King Charles winds up Australia trip, flies to Samoa summit

King Charles winds up Australia trip, flies to Samoa summit
Britain's King Charles. (AP)
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Updated 23 October 2024
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King Charles winds up Australia trip, flies to Samoa summit

King Charles winds up Australia trip, flies to Samoa summit

SYDNEY: King Charles III wrapped up a six-day Australia tour Wednesday, jetting off to the Pacific island of Samoa for a summit of the 56-nation Commonwealth, where more questions about Britain’s colonial legacy await.
The king took off from Sydney airport after a slimmed-down tour of Australia, capped by a public finale Tuesday under the sails of the harborside Opera House where thousands of fans crowded for a brush with royalty.
On his first major foreign tour since being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, the 75-year-old monarch held a community barbecue, greeted posy-bearing children, met ministers and dignitaries, and was sneezed on by a bow-tie-wearing alpaca named Hephner.
He was also given a stark reminder of the resentment that remains over Britain’s imperial past.
An Indigenous senator, Lidia Thorpe, heckled him during a stop in the capital Canberra, screaming: “Give us our land back!” and “This is not your land, you are not my king!“
Charles insists that the monarchy still has a place in Australia’s democracy and that the Commonwealth — a bloc of 2.5 billion people — can play a “significant role on the global stage.”
“It has the diversity to understand the world’s problems, and the sheer brain power and resolve to formulate practical solutions,” he said before heading to Apia, the coastal capital of Samoa — halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.
This year’s Commonwealth summit is the first hosted by a Pacific Island nation and will be an “extraordinary” opportunity to showcase the region, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told AFP.
She said she hoped the gathering would “cement” the Commonwealth family “as we look to what, for many, is a very troubled and complex future.”
That sentiment is reflected in the theme of this year’s summit: “One Resilient Common Future,” with discussions to focus on the environment, democratic systems, economy, youth, gender, and digital transformation.
Climate change and rising sea levels are expected to feature heavily, with world leaders to deliberate on an Ocean Declaration to safeguard a healthy and resilient ocean.
Pacific island nations — once seen as the embodiment of palm-fringed paradise and now among the most climate-threatened areas of the planet — are well placed to highlight this “existential threat,” Scotland said.
About 70 percent of Samoa’s population of 220,000 lives in low-lying coastal areas.
Each Commonwealth country has been adopted by a village festooned in that nation’s colors and national flags.
Nonetheless, the legacy of empire will loom over the summit, in particular when leaders select a new secretary-general nominated from the African region — in line with regional rotations of the position.
Scotland has been secretary-general since 2016, and all three candidates to succeed her have called publicly for reparations for slavery and colonialism.
At the last Commonwealth summit two years ago in Rwanda, Charles responded to calls for countries that benefited from slavery to pay reparations and issue an apology by expressing his “personal sorrow” at the suffering it caused.
Beyond the political challenges, Charles’ nine-day tour of Australia and Samoa with Queen Camilla is a test of his own health following his diagnosis in February with an undisclosed form of cancer.
 


Artist Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize for work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity

Artist Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize for work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity
Updated 10 min 42 sec ago
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Artist Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize for work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity

Artist Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize for work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity
  • Named for 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and founded in 1984 to reward young artists, the prize helped make stars of shark-pickling artist Damien Hirst, potter Grayson Perry, sculptor Anish Kapoor and filmmaker Steve McQueen

