Syria Crisis: Two Million Refugees Flee War

The number of refugees fleeing Syria's civil war has topped two million - a nine-fold increase in 12 months, according to the United Nations.

"Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history," said UNHCR head António Guterres.

The UNHCR - the UN's refugee agency - wants a massive increase in aid to stop Syria's neighbours buckling under the strain.

A year ago, the number of Syrians registered as refugees or awaiting registration stood at 230,671 people.

The massive rise comes as France bolstered calls for military action in Syria by saying it had evidence the regime was behind a "massive and co-ordinated" chemical attack in Damascus.

The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan is home to 115,000 Syrians

The US government has also said evidence points to deadly sarin gas being used to kill 1,429 people on August 21.

More than half of the refugees created by the war - some 52% - are under 17, said the UNHCR, and over one million children have now left their homeland to try to escape the bloodshed.

The situation is said to have reached a "critical stage", with more than 5,000 Syrians spilling over borders each day into neighbouring countries.

Lebanon has taken the most people, with 716,000. Some 515,000 have gone to Jordan, 460,000 are in Turkey, while Egypt has 110,000 and Iraq 168,000.

The UNHCR said the countries were struggling to provide food and shelter at refugee camps.

Syrian refugees at a camp in Iraq, which has taken in some 168,000 people

It wants the international community to act quickly to stop the system collapsing.

A further 4.25 million people are displaced inside Syria, according to UN data - meaning six million people have been forced to leave their homes during the two and a half year civil war.

Actress Angelina Jolie, a UNHCR Special Envoy, said the international community had a "responsibility to do more" to help Syrian refugees.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate at this rate, the number of refugees will only grow," said Jolie. "Some neighbouring countries could be brought to the point of collapse."

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has been meeting political figures such as Senator John McCain as he tries to galvanise support for military strikes ahead of a debate in Congress.

But in Britain, another Parliamentary vote on the issue seems unlikely.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has warned France against military action

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he could not foresee any circumstances in which the Government would take the vote back to Parliament.

France's intelligence report, which includes satellite imagery, claims chemical attacks were launched from government-controlled areas, a French government source told Reuters news agency.

It claims they killed "at least 281" people.

French MPs will debate the issue on Wednesday, but President Francois Hollande does not need parliamentary approval for military action lasting less than four months.

Syria's government called the allegations "illogical" and warned it would retaliate if France took military action.

The crisis is set to be top of the agenda among world leaders at the two-day G20 summit, which begins in St Petersburg on Thursday.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gary Tweddle: Body Recovered In Oz Bushland

Police believe a body that has been recovered from Australian bushland may be that of a British man who went missing seven weeks ago.

Gary Tweddle, 23, has not been seen since he disappeared after a work dinner during a conference in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

Police said a body thought to be Mr Tweddle was spotted by an ambulance rescue helicopter during a training exercise near Leura on Monday.

Police abseiled about 25m down a cliff face to the site on Tuesday, and the body was winched to the top of the cliff about 4pm local time (7am BST).

Superintendent Darryl Jobson said that the man was similar in appearance to Mr Tweddle, but it could take a number of days to formally identify the body.

"What we need to do is go through our formal identification processes to make sure we identify the right male and making sure that we're notifying the right next of kin," he said.

Mr Tweddle is originally from Reading

"At an appropriate time we'll be able to convey to you to the identity of the male."

He said police will examine the area where the body was found will help determine the cause of death.

"It would appear to be misadventure but we're not ruling anything out," he said.

Joanne Elliott, a spokeswoman for Blue Mountains Local Area Command, said the "extremely rough terrain" meant police rescue officers were not able to retrieve the body on Monday.

"The location couldn't be accessed on foot and the crew lost all light in the mountains so we're unable to get down to the ground," she said.

Mr Tweddle, who had emigrated to Australia, was last heard from when he rang colleagues also staying at the Fairmont Resort in Leura in the early hours of July 17 to say he was lost in the bushland.

Mr Tweddle was at a work conference in the Blue Mountains area

As the recovery operation started, Mr Tweddle's girlfriend told friends and family that "the sun is beginning to rise on a day that we have all been hoping would never come".

