newsmakers

newsmakers

Statue leaves Italy; 1st time since 1816

WASHINGTON

One of the best- preserved sculptures from Roman antiquity, the “Capitoline Venus,” has left Italy for the first time in nearly 200 years for a special display at the National Gallery of Art. The installation goes on public view today through early September, the museum announced. The full-scale female nude statue has left Rome only one other time: when it was seized by Napoleon and taken to France in 1797. It was returned to Rome’s Capitoline Museum in 1816 after Napoleon fell from power.

The statue was unearthed in the 1670s in a garden in the remains of an ancient building, according to historical accounts. The statue was intact, except for the nose, some fingers and a hand that had broken off. It later was reattached. Pope Benedict XIV gave the sculpture to the Capitoline Museum in 1752. This is the first time it has been lent for exhibition.

NHL player picks up hitchhiking Bono

EDMONTON, Alberta

This was one nifty assist by an NHL player. Edmonton Oilers center Gilbert Brule stopped this week to pick up a most unlikely hitchhiker — rock star Bono.

The U2 frontman and his assistant were walking in West Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday when they got caught in the rain. Fortunately for them, Brule and his girlfriend were driving by, taking their German shepherd to a park.

Bono hopped in for a ride. To thank them, he offered Brule and his girlfriend backstage passes for the U2 concert Wednesday night at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium. The couple sold their tickets to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals between Boston and Vancouver, took a flight back to Edmonton and went to the show with Brule’s mom.

Associated Press