LONDON: An artist whose work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity includes a vintage Ford car draped in a crocheted doily won the UK’s prestigious Turner Prize on Tuesday, during a ceremony picketed by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Jasleen Kaur was awarded the 25,000-pound ($32,000) prize by actor James Norton at the Tate Britain gallery in London.
Kaur used her acceptance speech to express support for scores of demonstrators outside. She is among signatories to a letter demanding Tate, which runs several major British art museums, cut ties with donors who are linked to Israel over its war in Gaza.
“This is not a radical demand,” Kaur said. “This should not risk an artist’s career or safety.
“We need a proper ceasefire now,” she said.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas health officials in Gaza. Israel launched the war in response to the militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage.
A jury led by Tate Britain director Alex Farquhar praised the way 38-year-old Kaur “weaves together the personal, political and spiritual” through “unexpected and playful combinations of material.”
Her winning exhibition mixes sculpture, print, everyday items — including family photos, a Ford Escort car and the popular Scottish soda Irn Bru — and immersive music to reflect on her upbringing in Glasgow’s Sikh community.
Three other finalists – Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson and Delaine Le Bas – received 10,000 pounds ($12,670) each.
Named for 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and founded in 1984 to reward young artists, the prize helped make stars of shark-pickling artist Damien Hirst, potter Grayson Perry, sculptor Anish Kapoor and filmmaker Steve McQueen.
But it has also been criticized for rewarding impenetrable conceptual work and often sparks debate about the value of modern art, with winners such as Hirst’s “Mother and Child Divided,” which consists of two cows, bisected and preserved in formaldehyde, and Martin Creed’s “Lights On and Off” — a room with a light blinking on and off – drawing scorn from sections of the media.
In 2019, all four finalists were declared winners after they refused to compete against one another, “to make a collective statement in the name of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity.”
In 2021, all five finalists were collectives rather than individual artists.
The award was initially open to artists under 50 but now has no upper age limit.
Works by the four finalists are on display until Feb. 16.

 


100-year-old ex-Nazi camp guard could face trial in Germany

Gregor Formanek. (Supplied)
Gregor Formanek. (Supplied)
Updated 04 December 2024
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100-year-old ex-Nazi camp guard could face trial in Germany

Gregor Formanek. (Supplied)
  • Germany has been scrambling to bring the last surviving former Nazi war criminals to justice since a 2011 landmark ruling paved the way for several trials

BERLIN: German authorities are pressing for a 100-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to face trial almost 80 years since the end of World War II.
The higher regional court in Frankfurt on Tuesday said it had overturned a decision by a lower court under which the suspect had been deemed unfit to stand trial.
The suspect, named as Gregor Formanek by German media, was charged last year with aiding and abetting murder in 3,322 cases while working at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin between July 1943 and February 1945.
However, an expert determined in February that Formanek was not fit to stand trial due to his mental and physical condition and the court in Hanau, Hesse state, eventually decided not to open the proceedings against him.
The Frankfurt court on Tuesday found the expert’s decision had not been based on “sufficient facts.”
“The expert himself stated that it was not possible to interview the defendant and that the opportunity for extensive psychiatric testing was not available,” it said.
Germany has been scrambling to bring the last surviving former Nazi war criminals to justice since a 2011 landmark ruling paved the way for several trials.
One former death camp guard, John Demjanjuk, was convicted on the basis that he served as part of Hitler’s killing machine, even though there was no proof he had directly killed anyone.
Since then, several former concentration camp workers have been found guilty of being accessories to murder on the same basis.
However, with time running out, many cases have been abandoned in recent years after the accused died or were physically unable to stand trial.
More than 200,000 people, including Jews, Roma, regime opponents and gay people, were detained at the Sachsenhausen camp between 1936 and 1945.
Tens of thousands died there from forced labor, murder, medical experiments, hunger or disease before the camp was liberated by Soviet troops.
 

 


Sean Penn accuses Academy Awards of cowardice at Marrakech Film Festival

Sean Penn accuses Academy Awards of cowardice at Marrakech Film Festival
Updated 03 December 2024
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Sean Penn accuses Academy Awards of cowardice at Marrakech Film Festival

Sean Penn accuses Academy Awards of cowardice at Marrakech Film Festival
  • Penn’s remarks dovetail with longstanding criticisms of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for lacking diversity within the ranks of its members and the films that they celebrate with awards

