Paris
Disputed Picasso trove: A retired electrician who used to work for Pablo Picasso is being sued by the painter’s estate, which claims he stole some 271 previously unknown works valued at roughly $80 million. Pierre Le Guennec, 71, had worked for Picasso for three years, and then for Picasso’s widow Jacqueline for 13, until her death in 1986. This January, Le Guennec asked the estate to authenticate the works—mostly collages, drawings, and lithographs produced in the first third of the 20th century—which he said the couple had given him over the years. After the artist’s heirs determined that the works were authentic, they sued for possession. “It doesn’t make sense that Picasso would give 271 works,” said Jean-Jacques Neuer, a lawyer for the Picasso family. “There is no proof that this man was Picasso’s close friend. It is simply unbelievable.”
London
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No hurry to reign: In a public display of filial duty, Prince William this week said he had “no desire” to take the throne ahead of his father, Prince Charles. William has been riding a wave of popularity since announcing his engagement to longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton two weeks ago, and polls show that a majority of Britons would prefer that he succeed Queen Elizabeth as monarch, bypassing his less-respected father. To quash such speculation, a royal aide told the London Telegraph that Wills “knows his place in the royal family, and he considers himself to be very low down the food chain.” William is a full-time officer in the Royal Air Force and does not perform many royal duties.
Bern, Switzerland
Deportation referendum passes: Swiss voters this week approved a measure to expel, with no possibility of appeal, every foreigner convicted of a felony. Nonviolent crimes, including cheating on tax forms, will lead to automatic expulsion just as surely as murder or robbery. The new law is a “first step toward greater security,” said the far-right Swiss People’s Party, which sponsored this referendum as well as one last year banning minarets. Foreigners make up more than 20 percent of Switzerland’s population and more than 70 percent of its prison population. But the law could put Switzerland in breach of a treaty it has with the EU, which requires that EU citizens be allowed to appeal deportations.
