In this June 2010 file photo, a customer uses Netflix in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP file photo).
LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) --
Netflix says it plans to expand into Australia and New Zealand in March.
The online movie and television provider said Tuesday that details on pricing will be available later.
The Los Gatos, California-based company has about 53 million subscribers in the U.S. and internationally. It grew to Canada in 2010, expanded to Latin America in 2011 and in 2012 began rollouts in European countries.
In the most recent quarter, subscriber growth fell short of company forecasts because of a price increase in the U.S., and Netflix is dealing with tougher competition from Amazon and Hulu. HBO is also planning an Internet package in the U.S. next year.
Shares of Netflix Inc. fell 11 cents to close at $381.03 Tuesday. The stock is up 3.5 percent this year.
Sequin-covered ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" appear at the offices of Profiles in History in Calabasas, Calif. on Nov. 9, 2001. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction Saturday.
Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum.
Including the Dallas-based auction house's fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million.
Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.
The sparkly red heels were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum's door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn't publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.
His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglary and receiving stolen property, was attempting to pull off "one last score" after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. But a fence — a person who buys stolen goods — later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid... Read More