MARRAKECH, Morocco: Sean Penn on Tuesday blasted the organizers of the Oscars for being cowards who, in effect, limit the kinds of films that can be funded and made.
The 64-year-old actor said at the Marrakech Film Festival that he gets excited about the Academy Awards only on the rare occasion that films he values are nominated.
“The producers of the academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the world of expression and, in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and limiting different cultural expressions,” Penn said at the festival, where he received a career achievement award this week.
“I don’t get very excited about what we’ll call the Academy Awards,” he said, noting exceptions when certain films grace the ceremony, including Sean Baker’s ” The Florida Project,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” and Jacques Audiard’s ” Emilia Perez. ”
Penn’s remarks dovetail with longstanding criticisms of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for lacking diversity within the ranks of its members and the films that they celebrate with awards.
The institution has in recent years taken steps to reform and rebrand itself, but has faced criticism for not going far enough.
Penn also lauded Iranian-Danish director Ali Abassi and his latest film ” The Apprentice ” about President Donald Trump. It faced difficulty finding an American distributor in the lead-up to the US election in November.
“It’s kind of jaw-dropping how afraid this ‘business of mavericks’ is when they get a great film like that with great, great acting,” he said. “They, too, can be as afraid as a piddly little Republican congressman.”
As part of a career tribute, the Marrakech Film Festival is screening four of Penn’s films this week in Morocco’s tourism capital. Local media in Morocco reported several audience members exiting a screening of “Milk” during a scene that depicted two men in bed. Homosexuality is illegal under Morocco’s penal code, although cases are not frequently prosecuted.
The actor, whose 2023 film ” Superpower ” documents war in Ukraine, also voiced support for President Volodymyr Zelensky and called himself a “patriot in crisis” in response to a question about the American political landscape.

 


UK museum in talks with Greece over ‘long-term’ deal for Parthenon Marbles

Visitors view the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, at the British Museum in London on January 9, 2023. (AFP)
Visitors view the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, at the British Museum in London on January 9, 2023. (AFP)
Updated 03 December 2024
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UK museum in talks with Greece over ‘long-term’ deal for Parthenon Marbles

Visitors view the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, at the British Museum in London on January 9, 2023. (AFP)
  • The Marbles overshadowed Mitsotakis’ last official visit to Britain, when Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting at the last minute after the Greek leader’s public comments on the contentious issue reportedly irked the UK side

LONDON: UK officials hinted Tuesday that a deal was in the works with Greece to end a decades-long dispute over the highly contested and priceless Parthenon Marbles.
The British Museum said it was holding “constructive” talks with Athens over “sharing” the ancient sculptures, raising the likelihood that the friezes will be loaned back to Greece.
The comments came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis, amid media reports that he is open to seeing the masterpieces return to their country of origin.
A spokesman for Starmer later indicated that the UK government would not stand in the way of any agreement between Greece and the British Museum to end the centuries-old saga.
“Discussions with Greece about a Parthenon partnership are on-going and constructive,” said a British Museum spokesperson.
“We believe that this kind of long-term partnership would strike the right balance between sharing our greatest objects with audiences around the world, and maintaining the integrity of the incredible collection we hold at the museum.”
The Parthenon Marbles, also called the Elgin Marbles, have been a source of contention between Britain and Greece for over two centuries.
Greek authorities maintain that the sculptures were looted in 1802 by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
But London claims that the sculptures were “legally acquired” by Elgin, and then sold to the British Museum.
The Marbles overshadowed Mitsotakis’ last official visit to Britain, when Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting at the last minute after the Greek leader’s public comments on the contentious issue reportedly irked the UK side.
Starmer and Mitsotakis’s talks Tuesday focused on illegal migration and supporting Ukraine but Downing Street refused to deny that the Marbles were also discussed.
“Understandably, the Greek prime minister will have raised many issues,” Starmer’s spokesman said, adding that the Marbles’ future is “entirely” in the hands of the British Museum.
Sky News reported Monday that Mitsotakis and his foreign minister had held at least two “private meetings” with museum officials, including chairman George Osborne, this year.
The Guardian newspaper said the talks were moving toward “an agreement in principle.”
A 1963 UK law prevents the British museum from giving away treasures, but it has about 1,400 objects on long-term loan at other museums every year, meaning a similar agreement for the Marbles is likely.
“We have no plans to change the law that would permit a permanent move” of the sculptures back to Greece, added Starmer’s spokesman.

