$100m Nazi Art Loot Shock

A court has ordered Austria to return five paintings by Gustav Klimt to the heir of a Jewish family that fled the country during the Nazi era. The paintings, which are worth at least $100m (£59.6m), have been the subject of a legal battle between Austria and the heir, Maria Altmann, since 1998. The Austrian government has not yet commented on the decision to return the Klimt paintings. But a lawyer for Mrs Altmann told the BBC the ruling was binding and final. In April 2005, Mrs Altmann was part of a group which received $21.9m (£11.9m) from a Swiss bank fund set up to compensate heirs of Nazi victims. Her family, major shareholders in an Austrian sugar refinery before World War II, had their savings plundered from a Swiss bank by the Nazis. For the full story - click the title Irish Art