. But “No place like home?” Not exactly.

The memorabilia collector who owns the iconic footwear immediately turned them over to an auction company, which plans to take them on an international tour before offering them at auction in December, an official with Dallas-based Heritage Auctions said Monday.

The ruby slippers were at the heart of the beloved 1939 musical. Garland’s character, Dorothy, danced down the Yellow Brick Road in her shiny shoes, joined by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. To return home to Kansas, she had to tap the heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”

In reality, Garland wore several pairs during filming. Only four remain.

Memorabilia collector Michael Shaw’s ruby slippers were believed to be the highest quality of all of them — they were the ones used in close-ups of Dorothy clicking her heels. Shaw loaned them in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

That summer, someone smashed through a display case and stole the sequins-and-beads-bedazzled slippers. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

The slippers were returned to Shaw in a ceremony in February, but details weren’t disclosed until Monday.

“It’s like welcoming back an old friend I haven’t seen in years,” Shaw said in a news release.

The Dallas-based auction company said the tour of the slippers will include stops in Los Angeles, New York, London and Tokyo. Dates were not announced.

“You cannot overstate the importance of Dorothy’s ruby slippers: They are the most important prop in Hollywood history,” Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in the news release.

The man who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded guilty in October to theft of a major artwork, admitting to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case in what his attorney said was an attempt to pull off “one last score” after turning away from a life of crime. He was sentenced in January to time served because of his poor health.

An indictment made public Sunday showed that a second man, 76-year-old Jerry Hal Saliterman, has been charged with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering. He did not enter a plea when he made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, while in a wheelchair and on supplemental oxygen.

Jerry Hal Saliterman, of Crystal is wheeled out of U.S. District Court in St. Paul on Friday, March 15, 2024, after he made his initial appearance on charges connected to the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)

The indictment says that from August 2005 to July 2018 Saliterman “received, concealed, and disposed of an object of cultural heritage” — specifically, “an authentic pair of ‘ruby slippers’ worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie ‘The Wizard of Oz.’” The indictment says Saliterman knew they were stolen. It also says that, starting sometime last year, he threatened to release a sex tape of a woman and “take her down with him” if she didn’t stay quiet about the crime.

Saliterman’s attorney, John Brink, on Friday declined to discuss the case in depth but said his client is not guilty.

“He hasn’t done anything wrong,” Brink said.

Court documents do not indicate how Martin and Saliterman may have been connected.

Terry Jon Martin, who pleaded guilty to stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” is wheeled out of the federal courthouse in Duluth, Minn. after his sentencing hearing on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024 by his attorney, Dane DeKrey.  (Dan Kraker/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

Martin said at an October hearing that he had hoped to take what he thought were real rubies from the shoes and sell them. But a person who deals in stolen goods informed him the rubies weren’t real, Martin said. So he got rid of the slippers.

Defense attorney Dane DeKrey wrote in a court document that Martin had no idea about the cultural significance of the ruby slippers and had never seen “The Wizard of Oz.”

The FBI said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he could help recover them but demanded more than the $200,000 reward being offered. The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis the next year. Federal prosecutors have put the slippers’ market value at about $3.5 million.

The other pairs of slippers are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a private collector.

Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids until she was 4, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969. The Judy Garland Museum, which includes the house where she lived, says it has the world’s largest collection of Garland and “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia.

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By MATTHEW DALY (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products and that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.

The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a landmark 2016 law that overhauled regulations governing tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products, from household cleaners to clothing and furniture.

The new rule would ban chrysotile asbestos, the only ongoing use of asbestos in the United States. The substance is found in products such as brake linings and gaskets and is used to manufacture chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the final rule a major step to protect public health.

“With today’s ban, EPA is finally slamming the door on a chemical so dangerous that has been banned in over 50 countries,” Regan said. ”This historic ban is more than 30 years in the making, and it’s thanks to amendments that Congress made in 2016 to fix the Toxic Substance Control Act,” the main U.S. law governing use of chemicals.