Anika Haigh wrote on her Facebook page: "A body has been found in the area of Gary's disappearance and today it will be retrieved and identified.

"Please know that nothing has been confirmed at this stage but I hope in a few hours we will have an answer either way.

"One thing I know for certain is that Gary will... come home one day - his fight, determination & 'never give up' attitude that we all loved so much about him will guide him."

She added that it was time for him "to come home where you belong".

The disappearance of Mr Tweddle, a computer salesman originally from Reading, sparked the biggest search ever conducted in the Blue Mountains.

His father David flew out to Australia from his home in Berkshire to help with the search effort before he returned to the UK last month.

Mr Tweddle became lost in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney

Mr Tweddle's mother Carol Streatfield, who also lives in Australia, had also flown to the Blue Mountains to join the search for her son.

She said the phone call from Ms Haigh telling her that her son was missing was the first step in the most "heart-breaking journey" of her life.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office last month, she said: "On the mountain my days were filled with sirens, noise, searching, tireless walking and door knocking. I repeatedly followed the track I believed he had taken in the hopes of finding a clue.

"Every pole and tree were covered with his beautiful face, however it was on a piece of A4 paper with a 'missing' heading.

"At one point I was so exhausted I found a bench to sit on in the middle of a bush track, and as I sat down and there to left of me was Gary's photo.

"It was a small comfort as I stroked his face, kissed him and told him how much I loved him and that I will never give up trying to find him, ever."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

North Korea: Rodman On Return Trip To See Kim

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is on his way back to North Korea for a second visit to see leader Kim Jong-Un.

However, the flamboyant basketball player insists he is not taking on a diplomatic role.

The trip comes days after Pyongyang rejected an application for a visit from a US envoy who had hoped to bring home American missionary Kenneth Bae who is currently in jail.

Speaking to reporters at Beijing airport before leaving for Pyongyang, Rodman did not say whether he would seek Mr Bae's release. "I'm not going to talk about that," he said.

"I just want to meet my friend Kim, the marshal, and start a basketball league over there or something like that," said Rodman.

The North Korean leader is a keen fan of basketball

"I have not been promised anything. I am just going there as a friendly gesture."

Mr Bae was arrested in November and sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for what Pyongyang described as hostile acts against the state.

Rodman once asked on his Twitter account for Kim to "do me a solid" and release Bae - Kim has the power to grant special pardons under the North's constitution.

The tweet Rodman posted on US missionary Kenneth Bae

"I'm not there to be a diplomat. I'm there to go there and just have a good time, sit with (Kim) and his family, and that's pretty much it," Rodman said, adding that he planned to see Kim "pretty soon".

When asked if he was bringing any of his own brand of vodka to North Korea, Rodman chuckled and said no.

"They love whiskey. They love tequila. They love vodka, stuff like this, so, hopefully we'll go to have a nice dinner, sit there and talk," said Rodman.

"I'm just going over there to have a good time and try to bridge the gap with Americans and North Koreans. Just let's let people see in America that it's not a bad thing to go to North Korea and have a good time and meet new people."

Rodman first met Kim - a die-hard basketball fan - during a visit in February to promote the sport and make a film. US officials were against the trip on the grounds that it gave North Korea's young leader a propaganda boost.

Rodman has suggested "basketball diplomacy" could warm relations and said that Kim wanted President Barack Obama to pick up the phone and call him. He has called Kim an "awesome guy".

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Egypt's Morsi 'To Stand Trial Over Deaths'

Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi will reportedly stand trial on charges of committing and inciting deadly violence.

The country's state news agency said public prosecutor Hesham Barakat had referred Mr Morsi and 14 other members of his Muslim Brotherhood to a Cairo criminal court.

He will stand trial accused "of committing acts of violence and inciting the killing and thuggery", the agency reported.

It follows deadly street clashes outside the presidential palace in December 2012, involving his supporters and those who opposed his rule.

Mr Morsi, who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, was removed from office in July.

Since then, the military-backed government of General Abdel Fatah al Sisi has cracked down on members of the Brotherhood.

