On Friday afternoon a woman taking an adult education class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art accidentally lost her balance and fell into “The Actor,” a rare Rose Period Picasso, tearing the canvas about six inches along its lower right-hand corner.

Immediately after the accident the painting was taken to the Met’s conservation studio so experts could assess the damage, museum officials said. A statement released by the Met on Sunday afternoon said, “The damage did not occur in the focal point of the composition and the curatorial
and conservation staffs fully expect that the repair —which will take place in the coming weeks — will be unobtrusive.”

The canvas — about 6 feet by 4 feet — was hanging on the wall of a second-floor gallery with other early Picassos. The museum declined to identify the woman, but said she was not injured.

Picasso created the painting, which depicts an itinerant acrobat theatrically posed, during the winter of 1904-5. Museum officials said they expected the repair to be completed in time for “Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” an exhibition of some 250 works from its collection opening on April 27.

An Ethiopian Airlines crash caused numerous casualties including flights crews and passengers. It has been confirmed by the investigation authorities that an Ethiopian Airlines plane was crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.

A plane of Ethiopian Airlines took off from Beirut International Airport and it was crashed just after some moments. It has been reported that 14 dead bodies have been discovered after this airline crash. There were at least 90 passengers in the plane together with 45 Lebanese. It has been feared that more life loss is expected.

Military rescue squads, including United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), have been questing passengers across the Mediterranean Sea very efficiently. Yet there are no up to date and certain figures of casualties and injuries, also there is no confirmed cause of this airplane crash.

However, some sources have been claiming that crash was the result of terrorism. Michel Suleiman, who is the Lebanese President, attended a press conference at the Defense Ministry and showed his fear about terrorism. Both Jean Qahwaji, commander general of the armed forces and Elias Al-Murr, the defense Minister were also there in the press conference.

The Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said in his statement that there is a vital chance of terrorism involvement in this airline crash. He also said that the investigation officials would show the real picture of this airline crash very soon. He also expressed a great grief and harassed with the families of all the people who were in the plane when it was crashed.

Suleiman also stated that we would leave no stone unturned to find out the passengers of a crashed airbus. However, another Lebanese official expressed that there is a rare hope to find out the survivors.

Kathy Griffin will be co-hosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage with Anderson Cooper tonight, live from Times Square. Last night, CNN viewers got a taste of what was to come as Griffin joined guest host Erica Hill on the set of AC 360, in what turned out to be a remarkably entertaining segment. However, the real revelation in the interview turned out to be Ms. Hill, whose comedic timing and whip-smart retorts showed that she has the chops to stay with anyone.

Griffin became a bit of a YouTube sensation last year for saying a swear word live during last year’s coverage of New Year’s Eve on CNN (video can be seen below). This came up in conversation, as did Erica Hill’s pregnancy (and who could be the father of her child.) They also ran through pop culture moments of the last year, and demonstrated how funny and entertaining CNN can be when the right talent and producers appear to be involved. Looks like Erica Hill could be in for a big year — and not just because she’s with child.

by Colby Hall