Climate activists vandalised a replica mummy at Barcelona's Egyptian Museum in the latest attack targeting cultural exhibits in protest at inaction over global warming.
Two people doused a display case with red and brown gunge from Coca-Cola bottles, also splattering framed images on surrounding walls, footage published on the Publico news website indicated. The liquid was thought to be syrup and beetroot juice.
They then glued their hands beside a nearby exhibit and held up a modified Coca-Cola banner scrawled with the words "climate justice".
The US drinks giant was one of the official sponsors of the UN's Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, a position widely denounced by environmentalists who say the company is behind much of the world's plastic pollution.
When police arrived, the activists co-operated and neither was arrested but the museum said it would be filing a complaint for damages.
The protesting pair were part of Futuro Vegetal — a Spanish group whose activists glued their hands to the frames of paintings by Spanish master Francisco Goya at the Prado Museum in Madrid on November 5.
Sunday's stunt was the latest in a string of climate protests by activists who have thrown soup at van Gogh paintings in London and Rome, and mashed potatoes on a Monet masterpiece.
Last Thursday, dozens of the world's leading museums issued a statement saying they were "deeply shaken" by these actions and that protesters "severely underestimate" the damage they could cause.
The Futuro Vegetal activists said their latest ploy was to "highlight the emergency" the world faces.
"Currently 99 per cent of the world's plastic is produced from fossil fuels," the group said.
"We find it hard to believe the global leader in plastic pollution is not going to use its influence as a sponsor of Cop27 to advance its commercial interests given its total dependence on fossil fuels.
"Climate change policies for 2030 will lead us to an increase of 2.5°C by 2060, which will mean an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events incompatible with the survival of most crops for human consumption, leading to crop failures and famine."
Futuro Vegetal wants Spain to end livestock subsidies and use the funds to promote plant-based alternatives.
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Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
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The Sand Castle
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
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