Hundreds of Mr Morsi's supporters were allegedly killed as protest camps were cleared, while the government says around 100 members of the security forces also died.

Mr Morsi, who has been held at a secret location since being removed from power, is already being investigated over his escape from jail during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

He is accused of conspiring with the Palestinian group Hamas during the prison break, although no formal charges have been brought.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria: Assad 'Planned Gas Attack Last Summer'

By Nick Martin, Sky Correspondent

A former high-ranking Syrian diplomat who defected saying his conscience could not allow him to continue representing the regime has emerged from hiding to give his first interview to Sky News.

Khaled al Ayoubi was President Bashar al Assad's most senior figure in Britain and was at the heart of discussions between Britain and Syria over its use of chemical weapons. 

After resigning as the charge d'affaire at the Syrian embassy in July 2012, Mr al Ayoubi said he had been granted protection by the UK's Foreign Office.

Since then he said he received death threats from members of Mr Assad's secret intelligence service and had been forced to live at a secret location.

Mr al-Ayoubi believes Assad was planning a chemical attack last summer

Speaking exclusively to Sky News he said: "When I decided to step down from my post I received messages from people within the Syrian government. They said if I was seen walking down the street in London I would be killed."

The Foreign Office provided him and his wife and two children with a safe house outside London, he said.

Mr al Ayoubi, an ethnic Kurd who joined the Syrian diplomatic service in 2001, now intends to apply for political asylum in the UK on the grounds he could face persecution if he was to return to his home country.

Mr al Ayoubi revealed how the Foreign Office knew last year of the existence of chemical weapons in Syria and that the regime assured authorities they would not be used against civilians.

He said he believed President Assad was planning a chemical attack last summer but a crucial intervention by the British government may have prevented it.

The attack in Zamalka was estimated to have killed hundreds of people

"During the last two weeks of July 2012 there was information delivered to the British government about the preparation done by the regime to start using chemical weapons against the militants and the opposition surrounding Damascus.

"They called me and they asked me to deliver a message to Syria saying that they had information that they have the intention and the will to use chemical weapons against the people and that this was not acceptable.

"I delivered this message to Syria and they sent me an answer saying these chemical weapons are secured, stored and monitored by Syrian army and for use only in the case of aggression from outside the country.

"I think because there was condemnation by many countries at the time the Syrian government stopped their intention and didn't launch any chemical attack against the opposition.

Hundreds of children were injured in the strike

"Syria has never used chemical weapons on any country even when it has been threatened. Syria has chemical weapons for one use only - to target and kill its own civilians."

A source in the Foreign Office did not dispute Mr al Ayoubi's claims but added that if Syria had chemical weapons locked away there was "pretty solid" evidence that they had been used since on civilians since.

He said he and other Syrian activists had been left furious by the refusal by some MPs to vote in favour of British involvement in possible military action on Syria.

"Ed Miliband says there should be a diplomatic solution to the problem. You cannot be diplomatic with Assad. He is worse than Adolf Hitler.

UN inspectors are now in the Netherlands analysing their findings

"Hitler didn't use chemical weapons against his own people, he did not bomb his own towns and cities. Hitler is junior compared to Assad.

"But both of them are dictators, both of them are killers. Both of them bring agony and suffering to the people around them.

"The Labour party in particular will find themselves on the wrong side of history. How can they sit back and allow thousands of innocent Syrians to die.

"If there is no punishment, if you don't stop him now, if he doesn't see that there are serious consequences for killing people by chemical weapons he will use them again and again, over and over again.

"I believe that in the future the Syrian people will look at the people who fought in the British parliament and say you left us to be killed'".

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria: Pressure For New Vote On UK Strikes

There are growing calls for David Cameron to consider a second parliamentary vote on military action in Syria if further evidence emerges that civilians were targeted by chemical weapons.

Washington has announced that hair and blood samples prove the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad has used sarin gas to attack civilians.

Secretary of State John Kerry has used interviews with several US news channels to suggest the case for military strikes is growing, adding that he is confident Congress will back military action when it is put to a vote next week.

