Police foil group trying to steal Banksy mural from Ukraine wall - BBC

Reuters

By Emily McGarvey

BBC News

A mural by renowned graffiti artist Banksy remains intact after a group of people tried to steal it from the wall of a war-torn building in Ukraine.

The group cut off a section of board and plaster bearing the artwork of a woman in a gas mask, officials said.

Police said a number of people were arrested at the scene in Hostomel and the painting has been retrieved.

It was one of several works created by the anonymous British artist in Ukraine last month.

The graffiti is undamaged and police are protecting it, the governor of Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, said on Telegram.

"These images are, after all, symbols of our struggle against the enemy," he said. "These are stories about the support and solidarity of the entire civilized world with Ukraine.

"We'll do everything to preserve these works of street art as a symbol of our victory."

Police published images of the yellow wall in Hostomel, with a large patch cut through to the brickwork.

PA Media

Banksy released video footage of his artwork in Ukraine last month, showing works that feature people doing daily tasks on buildings devastated by shelling in Ukraine.

The towns in which the artwork is featured were among the worst hit at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including Hostomel, Horenka and Borodyanka.

The footage also shows a man's hand creating the art - but in true Banksy style, his face is never shown.

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One mural shows a gymnast doing a handstand amid debris, in Borodyanka. Another depicts a Vladimir Putin lookalike being thrown to the floor by a child in a judo match.

Banksy is one of the world's most famous artists, who rose to fame with stencilled designs around Bristol in the early 1990s, but despite a worldwide following, the artist's identity remains unknown.

Often described as "elusive" and "secretive" by the press, the "guerrilla street artist" has a legion of fans that includes A-list celebrities.

It is not the first time a Banksy artwork has been targeted. In 2019, a hooded gang stole a Banksy artwork from an emergency door at the Bataclan music hall in Paris with angle grinders and it was later found in Italy.

Other Banksy murals, for example some in the UK, have been covered in plastic sheets to protect against damage or vandalism.

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2022-12-03 02:16:35Z
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EU reaches deal to impose $60 cap on Russian oil exports - Financial Times

EU member states have agreed to implement a $60 ceiling on global purchases of Russian oil after Poland dropped its objections to the long-debated deal aimed at denting the Kremlin’s fossil-fuel revenues.

Warsaw had delayed agreement on the cap after demanding a lower ceiling to further erode Moscow’s income. Its backing means the bloc will have the initiative in place before December 5, when a ban on imports of Russian seaborne oil into the EU comes into force.

The cap, which is set to be adopted by G7 countries and some allies, is designed to keep Russian oil flowing to countries such as India and China, but at a lower profit to Moscow.

It is intended to have global reach because Russian oil importers, who rely on insurance cover and shipping services from companies based in the EU and other G7 countries, would need to observe the price ceiling.

However, Russia has said it will not sell oil to any country participating in the cap, and India and China have so far not said they will implement it. Russia is expected to rely on tankers prepared to operate without western insurance, though traders have warned its exports may drop if it cannot access enough vessels.

Russia’s oil is already trading at a large discount to international benchmark Brent.

“We can formally agree to the decision,” said Andzrej Sadoś, Poland’s permanent representative to the EU, adding that the official publication of the legislation would probably take place over the weekend.

The agreement follows months of negotiations.

US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, one of the forces behind the price cap plan this year, welcomed the agreement and commended Washington’s partners in the EU, saying it would “help us achieve our goal of restricting Putin’s primary source of revenue for his illegal war in Ukraine while simultaneously preserving the stability of global energy supplies”.

The cap is lower than the European Commission’s initial suggested price of as high as $70, following demands from Poland and other member states for it to be reduced. On Friday, benchmark Brent crude was trading at about $86.

Warsaw gave their approval after Brussels agreed to speed up work on a new package of sanctions against Moscow, which would include measures proposed by Poland. “We wanted to be absolutely sure . . . that we are working on a new, painful, expensive for Russia, package of sanctions,” Sadoś said.

The cap agreement also includes a provision that the ceiling be regularly reviewed to ensure it is “at least 5 per cent” below average market prices for Russian oil.

The price-capping initiative has been championed by the US, which is keen to ensure Russian oil continues to be exported to avoid a global shortage that would spark a surge in crude prices. The US hopes India and China will still be able to use the existence of the price cap to negotiate larger discounts.

