Picasso 'national treasure' rescued

A Picasso worth 25 million euros ($27.4 million) and considered a national treasure by Spanish authorities - who had barred it from being exported - has been seized from a boat docked in Corsica, French authorities said on Tuesday.

An attempt to export the painting, Head of a Young Woman, to Switzerland on Thursday "drew the attention of French officials", the country's customs authorities said, with officers on the French island boarding the vessel the next day.

The ship's captain could only present two documents regarding the work of art, one of which was a Spanish court judgment in May labeling the painting a work of art and ordering that it not be taken out of the country, French officials said in a statement.