An environmental activist was detained after sticking a protest sign on a Monet painting, calling for action to protect food supplies from further damage to the climate. AP
An environmental activist was detained after sticking a protest sign on a Monet painting, calling for action to protect food supplies from further damage to the climate. AP
An environmental activist was detained after sticking a protest sign on a Monet painting, calling for action to protect food supplies from further damage to the climate. AP
An environmental activist was detained after sticking a protest sign on a Monet painting, calling for action to protect food supplies from further damage to the climate. AP

Activist arrested for attacking Monet painting in Paris


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A climate activist was arrested on Saturday for sticking an adhesive poster on a Monet painting at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris to draw attention to global warming, a police source told AFP.

The action by the woman, a member of "Riposte Alimentaire" (Food Response) - a group of environmental activists and defenders of sustainable food production - is the latest in a string of protests aimed at drawing attention to global warming by defacing art.

In a video posted on X, the woman, introducing herself as a "concerned citizen," is seen placing a blood-red poster over the "Coquelicots" (Poppy Field) painting by Claude Monet, a French Impressionist artist.

In the video she said of the poster covering Monet's art that "this nightmarish image awaits us if no alternative is put in place".

She added: "At four degrees, we can expect hell", a reference to forecasts saying that Earth's temperature could rise by 4 Celsius over pre-industrial levels by 2050.

Monet's painting, completed in 1873, shows people with umbrellas strolling in a blooming poppy field and is part of a special Musee d'Orsay show called "Paris 1874, Inventing Impressionism" that features 130 works by 31 artists.

A restoration expert examined the painting, which suffered no permanent damage, the Musee d'Orsay told AFP, adding that it had been put back on the wall.

"The exhibition is entirely accessible to the public again," a spokesperson said.

The museum would file a criminal complaint, the spokesperson added.

'We love art'

Some of Monet's works have sold for tens of millions of dollars, with his painting "Meules" ("Haystacks") fetching over $110 million including fees at an auction in 2019.

Riposte Alimentaire has claimed responsibility for several attacks on art in France in a bid to draw attention to the climate crisis and deteriorating food quality.

They included an attack on the world's most famous portrait, the "Mona Lisa", in the Louvre in January, when two protesters hurled soup at the bulletproof glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci's masterwork, saying they had a right to "healthy and sustainable food".

The attackers were sentenced by a Paris court to carry out volunteer work for a charity organisation.

People attend a protest as part of the Global Climate Strike of the movement 'Fridays for Future' in Vienna, Austria. Reuters
People attend a protest as part of the Global Climate Strike of the movement 'Fridays for Future' in Vienna, Austria. Reuters

In 2022, a man threw a custard pie at the Mona Lisa because, he said, artists were not focusing enough on "the planet".

In February, Riposte Alimentaire protesters again threw soup at a painting, this time in Lyon, south-east France, targeting another Monet painting, "Springtime".

Last month, activists also belonging to the group stuck flyers around "Liberty Leading the People", a painting by Eugene Delacroix in the Louvre.

In April, two of its members were arrested at the Musee d'Orsay, which is dedicated to 19th-Century art, suspected of preparing an action there.

Riposte Alimentaire calls itself a "French civil resistance movement which aims to spur a radical societal change for the environment and society".

"We love art," the movement has said, "but future artists will have nothing to paint on a burning planet."

Monet appears to be a favourite target for climate activists elsewhere, too, with paintings by the Impressionist having come under attack in Potsdam, Germany and Stockholm.

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Rating: 4.5/5

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Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan

Four stars

PSG's line up

GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)

Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)

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Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Things Heard & Seen

Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton

2/5

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

MATCH INFO

France 3
Umtiti (8'), Griezmann (29' pen), Dembele (63')

Italy 1
Bonucci (36')

Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
  • US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
  • Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
  • Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
  • Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
  • Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
  • The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
  • Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
  • Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf

Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)

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Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)

Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40

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Director: Romany Saad
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Updated: June 01, 2024, 3:54 PM`