Italian police seek return of portrait attributed to LeonardoFebruary 10, 2015 - 17:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Italian authorities have ordered the seizure from a Swiss bank vault of a portrait attributed to Leonardo da Vinci that they say was illegally removed from Italy, the Associated Press reports. Italian financial police said Tuesday, Feb 10 that Swiss authorities had seized the portrait of a Renaissance-era noble woman, Isabella D'Este, valued at 95 million euros ($107 million). Authorities were alerted in August 2013 that an Italian lawyer had the mandate to negotiate the sale of the painting, which was already in Switzerland without proper export licenses. The painting, however, was removed from its location, and not found until it turned up last summer during an investigation into financial crimes. At the time, negotiations were underway to sell it for 120 million euros. Italian financial police are trying to determine the painting's true owner. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. |