MUSEUMS AND LOOTING CHARGES

Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has received praise from other museum directors for his decision to return about two dozen prized Classical antiquities to Italy because they were probably looted, reports The New York Times. But in an interview with the newspaper, Mr. de Montebello made no apologies for how the Met has built a world-class collection of Classical treasures, many of which were acquired with little knowledge of their origins.