Other world news in brief
US to drop pro-Israel spy case charges
WASHINGTON – The US government yesterday said it would drop charges in an espionage case against two pro-Israel lobbyists because it was unlikely to win at trial and classified information would have to be disclosed.
Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, former American Israel Public Affairs Committee officials, were accused of conspiring with a former Pentagon analyst to provide defence information to foreign government officials, policy analysts and the media. – (Reuters)
Dutch museum paintings stolen
AMSTERDAM – Armed robbers stole two paintings from a Dutch museum yesterday, one of them a piece by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, police said.
Several masked robbers walked into the Scheringa Museum for Realist Art in Spanbroek, a village north of Amsterdam, at about midday and took two paintings from the wall, threatening museum staff with a gun.
The paintings taken were a 1941 Dali piece, Adolescence, and Polish art deco painter Tamara de Lempicka’s 1929 La Musicienne. – (Reuters)
Italian PM claims popularity title
NAPLES – Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi boasted yesterday he was the world’s most popular political leader.
The conservative premier said opinion poll findings in his possession showed his popularity at just over 75 per cent, making him far more popular than US president Barack Obama – or any other head of government.
“The opinion polls I know say that he [Obama] is at 59 per cent. Only Lula tops 60 per cent – he is at 64 per cent. So mine is a record high,” he said. On his way out of the concert hall, Berlusconi (72) – who has proclaimed himself the Jesus Christ of Italian politics and once said he was second only to Napoleon, except taller – was heckled by protesters. – (Reuters)