Yellen said the new price cap would particularly benefit low- and medium-income countries that have “already borne the brunt” of energy and food price inflation caused by Russia’s invasion.

“Whether these countries purchase energy inside or outside of the cap, the cap will enable them to bargain for steeper discounts on Russian oil and benefit from greater stability in global energy markets,” she said in a statement.

Some EU states had initially demanded a price level of as little as $30, but Brussels officials feared this would see Moscow cut back exports.

A senior Treasury official also discounted the possibility that Russia could quickly system to evade the price cap, providing its own insurance and services to shippers.

“If Russia is spending money trying to build up its own [shipping and insurance] ecosystem that’s helping us . . . with our first goal, because they’ll have less money to fight their war in Ukraine,” said the official.

Oil and gas flows are likely to account for 42 per cent of Russia’s revenues this year, around Rbs11.7tn ($191bn), the country’s finance ministry has said.

Additional reporting by David Sheppard and Derek Brower

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2022-12-02 22:30:54Z
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Finland's Sanna Marin says Europe would be in trouble without US - BBC

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

By Alys Davies

BBC News

Finnish PM Sanna Marin has said Europe is "not strong enough" to stand up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on its own, and has had to rely on US support.

During a visit to Australia, the leader of the pending Nato member said Europe's defences must be strengthened.

"I must be brutally honest with you, Europe isn't strong enough right now," she said. "We would be in trouble without the United States."

The US is by far the largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine.

Since the start of the war in February, it has committed $18.6bn (€17.7bn; £15.2bn) in support, a research briefing last month by the UK's House of Commons said.

The second largest donor is the European Union, followed by the UK, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy says. But their contributions are dwarfed by those of the US.

And with European countries' military stocks depleting as they supply Ukraine, Ms Marin said more needed to be done to bolster European defences.

Speaking at the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney on Friday, Ms Marin said: "The United States has given a lot of weapons, a lot of financial aid, a lot of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Europe isn't strong enough yet."

• WATCH: Finland PM Sanna Marin speaks at the Lowy Institute

She added that Europe must make sure it is "building those capabilities when it comes to European defence, European defence industry, and making sure that we could cope in different kinds of situations".

While in office, US President Donald Trump regularly criticised European countries in Nato for not spending enough on defence.

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In 2020, it was estimated the US spent just over 3.7% of its GDP on defence - while the average for Nato's European members (and Canada) was 1.77%.

During her talk, Prime Minister Marin went on to criticise some European countries' attempts at building closer ties with Russia in recent decades.

"For a long time, Europe was building a strategy for Russia... to buy energy from Russia and to closen those economic ties, and we thought that this would prevent the war," she said.

But she said that mindset was "proven entirely wrong".

European countries should have listened to states like Poland and the Baltics, she said, who had warned that Russia does not "care about their economic ties, they don't care about the sanctions, they don't care about any of that" when it comes to invading Ukraine.

Wide-reaching sanctions have been introduced by the EU and the US, among others, with the aim of limiting the resources Russia has to continue the war.

Many European Union and Nato member countries have also pledged to increase their defence spending following the start of the war.

In February, Germany announced an extra $113bn (£84bn) for its army, and a constitutional commitment to Nato's military spending target of 2% of GDP.

In June, the UK - under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson - said its defence spending would hit 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade.

All Nato members must commit to 2% to "to ensure the alliance's military readiness," Nato says. And there have been recent calls on Nato members to increase their defence spending to 3% of GDP.

Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, formally applied to join Nato in May. Accession protocols were signed in July, although they are yet to be ratified by all other members.

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2022-12-02 21:39:47Z
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Vladimir Putin 'suffers fell down stairs at official residence' in Moscow - Metro.co.uk

Putin reportedly stumbled and fell to his back (Picture: Getty Images)

Vladimir Putin has fallen down his stairs and bruised his tailbone, it has been claimed.

Security guards had to help the 70-year-old tyrant to a sofa nearby before doctors arrived, sources have said.

He is believed to have stumbled and fallen onto his back, sliding down a couple of steps on his side.

A source said: ‘The incident took place in front of the president’s bodyguards, who reacted quickly and rushed to Putin’s aid.

‘Three security officers helped the president to get to the nearest sofa and called the doctors who are on duty at the residence.’

