Art thieves

The United States has returned four antiquities worth $1 million to Nepal, including a pair of gilt copper masks representing a Hindu deity, following anti-trafficking operations, New York authorities said on Dec. 4.

Thieves have stolen a painting by French master Edgar Degas valued at 6 million euros ($7.6 million) from the home of a 70-year-old Greek Cypriot, Cyprus police said on Tuesday.

The painting, titled "Ballerina adjusting her slipper," was taken on Monday from the home in the island's second city Limassol and was not insured, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Four Romanians behind a spectacular art heist in the Netherlands were ordered July 14 to pay 18 million euros, with the fate of the stolen masterpieces by Picasso, Monet, Gauguin and Lucien Freud still a mystery.