NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Painting found: Art experts have confirmed that a stolen painting discovered hidden inside an Italian art gallery’s walls is Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of a Lady,” prosecutors said Friday. A gardener reported finding an art work inside a bag last month while clearing ivy at the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in the city of Piacenza. “Portrait of a Lady” disappeared from the gallery during renovation work in February 1997. The painting is a later work by the Austrian art nouveau master. Klimt painted it in 191617, and its disappearance had been one of the art world’s biggest mysteries.
_2 Ukraine politics: President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected his prime minister’s offer to resign and asked him to stay on the job Friday after he was caught on tape saying Zelensky — a former sitcom star with no previous political experience — knows nothing about the economy. The president called the situation “unpleasant” but said he had decided to “give a chance” to Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk and his Cabinet. The furor comes at a fraught moment for Zelensky, who has found himself in the middle of the impeachment case unfolding against President Trump in Washington. Earlier this week an audio recording surfaced in which Honcharuk appeared to make disparaging comments about Zelenskiy’s understanding of economics. He called Zelenskiy “a layman” in economics and said the president should be better educated about the national currency.
_3 Virus outbreak: A second person has died from a new coronavirus that has caused an outbreak of pneumonia in central China, health authorities said. A 69yearold man fell ill with the respiratory condition on Dec. 31, according to a statement from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. He died Wednesday. In all, 41 people in Wuhan have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, a family of viruses that can cause both the common cold and more severe diseases like SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. Twelve patients have been cured and five were being treated.
_4 Jet raffle: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced the latest in a series of attempts Friday to sell off his predecessor’s official jet, which he says is a luxurious waste for a country where half the people live in poverty. Lopez Obrador said he is considering raffling off the plane by selling 6 million tickets at $25 apiece. He offered to throw in a year’s free operating expenses. Lopez Obrador has floated other ideas for selling the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, after the $130 million jet failed to find a buyer after a year on sale. The jet is expensive to run and now configured to carry only 80 people, albeit with a full presidential suite with a bedroom and private bath. Experts say it would be too expensive to reconfigure back into a commercial airliner that normally carries as many as 300 passengers.
_5 Booze tourism: Authorities in Spain’s Balearic Islands are clamping down on bingedrinking tourism in three hot spots, introducing what they claim is the first law of its kind in Europe. The islands’ regional government based in Palma de Mallorca on Friday passed a law prohibiting the promotion of pub crawls and alcohol sales by means of “open bars” and “happy hours.” It also prohibited the practice of jumping from hotel balconies into swimming pools — popularly known as “balconing” — throughout the Mediterranean islands. The practice has led to many injuries and several deaths. Those caught taking part in the activity will be obliged to leave their hotel and may face fines. The legislation will apply to areas in the capital, as well as other districts on Mallorca and Ibiza islands.