Author: AFP

Stolen in France, US$1.68 mil Impressionist work found in Ukraine

Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday they had found an oil painting by the French Impressionist Paul Signac, valued at US$1.68 million, which was stolen last year from a museum in France. Police chief Sergiy Knyazev said the painting was discovered at the home of a Kiev man who was also wanted

Hundreds of dead dolphins wash up on French coast

NANTES (France): A record number of dead dolphins have washed up on France’s Atlantic coast in recent months after being caught in fishing nets, the Pelagis observatory said Thursday. “We’ve had around 1,200 small cetaceans along the coast” of the Bay of Biscay, of which more than 90 percent were

A Banksy rat? Tokyo city displays work ‘by famous artist’

Tokyo on Thursday displayed a drawing thought to be the work of Banksy, as the city’s mayor urged the famous and mysterious street artist to get in touch. Curious Tokyoites, tourists and art lovers flocked to see the work depicting a rat holding an umbrella that was spotted on a

Europe’s far-right touts ‘new European harmony’ in EU vote next month

PRAGUE (Czech Republic): Marine Le Pen, head of France’s National Rally party, on Thursday said Europe’s populist far-right parties are offering a “new European harmony” to voters in European parliament elections next month. Le Pen appeared alongside Dutch populist Geert Wilders in Prague to back local far-right lawmaker Tomio Okamura

US tells pro-Maduro protesters to leave Venezuelan embassy

WASHINGTON (United States): The United States said Thursday that leftist activists defiantly occupying the Venezuelan embassy in Washington should leave and make way for representatives of US-recognized leader Juan Guaido. Elliott Abrams, the envoy heading the US push to topple President Nicolas Maduro, called the sit-in “a violation of the

Notre-Dame organ dusty but undamaged: Organist

Notre-Dame’s grand organ will be cleaned of dust but will probably not have to be taken apart after the inferno that ravaged the Paris cathedral, said the organist who was playing it when the blaze broke out on Thursday. Johann Vexo, who was performing for daily mass at the world-famous

Canada capital declares flooding state of emergency

OTTAWA (Canada): Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency in the Canadian capital on Thursday in anticipation of rising flood waters and heavy rains. No homes have been evacuated, but authorities expect waters along the Ottawa River to rise above levels in 2017 that saw the worst floods in Eastern

City raise the bar, give Man U more misery

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes his side have raised the bar in the Premier League after edging one point back ahead of Liverpool in a titanic title race with a 2-0 win at Manchester United on Wednesday. Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane struck for the visitors in 12

Atletico edge Valencia to delay Barca celebrations

MADRID: Atletico Madrid delayed Barcelona winning La Liga by a few days at least after Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann each scored in a 3-2 victory over Valencia on Wednesday. Defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano would have crowned Barca kings of Spain for a 26th time in their history, with

Lewandowski scores double to win thrilling semi-final for Bayern Munich

BERLIN: Bayern Munich will face RB Leipzig in the German Cup final next month after Robert Lewandowski fired them to a 3-2 win over a valiant Werder Bremen on Wednesday. Lewandowski scored twice in a highly entertaining last-four tie to reach the final for the 23rd time. Bremen were unfazed