Exposure to asbestos is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and other cancers, and it is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Ending the ongoing uses of asbestos advances the goals of President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, a whole-of-government initiative to end cancer in the U.S., Regan said.

“The science is clear: Asbestos is a known carcinogen that has severe impacts on public health. This action is just the beginning as we work to protect all American families, workers and communities from toxic chemicals,” Regan said.

The 2016 law authorized new rules for tens of thousands of toxic chemicals found in everyday products, including substances such as asbestos and trichloroethylene that for decades have been known to cause cancer yet were largely unregulated under federal law. Known as the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, the law was intended to clear up a hodgepodge of state rules governing chemicals and update the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 1976 law that had remained unchanged for 40 years.

The EPA banned asbestos in 1989, but the rule was largely overturned by a 1991 court decision that weakened the EPA’s authority under TSCA to address risks to human health from asbestos or other existing chemicals. The 2016 law required the EPA to evaluate chemicals and put in place protections against unreasonable risks.

Asbestos, which was once common in home insulation and other products, is banned in more than 50 countries, and its use in the U.S. has been declining for decades. The only form of asbestos known to be currently imported, processed or distributed for use in the U.S. is chrysotile asbestos, which is imported primarily from Brazil and Russia. It is used by the chlor-alkali industry, which produces bleach, caustic soda and other products.

Most consumer products that historically contained chrysotile asbestos have been discontinued.

While chlorine is a commonly used disinfectant in water treatment, there are only 10 chlor-alkali plants in the U.S. that still use asbestos diaphragms to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide. The plants are mostly located in Louisiana and Texas.

The use of asbestos diaphragms has been declining and now accounts for about one-third of the chlor-alkali production in the U.S., the EPA said.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at https://apnews.com/hub/us-environmental-protection-agency.

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and TIA GOLDENBERG (Associated Press)

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. food agency said Monday that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and that a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gaza’s total population to the brink of starvation.

The alarming report came as Israel faces mounting pressure from even its closest allies to streamline the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and open more crossings. The European Union’s top diplomat said the impending famine was “entirely man-made” as “starvation is used as a weapon of war.”

Israeli forces meanwhile launched another raid on the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital early Monday, saying Hamas fighters had regrouped there and had fired on them from inside the compound, where Palestinian officials say tens of thousands of people have been sheltering. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

The military said it killed a Hamas commander who was armed and hiding inside the medical center, and that one of its own soldiers was killed in the operation.

The army last raided Shifa Hospital in November after claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command center within and beneath the facility. The military revealed a tunnel leading to some underground rooms, as well as weapons it said were found inside the hospital. But the evidence fell short of the earlier claims, and critics accused the army of recklessly endangering the lives of civilians.

RAFAH OFFENSIVE COULD PUSH HALF OF GAZA TO STARVATION

The World Food Program on Monday released the latest findings of its Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, an international process for estimating the scale of hunger crises.

It says virtually everyone in Gaza is struggling to get enough food, and that around 677,000 people — nearly a third of the population of 2.3 million — are experiencing the highest level of catastrophic hunger. That includes around 210,000 people in the north.

It warned that if Israel broadens its offensive to the packed southern city of Rafah, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed, the fighting could drive over a million people — half of Gaza’s population — into catastrophic hunger.

“This is the largest number of people facing imminent famine in the world today, and it has only taken five months to occur,” said Matthew Hollingworth, the acting World Food Program country director for the Palestinian territories.

“It’s still possible to turn this around but there has to be a cease-fire and there has to be massive amounts of food aid to flow consistently, and people need to have access to clean water and health care,” he said.

Northern Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of the invasion and entire neighborhoods have been obliterated. It is now the epicenter of Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe, with many residents reduced to eating animal feed. At least 20 people, mostly children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration in the north, the Health Ministry said earlier this month.

