- Crunch time looms for BHP's bid buy Anglo American
- Kane to face old club Spurs for first time in Seoul
- Markets rise as traders cheered by China property plan
- Black farmers in Brazil changing views on coffee production
- Iran's President Raisi declared dead in helicopter crash
- Australia police arrest 554 in domestic violence crackdown
- South Korea, Britain host AI summit with safety top of agenda
- New president Lai vows to defend Taiwan's democracy
- Forever fad: Rubik says his cube 'reminds us why we have hands'
- Trump eyes witness stand as trial draws to a close
- Ryanair annual profit jumps on higher demand, fares
- High-priced Cummins, Starc face off as IPL enters playoffs
- Iran media says President Raisi died in helicopter crash
- Dominican Republic President Abinader re-elected to 2nd term
- New Taiwan president Lai hails 'glorious' democracy
- New Caledonia separatists defy French efforts to unblock roads
- Timberwolves knock out defending champion Nuggets, Pacers oust Knicks
- Trump biopic hits Cannes Film Festival
- Iran President Raisi's helicopter found, 'no sign of life'
- Three talking points ahead of 2024 French Open
- 'Haikyu!!': Comic heroes fuel Japan Olympic volleyball manga mania
- Timberwolves rally to knock defending champion Nuggets out of NBA playoffs
- London court set to rule on Julian Assange extradition
- Business and Bollywood votes in India election
- Pope calls anti-migrant attitudes at US border 'madness'
- Mexico aims to be big economic winner from US-China tensions
- Uncertain future for thousands after deadly Brazil floods
- Schauffele makes the putt of his life for first major win
- Wirtz returns to help unbeaten Leverkusen chase history
- Search for Iran's President Raisi after helicopter goes missing
- DeChambeau's powerful putting has him excited for US Open
- Taiwan to swear in new president as China pressure grows
- Atalanta can end 61-year wait for trophy in Europa League final
- Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA for first major win
- Guardiola casts doubt over long-term Man City future
- Hollywood icons Costner and Demi Moore make Cannes comeback
- Pacers shoot down Knicks to reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- Schauffele birdies final hole, captures first major at PGA Championship
- McLaughlin powers to Indy 500 pole in all-Penske front row
- Monaco footballer tapes over LGBTQ badge
- Korda wins sixth LPGA title of year with win at Liberty National
- Pacers put on shooting show to down Knicks, reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- US envoy touts 'potential' of Israel-Saudi deal in Netanyahu talks
- Dominicans vote for president in poll overshadowed by Haiti crisis
- Brest secure Champions League qualification, PSG win without Mbappe
- Mbappe absent as PSG win final Ligue 1 game
- Still exhausted after arrest, Scheffler closes with 64 at PGA
- Brest secure historic Champions League qualification
- France's Macron calls fresh emergency on New Caledonia unrest
- Taiwan swears in new president as China pressure grows
McCartney reunited with his missing 'Beatlemania' bass guitar
Paul McCartney has expressed his gratitude after the Beatles legend was reunited with a missing bass guitar that he owned in the 1960s and used on several Fab Four tracks.
McCartney played the original Höfner bass throughout the Beatlemania decade, including at Hamburg's Top Ten Club, at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and on early Beatles recordings at London's Abbey Road studios.
It was used to record hits including "Love Me Do", "She Loves You", and "Twist and Shout".
The instrument was then thought to have been lost during the London "Get Back/Let It Be" recording sessions in January 1969, but an investigation last year discovered that it was actually stolen in 1972.
The investigation was led by a guitar expert and two journalists, who launched a fresh drive to reunite the guitar with McCartney, vowing to solve what they branded "the greatest mystery in rock and roll".
After receiving hundreds of leads and suggestions, the "Lost Bass Project" pinpointed when and where it was stolen and other information before eventually discovering its most recent whereabouts.
"Following the launch of last year's Lost Bass project, Paul's 1961 Hofner 500/1 bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972, has been returned," a post on McCartney's official website stated.
"The guitar has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved."
The "Lost Bass Project" said it was "thrilled".
"Despite many telling us that it was lost forever or destroyed, we persisted until it was back where it belonged," the search team said on its dedicated website.
- 'Beatlemania history' -
McCartney bought the left-handed Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass for around £30 -- about £550 ($585) today -- in Hamburg in 1961, during The Beatles' four-month residency at the Top Ten Club.
Its appearance became unique after being overhauled in 1964, including with a complete respray in a three-part dark sunburst polyurethane finish, with McCartney maintaining it as a back-up bass.
The search team say it learned that the guitar had been stolen in 1972 from a van in London's Notting Hill neighbourhood and was then given to a local pub landlord.
Eventually, it ended up in the attic of a terraced house in the south coast of England, with the homeowner only realising that the prized instrument was there following last year's publicity.
The original thief "didn't set out to steal the Beatles' bass and he didn't know he was taking such a piece of Beatlemania history," Scott Jones, one of the trio involved in the hunt, told BBC radio.
"It was too hot to handle and that's when he decided to give the bass up to his local pub."
Jones's wife Naomi added: "the amazing thing is we thought when we started this search, that it could have been anywhere in the world."
She noted there are big Beatles collectors in Japan and the team had tips that it could be in a millionaire's house in Jamaica.
"Actually the geography of all of this is just a few miles in and around Notting Hill."
H.Seidel--BTB