Justin Bieber fan disrupts Dubai concert

DUBAI: A fan jumped on stage at a Justin Bieber concert in Dubai, sparking a scramble as guards tackled the youth and toppled a piano over in the process, video footage showed on Monday.

The YouTube video shows a boy dressed in shorts and white shirt running across the stage and approaching the Canadian pop star as he performed on the piano.

A security guard quickly pounced, flung him away from Bieber and knocked the piano partly off stage, as thousands of screaming fans looked on.

The footage shows the boy then being whisked away by two guards and Bieber skipping away to safety on a side of the stage as the music continues to play.

“A young fan desperate to meet his idol did make his way on stage, but was immediately removed and Justin professionally continued with his show,” said the concert’s organisers.

AFP

US gives dinosaur skeleton back to Mongolia

US: The United States on Monday gave back to Mongolia the remains of a 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus skeleton stolen from the Gobi desert and sold at auction in New York.

The nearly complete skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar, a cousin of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex, had been put up for sale and went for $1.05 million last year before US authorities intervened at Mongolia’s request.

She said it was the first cultural repatriation ever to Mongolia.

Collector Eric Prokopi pleaded guilty last December to smuggling the bones. He faces up to 17 years in jail at sentencing on August 30, as well as a $250,000 fine.

AFP

Seven-time Italian PM Andreotti dies

ITALY: Giulio Andreotti, a Machiavellian seven-time Italian prime Minister who dominated the political scene for decades, died on Monday at the age of 94.

Andreotti, a top figure in the once-dominant Christian Democratic party, died at his home in Rome. He had suffered ill health in recent years and was hospitalised last year with heart trouble.

A private funeral will be held on Tuesday in Andreotti’s local church for the staunchly pro-Catholic politician, who had close ties with the Vatican and was accused of links to the mafia.

His body will lie in state on Monday for friends and family in his apartment in the city centre overlooking the Tiber River and the Vatican beyond.

Andreotti was “a leading protagonist for over 60 years of public life,” said Prime Minister Enrico Letta, himself a former Christian Democrat.

AFP