Ahead of the meeting, Mitsotakis said he was “firmly convinced” the sculptures will return to Athens.
“Discussions with the British Museum are continuing,” he told ANT1 TV on Saturday.
Sunak axing the meeting a year ago was seen as a diplomatic slap in the face to Mitsotakis, and the latest example of the dispute poisoning bilateral relations.
The Greek leader, an ardent campaigner for the Marbles’ return, had told the BBC at the time that keeping part of the Parthenon friezes outside Greece was tantamount to “cut(ting) the Mona Lisa in half.”
Starmer, then head of the opposition, later told the House of Commons that Sunak had “obviously lost his marbles” in canceling the meeting.
Athens’s campaign for the return of the 75-meter (250 feet) long friezes was revived in the 1980s by Greek singer and actress Melina Mercouri when she was culture minister.
In the UK, where according to a YouGov poll in 2023 a majority of Britons back restitution, opponents fear a domino effect, amid claims from several countries.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens is a temple built in the fifth century BC in homage to the goddess Athena.
The new Acropolis Museum, inaugurated in 2009, has reserved a space for the Parthenon friezes on the first floor of the building, where the four sides of the temple have been faithfully recreated to scale.
The missing friezes have been replaced by casts.
Founded in 1753, the British Museum collection of eight million objects also includes the Rosetta Stone.
 

 


Hong Kong launches panda sculpture tour as the city hopes the bear craze boosts tourism

Hong Kong launches panda sculpture tour as the city hopes the bear craze boosts tourism
Updated 02 December 2024
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Hong Kong launches panda sculpture tour as the city hopes the bear craze boosts tourism

Hong Kong launches panda sculpture tour as the city hopes the bear craze boosts tourism
  • The twin cubs, whose birth in August made their mother Ying Ying the world’s oldest first-time panda mom, may meet visitors as early as February
  • The average lifespan for a panda in the wild is 14 to 20 years, while in captivity it is up to 30 years

HONG KONG: Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet residents and tourists starting Saturday in Hong Kong, where enthusiasm for the bears has grown since two cubs were born in a local theme park.
The 2,500 exhibits were showcased in a launch ceremony of PANDA GO! FEST HK, the city’s largest panda-themed exhibition, at Hong Kong’s airport on Monday. They will be publicly displayed at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular shopping district, this weekend before setting their footprint at three other locations this month.
One designated spot is Ocean Park, home to the twin cubs, their parents and two other pandas gifted by Beijing this year. The design of six of the sculptures, made of recycled rubber barrels and resins among other materials, was inspired by these bears.
The cubs — whose birth in August made their mother Ying Ying the world’s oldest first-time panda mom — may meet visitors as early as February.
In a separate media preview event on Monday, the new pair of Beijing-gifted pandas, An An and Ke Ke, who arrived in September, appeared relaxed in their new home at Ocean Park. An An enjoyed eating bamboo in front of the cameras and Ke Ke climbed on an installation. They are set to meet the public on Sunday.
The displays reflect Hong Kong’s use of pandas to boost its economy as the Chinese financial hub works to regain its position as one of Asia’s top tourism destinations.
Pandas are considered China’s unofficial national mascot. The country’s giant panda loan program with overseas zoos has long been seen as a tool of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy.
Hong Kong’s tourism industry representatives are upbeat about the potential impact of housing six pandas, hoping to boost visitor numbers even though caring for pandas in captivity is expensive. Officials have encouraged businesses to capitalize on the popularity of the bears to seize opportunities in what some lawmakers have dubbed the “panda economy.”
The organizer of the exhibitions also invited some renowned figures, including musician Pharrell Williams, to create special-edition panda designs. Most of these special sculptures will be auctioned online for charity and the proceeds will be donated to Ocean Park to support giant panda conversation efforts.
Ying Ying and the twin cubs’ father, Le Le, are the second pair of pandas gifted by Beijing to Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to China’s rule in 1997.
The first pair were An An and Jia Jia who arrived in 1999. Jia Jia, who died at 38 in 2016, is the world’s oldest-ever panda to have lived in captivity.
The average lifespan for a panda in the wild is 14 to 20 years, while in captivity it’s up to 30 years, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.