In Britain, pressure is mounting for a second vote on whether to support a strike against the Assad regime.

Boris Johnson has become the latest senior politician to suggest a new bid for parliamentary support could be made.

Writing in the Telegraph, the Mayor of London said the use of chemical weapons for mass murder in Syria could not go unpunished.

"If there is new and better evidence that inculpates Assad, I see no reason why the Government should not lay a new motion before Parliament, inviting British participation - and then it is Ed Miliband, not David Cameron, who will face embarrassment," Mr Johnson wrote.

UN weapons inspectors have gathered evidence in Damascus

Mr Cameron ruled out the use of British force in Syria following a defeat in the Commons.

But the prospect of Parliament revisiting the issue has been raised since Mr Obama's announcement that he is seeking congressional support for a strike.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he could not foresee any circumstances in which the Government would return to Parliament on the same issue.

"We're not going to keep asking the same question of Parliament again and again. We live in a democracy, the executive cannot act in a way which clearly is not welcome to Parliament or the British people, so we're not proposing to do so."

He added: "I can't foresee any circumstances that we would go back to Parliament on the same question, on the same issue."

The rhetoric between Washington and the Syrian regime has grown increasingly hostile in recent days.

Mr Assad told state TV his country is capable of confronting any attack.

"The American threats of launching an attack against Syria will not discourage Syria away from its principles ... or its fight against terrorism supported by some regional and Western countries, first and foremost the United States of America," he said.

Mr Obama is seeking congressional support for a strike on Syria

Mr Obama has launched an intense lobbying effort in an attempt to sway sceptical US politicians to support a military strike.

Arab League foreign ministers have urged the United Nations and the international community to take "deterrent" action, while blaming the regime for the alleged chemical weapons assault.

According to US estimates, up to 1,429 people, including at least 426 children, were killed in the alleged chemical attack in Damascus last month.

France says it will hand over evidence to lawmakers proving President Assad's regime was behind the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria.

As the diplomatic wrangling continues, British MPs have called for answers from the Government over a chemicals trade deal with Syria signed months after the bloodshed started.

The Department for Business issued licences for the export of sodium fluoride and potassium fluoride to the war-torn country in January last year before revoking them several months later.

The chemicals are capable of being used to make nerve gas such as sarin as well as having a variety of industrial uses.

The Government said no chemicals were exported before the licence was revoked in June 2012 following EU sanctions but MPs said they intend to raise the issue at Westminster.

The SNP's Angus Robertson said: "This is utter hypocrisy from the UK Government - deploring chemical weapons in public whilst approving the sale of items needed to make them.

"I will be raising this at Westminster as soon as possible to find out what examination the UK Government made of where these chemicals were going, and what they were to be used for.

"Approving the sale of chemicals which can be converted into lethal weapons during a civil war is a very serious issue."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria: Obama Says US 'Should Take Action'

Positions Of World Leaders On Syria

Updated: 11:01pm UK, Saturday 31 August 2013

The latest positions of key countries towards Syria after a suspected chemical attack in Damascus shocked the world.

:: United Kingdom

David Cameron has been forced to rule out British involvement in any military action after losing a Commons vote.

He has instead vowed to keep pushing for a "robust response" via international organisations like the UN.

:: United States

President Barack Obama has decided the US should take military action against Syria but will ask Congress first.

He has the authority to act on his own, but believes it is important for the country to have a debate. He plans to hold a debate and a vote after Congress returns on September 9.

Five US Navy destroyers are in the eastern Mediterranean Sea waiting for the order to attack. They are armed with dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles, with a range of  more than 1,150 miles (1,852km).

:: Russia

President Vladimir Putin urged Mr Obama to consider whether strikes would help end the violence in Syria and be worth the likely civilian casualties.

He said Mr Obama should reflect on the results of US military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq before deciding whether to launch air strikes against Assad's regime.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that military strikes would lead to long-term destabilisation of Syria and the region.

He has spoken against any use of force without UN Security Council approval, which he said would be a "crude violation of international law".

Russia has remained a strong ally of Syria throughout the civil war.