It is one of the latest claims reported by Russian Telegram channel General SVR which suggests the warmonger is suffering from multiple health problems.

The channel claims to have sources in Putin’s entourage and said medics ‘arrived within a few minutes, but could not immediately examine the president’.

This is because he is suffering ‘cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, as a result of which he already experiences serious problems with digestion’ – and the fall caused an ‘involuntary’ reaction.

The fall happened at his official residence (Picture: East2West News)

Despite the claims, Putin was still able to attend a conference for young scientists on Thursday (Picture: East2West News)

‘Before the examination, the doctors escorted the president to the bathroom and helped to clean up.’

Despite the claims, the president managed to speak at a young scientists conference on Thursday.

An investigation will now be carried out into the fall as Putin reportedly wears anti-slipping shoes at home.

More: News

The same channel reported last month Putin looked unwell at the country’s National Unity Day event.

They reported he seemed extremely uncomfortable as he lay flowers.

The channel has made claims the tyrant is stuffed full of heavy steroids and innovative painkilling injections, which give his face a puffy look.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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2022-12-02 09:33:00Z
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Infamous Japanese cannibal who raped, killed and ate a Dutch woman but was never jailed dies aged 73 - Daily Mail

Infamous Japanese cannibal who raped, killed and ate a Dutch woman but was never jailed dies aged 73

• Japanese murderer Issei Sagawa, known as 'Kobe Cannibal', died of pneumonia
• In 1981, Sagawa was studying in Paris when he invited Renee Hartevelt over 
• He shot Renee in the neck, raped her, and then consumed parts of her body

By Rachael Bunyan For Mailonline and Afp

Published: 09:29 GMT, 2 December 2022 | Updated: 10:56 GMT, 2 December 2022

Issei Sagawa, a Japanese murderer known as the 'Kobe Cannibal' who killed and ate a Dutch student but was never jailed, has died aged 73.

Sagawa died of pneumonia on November 24 and was given a funeral attended only by relatives, with no public ceremony planned, his younger brother and a friend said in a statement.

In 1981, Sagawa was studying in Paris when he invited Dutch student Renee Hartevelt to his home.

He shot her in the neck, raped her, and then consumed parts of her body over the course of several days.

Sagawa then attempted to dispose of her remains in the Bois de Boulogne park and was arrested several days later, confessing his crime to police.

But in 1983 he was deemed unfit for trial by French medical experts and was initially held in a psychiatric institution before being deported to Japan in 1984.

Hartevelt's family pledged at the time to push for Sagawa to be prosecuted in Japan so that 'the murderer would never go free'.

But on his arrival, he was ruled sane by Japanese authorities, who decided Sagawa's only problem was a 'character anomaly' and that he did not require hospitalisation.

Japanese authorities were unable to get his case files from their French counterparts, who considered the case closed, leaving the murderer to walk free.

Sagawa made no secret of his crime and capitalised on his notoriety, including with a novel-like memoir titled 'In the Fog' in which he reminisced about the murder in vivid detail.

The murder was also the subject of Japanese novelist Juro Kara's 'Letter from Sagawa-kun', which won the country's most prestigious literary prize in 1982.

Despite the heinous details of the murder, and his lack of remorse, Sagawa gained a level of celebrity and regularly gave interviews to domestic and international media in the years after his return.

He was featured in a magazine for his paintings of naked women, appeared in a pornographic film and produced a manga comic book that depicted his crime in graphic and unrelenting detail.

The sordid fascination with the murder even saw it referenced by the Rolling Stones and The Stranglers in songs.

Sagawa lived out his final years with his brother, reportedly in a wheelchair after a series of health problems including a stroke.

But he displayed no apparent sign of remorse or reform, telling Vice in a 2013 interview as he looked at posters of Japanese women: 'I think they would taste delicious'.

He also recounted details of the incident and his ongoing obsession with cannibalism in interviews and a 2017 documentary, 'Caniba'.

The film's directors spent months with Sagawa and his brother, and described themselves as 'conflicted' about the experience.

'We were disgusted, fascinated, we wanted to understand,' said co-director Verena Paravel.

