WASHINGTON: An art show that drew gushing reviews as it toured the world seven years ago is getting a second look - and a far less friendly reception. Critics complain the US National Gallery of Art failed to note that some of the paintings had been looted by the Nazis from Jews in France. ``This exhibit raises a myriad of questions, including why your prestigious institution gave a public platform to a Nazi arms dealer who was also the largest Swiss buyer of looted art,'' Sidney Clearfield, executive vice president of the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith, wrote to gallery director Earl Powell. But the US Gallery minimises its role in displaying works of art that were shown for nine weeks in a temporary loan exhibition of pieces owned by the late Swiss industrialist Emil G buhrle and a foundation he created.

Stolen baby

SAN JUAN,(PUERTO RICO): A tiny birthmark and a distinctive smile were enough for police to know they had found their girl seven years after she was kidnapped as an infant from her California home. Fourteen-month-old Crystal Leann Anzaldi disappeared on December 8, 1990. Authorities announced yesterday that she turned up more than 4,800 km away in Puerto Rico, after the woman who claimed to be her mother was arrested. Authorities said the truth began to emerge when Nilza Gierbolini Guzman, 35, was investigated for allegedly abusing Crystal.

Officer jailed

COLOMBO: A senior military officer who stole money from his soldiers' rations must serve 10 years in jail, a judge said on Tuesday. Army Colonel Chandrasiri Karunaratne was convicted on Monday on two charges of criminal breach of trust by High Court judge Shiranee Tillekawardene. Karunaratne commanded the second volunteer battalion of the Gemunu watch regiment. Prosecutors said Karunaratne had embezzled about 366,000 rupees (6,000 dollars) in 1987 when his unit was stationed in the southern port city of Galle.

Deformed frogs

CHICAGO: Ultraviolet radiation, entering the environment in increased doses because of ozone layer depletion, may be a cause of deformities in frogs that have concerned and puzzled researchers, scientists said. The US Environmental Protection Agency's mid-continent ecology division in Minnesota said the finding was a preliminary one and it still believes the deformities - most commonly involving missing, deformed or misplaced limbs - are due to a combination of factors. Tests on fertilized leopardfrog eggs, exposed to two weeks of ultraviolet radiation showed that tadpoles born from these had deformed limbs.

Rare python

COLOMBO: The Dehiwala Zoo here has acquired a two-headed python, described by a wild life official as the ``first living specimen'' of its kind in the world. The baby snake, belonging to the species python molurs, was found by students in a jungle in Sri Lanka's southern Tissamaharama area a few days ago, deputy director of wild life Nandana Atapattu said. The students handed over the snake, measuring 26 cm but which can grow to a full length of six metres, to the local police who, in turn, put it in a jam jar and sent it to the Wild Life Department.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.