:: China

China supports what it called the UN's "objective, impartial and professional investigation" of the alleged chemical attack.

China is sceptical of Western use of force, with Beijing's official news agency running a commentary recalling the 2003 Iraq invasion on the grounds that it possessed banned weapons - which were never found.

China joined Moscow in vetoing measures against Assad in the UN Security Council.

:: France

A defence official said the French military will commit forces to an operation in Syria if President Francois Hollande decides to do so.

Mr Hollande has stressed all options are on the table and that the attack in Damascus cannot go unpunished.

He does not need parliamentary approval for military action that lasts less than four months.

French military officials confirmed the frigate Chevalier Paul, which specialises in anti-missile capabilities, and the transport ship Dixmude are in the eastern Mediterranean.

:: Japan

Japan said it will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons "under any circumstances".

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the British vote had had no impact on his government's thinking.

"Cabinet members agreed that we don't tolerate the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances and consider that responsibility lies with the Assad government,"  Mr Suga told reporters.

"We continue to closely co-ordinate with international community," he said, adding: "We will of course provide humanitarian aid to those in a vulnerable position such as refugees."

:: Iran

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's Committee on National Security, visited Damascus to show support for the Syrian regime.

He said a strike against Syria will "not be confined to its borders but will have repercussions in the entire region."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country will press efforts to ward off military intervention by the US and its allies, calling potential action an "open violation" of international laws.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the country's ISNA news agency that US military intervention in Syria would be "a disaster" for the Middle East. He added: "The region is like a gunpowder store and the future cannot be predicted."

:: Germany

The German government said it isn't considering joining military action against Syria and hasn't been asked by others to do so.

:: Turkey

Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has claimed the use of chemical weapons is "evident" from video footage.

A vehement opponent of the Assad regime, Turkey has said it would join an international coalition against Syria even if the UN Security Council fails to reach consensus on the issue.

:: Italy

Italian Premier Enrico Letta said his country understands why the US and France are considering military action against Syria's regime, but said Italy cannot join in without UN backing.

:: The Netherlands

UN chemical weapons inspectors arrived in the Netherlands with samples collected from the site of the alleged gas attack in Syria..

They are to be sent to European laboratories to be checked for traces of poison gas.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague, will test blood and urine samples taken from victims as well as soil samples from affected areas.

:: United Nations

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said any notion that the departure of the chemical weapons inspection team from Syria opened a window for a US attack is "grotesque."

He said about 1,000 international and UN staff remain in Syria, and the UN is just as concerned about their welfare as it was about the inspectors.

:: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has called for "firm and serious" action against the Assad regime for the alleged gas attack.

:: Israel

The Israeli military said it has deployed an "Iron Dome" missile defence battery in the Tel Aviv area.

If the US attacks Syria, Israel fears Damascus may respond by firing missiles at Israel, a close American ally.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis there was "no reason to change their routines", but thousands have been standing in long queues to get government-issue gas masks.

:: Jordan

Demonstrators opposed to military intervention in Syria burned US and Israeli flags and chanted outside the American embassy in the Jordanian capital Amman.

Other protests against a Syria strike took place in Britain, France, Germany and Turkey.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fukushima Radiation Readings 18 Times Higher

An operator at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has said radiation readings are 18 times higher than previously measured.

The staff member said they had found highly radioactive water dripping from a pipe used to connect two coolant tanks and that it had been patched up using tape.

The discovery of the pipe came a day after Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said it found new radiation hotspots at four sites around coolant tanks, with one reading at 1,800 millisieverts per hour - a dose that would kill a human left exposed to it in four hours.

Water tanks at the plant

Last week the plant operator admitted 300 tonnes of toxic water had seeped out of one of the vast containers - one of around 1,000 on the site - before anyone had noticed.

The spill sparked fears the toxic water may have seeped into the nearby ocean and was categorised as a Level 3 event, the most serious category since the meltdown itself.

The plant was severely damaged in March 2011 following an earthquake and tsunami which killed thousands of people and displaced many more.

In response to growing domestic and international criticism over Tepco's handling of the crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised the world his government would play a greater role in stopping leaks of highly radioactive water.