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2022-12-02 09:29:33Z
CBMiiAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5kYWlseW1haWwuY28udWsvbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlLTExNDk0NDY1L0luZmFtb3VzLUphcGFuZXNlLWNhbm5pYmFsLXJhcGVkLWtpbGxlZC1hdGUtRHV0Y2gtd29tYW4tbmV2ZXItamFpbGVkLWRpZXMtYWdlZC03My5odG1s0gGMAWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtMTE0OTQ0NjUvYW1wL0luZmFtb3VzLUphcGFuZXNlLWNhbm5pYmFsLXJhcGVkLWtpbGxlZC1hdGUtRHV0Y2gtd29tYW4tbmV2ZXItamFpbGVkLWRpZXMtYWdlZC03My5odG1s

China's Covid tsar says fight against virus entering 'new stage' - Financial Times

China’s top zero-Covid enforcer says the fight against the virus has entered a “new stage” while state media have downplayed its risks, bolstering expectations that Beijing is easing its anti-pandemic approach just days after a wave of unrest.

Vice-premier Sun Chunlan said on Wednesday that the Omicron variant was becoming “less pathogenic” and pointed to higher vaccination rates, even as China recorded tens of thousands of new cases from its biggest outbreak.

Sun did not mention the term “dynamic zero-Covid”, a policy that has for nearly three years sought to eliminate all infections through mass testing, quarantine and lockdowns.

While the government has stopped short of any explicit policy change, Sun’s comments — which were followed by softer language about the virus in state media on Thursday — build on a decision to ease lockdown restrictions in parts of the southern city of Guangzhou despite high case numbers.

The relaxation in Guangzhou contrasts sharply with the example of Shanghai this spring, when Sun visited while the city was subjected to a severe two-month lockdown that emphasised the government’s commitment to eliminate the virus.

Analysts pointed to her comments and the Guangzhou decision as evidence of a reopening, which in the absence of any clear government plan has been the subject of market speculation for months.

Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, who has closely tracked the citywide lockdowns, said they may “point to the beginning of the end of zero-Covid”. Analysts at ANZ, the Australian bank, suggested that China was instead shifting to “living with Covid”, citing the introduction of rules that allow people to quarantine at home.

State media this week shifted their tone to emphasise that Omicron was less deadly than earlier strains. On Thursday, the state-run Global Times cited domestic research that showed the mortality associated with the Omicron variant had declined.

“We should not be too afraid of Omicron,” an editorial in the paper said. “For the general population, with vaccine protection, Covid-19 has become much less harmful to the human body.”

Hu Xijin, former editor of the paper, wrote on Twitter that China was “speeding up to cast aside large-scale lockdowns”, citing the examples of Guangzhou and Beijing.

In Beijing, which posted record infections on Thursday, anecdotal reports emerged of officials allowing home isolation rather than centralised quarantine for close contacts of those with Covid-19. In Guangzhou, there were also reports of home quarantine for those with the virus.

The zero-Covid policy requires central isolation not only for positive cases but also their close contacts. The latter rose to more than 1mn last month amid the record outbreak, stretching capacity to implement the rules.

Popular resistance against restrictions has gathered pace in recent days after a wave of public vigils and demonstrations following the deaths of 10 people in a fire in the western city of Urumqi, which were blamed on a lockdown. Authorities have denied the allegation.

Despite more confident predictions of a reopening, China’s approach is still characterised by confusion and inconsistencies across regions and cities.

Lu at Nomura suggested “the path to ‘living with Covid’ might still be slow, costly and bumpy”, pointing to the arrival of winter.

In Shanghai, authorities have tightened measures in the past week by requiring residents to produce PCR test results to enter some public places every two rather than three days. Visitors to the city are also blocked from entering public areas for five days.

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2022-12-01 07:21:46Z
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Prince and Princess of Wales receive a mixed reception at Boston basketball game - The Times

For the Prince and Princess of Wales, if a trip to America means anything, it means dropping in on a game of basketball.

The last time they were in the United States, in 2014, they watched a match between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers — and, while they were about it, had a casual courtside conversation with the Nets’ two most famous fans, Jay-Z and Beyoncé.

This time there was not quite the same star power. But they still appeared pretty enraptured as they joined 20,000 fans to watch the Boston Celtics play Miami Heat.

Prince and Princess of Wales launch Earthshot prize in Boston

The couple, who were there to promote William’s Earthshot prize awards, watched the game alongside the Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Emilia Fazzalari, Maura Healey, the governor-elect of

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2022-12-01 07:15:00Z
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