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A second-hand deader in France is facing a lawsuit for allegedly deceiving a couple by selling an African mask at almost a 2,800,000 per cent markup. An unnamed pensioner couple, who live in Eure-et-Loir, south-west of Paris, sold the rare mask to the dealer at €150 (£130) who further sold it at €4.2m (£3.7m). As the case brought by the French couple opened on Tuesday, the dealer appeared in court. But the Gabon government and campaigners have said that the rare artefact should instead be returned to its country of origin. The rare 19th-Century "Ngi" mask which was made by the Fang people of Gabon was lying in dust in the attic of the couple’s holiday home in Gard, southern France. The couple had called the dealer as they had decided to sell their home. The wooden mask was found in a cupboard in the house that belonged to the man’s grandfather, René-Victor Fournier, who had been a colonial administrator in Africa in the early 20th Century. The dealer bought several items from the couple, including the wooden mask. It was six months later that the couple while reading a newspaper found out that the mask had been in action in Montpellier and that it was an artefact even rarer than Leonardo da Vinci’s painting. The couple said they had “almost fallen off their chairs” when they recognised the photo and the auction catalogue said it was collected around 1917, in unknown circumstances by the French colonial governor René-Victor Edward Maurice Fournier (1873-1931), probably during a tour in Gabon”. The discovery prompted excitement among art dealers and media, with one expert telling a French TV that only 10 such items were made by Fang masters. “This type of mask is even rarer than a Leonardo da Vinci painting – we know of 22 paintings by the great master, but we only know of 10 to 12 masks created by the different Fang masters in Gabon,” the expert said. At an auction in March 2022, the mask was bought for £3.7m by an unnamed person bidding by phone after being initially valued at £2,60,860. The couple later filed a civil suit against the dealer for giving them an unfair price and demanded the sale be annulled. During the hearing in an Ales court, the lawyers for the couple contended that the couple should receive the profits from action fairly after they unknowingly sold it at £130. “One has to be in good faith and honest; my clients would never have given up this mask at that price if they knew it was an extremely rare object,” their lawyer, Frédéric Mansat Jaffré, said this month to French outlets. Representatives of the Gabon government however said that the mask was stolen in the first place and should be returned. Solange Bizeau of the Collectif Gabon Occitanie said: “That mask was stolen at the time of colonisation … All these works of art – and so many that we see in museums – were taken, and the people who made them were told they were the devil’s work and they should instead believe in the Bible. And from that point on, these artefacts have appeared in Europe, enriching people who have made money from them for decades.” “This mask has a soul, it was used to establish justice in our villages. The discussion in court has been about morality, but what about the morality of the spoliation of works of art and our dignity? Where is the morality in that?” A decision by the court is expected in December. Read More US removes four African countries from trade deal for ‘gross human rights violation’ UN Security Council fails again to address Israel-Hamas war, rejecting US and Russian resolutions Kyiv preparing for ‘new wave’ of attacks on Avdiivka’ - latest Kyiv preparing for ‘new wave’ of attacks on Avdiivka’ - latest Nato chief says Russia must not be allowed ‘to take pieces of Ukraine’ Family of nine shot dead as they slept in Russian-occupied Ukrainian town

Ukraine is preparing for a “new wave” of Russian attacks on the besieged eastern town of Avdiivka, according to the region’s military chief. “Our boys are preparing for a new wave,” head of the region’s military administration Vitaliy Barabash said. On Monday, Kyiv claimed Russia was preparing to conduct “meat assaults” in the area by throwing troops at the front line without artillery cover. It comes as Russia struck Ukraine’s Kremenchuk oil refinery in Poltava after launching scores of drones and a missile overnight, military officials said. The refinery was set ablaze during a broader attack which targeted military and critical infrastructure, Filip Pronin, head of the region’s military administration, said. “The fire has been extinguished. The situation is under control,” he said on Telegram, adding that there were no reports yet of casualties as officials sought to gather more details of the destruction. The air force said 18 of the 20 Russian-launched kamikaze Shahed drones were destroyed before reaching their targets, as was the missile. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops have made confirmed advances near Bakhmut, Donetsk, and Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Read More Russian soldiers accused of killing family of nine as they slept in Russian-occupied Ukrainian town More than 40% of Ukrainians need humanitarian help under horrendous war conditions, UN says A UN report urges Russia to investigate an attack on a Ukrainian village that killed 59 civilians Moscow succession: What would happen if Putin dies?

Next Plc, the British clothing and homeware chain, raised profit guidance for the fourth time in recent months

European shares rose to a near two-week high on Wednesday, boosted by healthcare stocks, with investors gearing up

Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit was ordered by a California jury to pay $332 million to a former land

