Snow nude covered up
Police in New Jersey ordered a snow sculpture modeled on the famous nude Venus de Milo to be covered up after a neighbor complained, the artist said on Thursday. Elisa Gonzalez, 44, carved the ancient Greek-style torso from snow on her front lawn in Rahway and says her work was initially a hit. “It looked very beautiful,” she said. “We got a lot of attention from people in the neighborhood. Some of them got out and took pictures and spoke to us.” One neighbor clearly felt the snow nude — headless, armless, and cut off above the knees — was too hot. “We had a visit from the local police who told us that a neighbor had complained about the statue and we needed to cover it up or knock it down,” Gonzalez said.
■UNITED STATES
FBI uses DNA in art case
Twenty years after the world’s biggest art theft, the FBI said on Thursday it had resubmitted evidence for cutting-edge DNA analysis in hopes of finally finding the culprits. In March 1990, two men dressed as police officers walked out of the Gardner Museum in Boston with paintings including three Rembrandts and a Vermeer worth between US$250 million and US$300 million. The FBI now hopes that new DNA testing technology at its Quantico, Virginia, lab could provide a breakthrough.
■BRAZIL
Ship under quarantine
An international cruise ship was placed under quarantine in the southeast after hundreds of passengers were stricken with vomiting and diarrhea, health authorities said on Thursday. At least 310 people suffered “some kind of food poisoning aboard” the Vision of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International. the first case was detected on Wednesday, prompting the agency to order all 1,987 passengers and 765 crew members to remain on the ship anchored at Buzios, near Rio de Janeiro.
■BRAZIL
Niemeyer creation unveiled
The state of Minas Gerais on Thursday unveiled a glittering new government complex by legendary architect Oscar Niemeyer, still showing a flair for dramatic design at the age of 102. His latest creation covers an expanse of 804,000m². With the opening of the new complex, Belo Horizonte, the regional capital of Minas Gerais, becomes the city with the most buildings by Niemeyer — 14.
RSS