Airdrops by the U.S. and other nations continue, while deliveries on a new sea route have begun, but aid groups say it’s essential that Israel open up more land routes and ease restrictions. The WFP report said airdrops account for a “negligible share” of aid compared with what is brought in on trucks.

Israeli authorities say they place no limits on the entry of aid and accuse U.N. bodies of failing to distribute it in a timely manner. Aid groups say distribution is impossible in much of Gaza because of ongoing hostilities, the difficulty of coordinating with the military and the breakdown of law and order.

Alex de Waal, the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University and an expert on global famines, said Israel has had “ample warning” that if it continued to launch massive operations that destroy key infrastructure, displace large numbers of people and obstruct aid operations, the results would be catastrophic.

“In failing to change course, it is culpable for these deaths,” he said.

Ahead of the report’s release, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it was up to Israel to facilitate more aid.

“Israel has to do it. It is not a question of logistics. It is not because the United Nations has not provided enough support,” he said. “Trucks are stopped. People are dying, while the land crossings are artificially closed.”

‘WE’RE TRAPPED INSIDE’

The heavy fighting around Shifa Hospital, in the heart of Gaza City, meanwhile pointed to the continuing presence of Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza despite the harsh conditions there.

People sheltering in the hospital said Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery had surrounded the medical complex and that snipers were shooting at people inside. They said the army raided a number of buildings and detained dozens of people.

“We’re trapped inside,” said Abdel-Hady Sayed, who has been sheltering in the medical facility for over three months. “They fire at anything moving. … Doctors and ambulances can’t move.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry said around 30,000 people are sheltering at the hospital, including patients, medical staff and people who have fled their homes seeking safety. The war has displaced around 80% of Gaza’s population.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief Israeli military spokesperson, said the army launched a “high-precision operation” in parts of the medical complex. He said senior Hamas fighters had regrouped there and were directing attacks from inside.

The army later said it had killed Faiq Mabhouh, identifying him as a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus. It said Mabhouh was armed and hiding inside the compound, and that “numerous” weapons were found in an adjacent room. The military said its forces detained around 80 people.

Hagari said the patients and medical staff could remain in the medical complex and that a safe passage was available for civilians who wanted to leave.

Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to shield its fighters, and the Israeli military has raided several hospitals since the start of the war, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that at least 31,726 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 81 in the past 24 hours. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.

Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people in the surprise attack out of Gaza that triggered the war, and took another 250 people hostage. Hamas is still believed to be holding about 100 captives, as well as the remains of 30 others, after most of the rest were freed during a cease-fire last year in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent weeks trying to broker another cease-fire and hostage release, but the gulf between the two sides remains wide, with Hamas demanding guarantees for an end to the war and Israel vowing to continue the offensive until it destroys the group.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

SoxFest will return next year, the Chicago White Sox announced Friday.

The fan event — last held in 2020 — will take place Jan. 24-25, 2025. Location, official on-sale dates, programming and scheduled appearances will be announced later.

SoxFest has been a gathering that provides fans the opportunity to connect with former and current players, coaches and prospects while taking a look toward the upcoming season.

In a release announcing the news, the Sox said SoxFest 2025 “returns with the same community-building spirit, featuring new and reimagined programming and experiences to immerse guests into the world of White Sox baseball.”

The most recent SoxFest — the 28th edition — occurred in late January 2020. The 2021 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022 SoxFest also was canceled, with the Sox noting at the time the challenges of projecting and managing COVID-19-related protocols in an indoor setting.

SoxFest did not take place last year “due to several factors,” the Sox said at the time. The Cubs have held their annual fan fest the last two years.

Friday’s announcement comes on the same day of a gathering for season ticket holders at the Field Museum.

The returning SoxFest will mark a pair of milestones in the franchise’s history in 2025 — the 20-year anniversary of the 2005 World Series championship team and the 125-year anniversary of the Chicago White Sox organization.

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