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 Ara Aivazian said Azerbaijan continues the traditions of Turkey after seizing territories and forced Armenians out. 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”. Partner news | Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. Armenian government besieged by protesters Protesters led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan poured into Yerevan’s Republic Square to try to surround the seat of Armenia’s government. Armenia, Russia agree on repairing railway destroyed in floods Yerevan and Moscow have agreed to repair a flood-stricken railway in northern Armenia. |