"The accident in Fukushima cannot be left entirely to Tokyo Electric Power. There is a need for the government to play a role with a sense of urgency, including taking measures to deal with the waste water," he said.

Mr Abe's pledge came as the world's nuclear watchdog urged Japan to explain more clearly what is happening at Fukushima and avoid sending "confusing messages" about the disaster.

Sky's foreign affairs correspondent Lisa Holland visited Fukushima on August 23 and was given access to government efforts to restore confidence in the crippled plant.

She said there was little sign of life in the residential areas around the facility and spoke to people who said they will not go back to their homes until they have been told the truth about the dangers by ministers.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nelson Mandela Discharged From Hospital

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital in Pretoria where he has been treated for months.

"Madiba's condition remains critical and is at times unstable," the presidency said, referring to the 95-year-old by his clan name.

Mr Mandela was admitted on June 8 with a recurring lung infection and had previously been in a critical but stable condition, according to the office of President Jacob Zuma.

The government statement added: "His home has been reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there.

"The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital.

"If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done."

Sky correspondent Emma Hurd, in Johannesburg, said Mr Mandela "effectively has a hospital ward" in his house where doctors will be able to monitor him around the clock.

The confirmation of Mr Mandela's release follows false reports that he had been discharged on Saturday.

The ailing hero spent nearly three decades in prison before being released and being elected South Africa's first black president in multi-racial elections in 1994 that ended apartheid rule.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Putin Underwear Artist Flees Russia For Paris

By Katie Stallard, Russia Correspondent

A Russian artist who fled the country after his satirical paintings of Vladimir Putin were seized by police has been left homeless and desperate in Paris, according to his wife.

Konstantin Altunin left Russia earlier this week after several of his works were removed from a gallery in St Petersburg by police investigating allegations of extremism.

One image showed the Russian president caressing prime minister Dmitry Medvedev while wearing women's underwear,

A painting by the artist

Other paintings also impounded included a depiction of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church tattooed with images of Lenin and Stalin, and two others parodying politicians behind controversial new Russian legislation banning so-called 'gay propaganda'.

Mr Altunin's wife Elena has posted an appeal on Russia's equivalent of Facebook, vkontakte, pleading for people to help her husband in Paris.

She wants to join him with their young daughter as she believes they are no longer safe in Russia.

Altunin fled Russia fearing arrest

Mrs Altunina wrote: "I am the wife of the artist Kostya Altunin. We urgently need your help.

"Kostya was only earning money with his art, his art was the only source of income in our family. All his paintings are in the Museum of Authorities and are currently under arrest.

"We have spent all our money on Kostya's departure, as there was a big threat of him being arrested on made-up charges of extremism. Moreover we had to borrow money from our friends.

"At the moment, Kostya, me and our two-and-a-half-year-old daughter are on the brink of poverty.

The gallery displaying the painting has been shut down

"I urgently need to fly to my husband to France, because it is not safe for us to stay here. We have a small child, who really misses and wants to see her dad."

Mrs Altunina said her husband had nowhere to sleep and would wait in the lobby of the Hotel du Square every day between 10am and 10pm to meet anyone who might be able to help him.

She said: "Kostya has nowhere to live. He at least needs a bed to spend a night somewhere.

The artist's wife claims the family is on the brink of poverty

"He needs legal help to get political asylum, help of the translator and simply words of support will be very much appreciated by Kostya. He is really depressed.

"We really need legal advice in order to gather all the necessary documents to leave the country and reclaim his paintings."

Russian police confirmed on Tuesday that they had taken the paintings from the Museum of Authorities gallery - based in two rooms of a flat in St Petersburg - after receiving reports they were illegal.

The police statement gave no further details but Russia does have a law against insulting authorities - an offence that carries a maximum one-year prison term.

St Petersburg deputy Vitaly Mironov, whose face was combined with the gay rights movement's rainbow flag in one of the paintings, said the images were inappropriate and "of a distinctly pornographic character".

The gallery's owner said officers had shut down his establishment and given him no explanation for the removal of paintings from the exhibition, titled 'Leaders'.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More