Ukraine president Viktor Yushchenko, the populist politician who survived dioxin poisoning while forcing out the country’s pro-Russian government last year, has been honoured by the US with this year’s John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

More than 700 pieces of furniture, jewellery and bric-a-brac from the Kennedy family’s homes went on display at Sotheby’s in New York in preparation for the second sale of property from the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

AN incomplete dinner set, kitschy looking glassware, some well-thumbed tomes — items unlikely in the normal course of events to attract attention at an auction.