LONDON: Protesters seeking to oust London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Saturday launched a giant balloon over Parliament Square depicting him dressed in a yellow bikini.
A small group of supporters watched the inflatable take to the skies, and the crowd cheered and shouted, “higher, higher, higher” as the balloon was launched.
Protesters believe Khan has failed to curtail street crime in London, and some wore T-shirts reading “Make London safe again.”
Organizers had raised more than 58,000 pounds ($75,000) to create the blimp in a protest against Khan’s policies.
It was meant as a rebuke to Khan, who backed protesters’ right to launch a giant balloon depicting US President Donald Trump as an angry baby during his July visit to Britain.
Organizer Yanny Bruere said Saturday’s protest was set up “in retaliation” for the Trump blimp.
“I think a certain amount of respect should be afforded to the leader of the free world and the greatest ally the UK has,” he said.
Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, has been repeatedly criticized by Trump for his handling of security and crime in the British capital.
The bikini is a reference to an advertisement Khan banned from the city’s transport network that showed a young woman in a skimpy yellow bikini asking, “Are you beach body ready?“
He said the weight loss ad was demeaning, but opponents argued banning it was an attack on free speech.
Protester Steve Charlston said Khan was a “complete hypocrite,” saying he deemed the beach body ad offensive enough to ban it but felt it was “fine and dandy” to allow the anti-Trump blimp to fly over London while the president was visiting.
Balloon poking fun at Mayor Sadiq Khan flies over London
Balloon poking fun at Mayor Sadiq Khan flies over London
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