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Russia must not be allowed to “continue to take pieces of Ukraine” as he backed arming Kyiv to give it an upperhand during negotiations. “The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger they will be at the negotiating table. And when the war does end, we must ensure that history does not repeat itself. That Russia does not continue to take pieces of Ukraine,” the Nato chief said on Tuesday at the 75th Nordic Council in Oslo. “Russia has lost. It has lost tens of thousands of soldiers. It has lost large amounts of military material. And it has lost political influence and is increasingly isolated,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “The invasion of Ukraine is a strategic defeat for Russia.” He said the world feared Kyiv would fall in just a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. “Instead, the Ukrainians have liberated their land. Reclaiming half of the land that Russian forces took when they invaded last year,” he said. The war is now nearing its second winter as Ukraine launched a months-long counteroffensive. In a renewed confirmation of Kyiv’s place in the military alliance, Mr Stoltenberg said “all Nato countries agree that Ukraine should become a member of Nato”. The top official has constantly batted for Ukraine’s security and protection by means of military and financial aid during the war. Last month, Mr Stoltenberg said Russia’s invasion was a reminder of the important role Nato’s nuclear weapons played in deterring aggression. He had also clapped back against recent criticism of the “slow” counteroffensive action from Ukrainian troops and pointed out that the number of mines Ukraine has encountered on the battlefield are at a historic high. “The starting point is that the Russian army used to be the second strongest in the world. And now the Russian army is the second strongest in Ukraine. That’s quite impressive by Ukrainians,” he said. “No one ever said that this was going to be easy,” Mr Stoltenberg had told lawmakers at the European parliament earlier in August. “Hardly any time in history we have seen more mines on the battlefield than we are seeing in Ukraine today. So it was obvious that this was going to be extremely difficult.” The frontline in the 20-month-old war has remained largely unchanged, barring a few Ukrainian reclamations of villages and settlements after Kyiv’s counteroffensive went into action in June this year. Russian forces have geared up for fresh attacks in different sections of the front, but are suffering heavy losses. A majority of the fighting is concentrated in eastern and southern Ukraine, with Russian forces trying to reclaim Avdiivka town that was captured by Kyiv recently. Read More How much money does the US give to Israel, and is there more to come? Live updates | Gaza is plunged back into a communication blackout Family of nine shot dead as they slept in Russian-occupied Ukrainian town If Putin dies, this is what would happen in Russia Zelensky says Ukraine’s Black Sea assault ‘will go down in history’ Ukrainian troops advance as Putin air defences ‘struck in Crimea’ - latest

An Israeli strike on a refugee camp in Gaza overnight drew condemnation across the Middle East and comes

Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s success in the battle for the Black Sea “will go down in history books”, as he rallied troops in his nightly video address. “Ukraine’s success in the battle for the Black Sea will go down in history books, although it’s not being discussed much today,” he added. Mr Zelensky also warned against expecting instant success in Ukraine’s counter-offensive campaign as Russian forces showed signs of amping up fresh attacks on different sections of the frontline. “We live in a world that gets used to success too quickly. When the full-scale invasion began, many people around the world did not believe that Ukraine would survive," the war-time president said in his nightly video address. He added: "Glory to all those who do not retreat, who do not burn out, who believe in Ukraine just as they did on February 24, and who have been fighting unwaveringly." The war frontline along Ukraine’s east and south has seen little along the 1,000 km span this year despite Kyiv’s counter-offensive push which Russia has resisted by mining vast swathes and throwing in battalions of men in the siege. Mr Zelensky lauded his troops for diminishing Russian military strength in the Black Sea, adding that if there’s greater support from Ukraine’s allies, they could inch closer to victory over Russian forces. "When we ensure even more security to the Black Sea, Russia will lose any ability to dominate in this area and expand its malign influence to other countries," Mr Zelensky said. The full extent of the damage that Ukraine has done in recent months to the Russian Black Sea Fleet remains unclear. Even claims made by the Russian defence ministry of success in destroying the weapons comes with little evidence. The losses on both sides, of personnel and equipment, have been guarded as a state secret. On the battlefield front, signs of struggle have persisted. The Ukrainian president said his meeting with senior commanders considered sectors engulfed by the fiercest fighting in the east and northeast, including the key areas of Avdiivka and Kupiansk, where Russia has been on the offensive in recent weeks. Russia has concentrated its military might on Avdiivka, an eastern Ukrainian town in Donetsk, which officials said is bracing for a new wave of attacks after witnessing steady assaults since mid-October. "The enemy is bringing in forces and equipment. Our boys are preparing for a new wave," Vitaliy Barabash, head of the military administration in Avdiivka, told national television. The town with its vast coking plant was briefly captured in 2014 when Russian-backed separatists seized chunks of land in the east, but Ukrainian forces have since put up fortifications. Ukraine’s ground forces said on Tuesday that Russian forces were also focused on Kupiansk - a city in the northeast overrun by Russia in the early days of the invasion, but recaptured by Ukrainian forces last year. Alongside, Russia claimed that its forces had conducted successful attacks near the town of Bakhmut - a largely destroyed town captured by Russian forces in May. Read More If Putin dies, this is what would happen in Russia Ukrainian troops advance as Putin air defences ‘struck in Crimea’ - latest Hungary bans teenagers from visiting World Press Photo exhibition over display of LGBTQ+ images AI Safety Summit: Five key questions More than 40% of Ukrainians need humanitarian help under horrendous war conditions, UN says Watch: Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin testify on Biden’s $106 billion request

French prime minister Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday vowed a “merciless fight” against surging antisemitism after residents of the French capital discovered anti-Jewish graffiti on buildings in several districts. The discovery comes weeks into the Israel-Hamas war in which thousands of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed and hundreds of Israelis have been taken hostage by the militants in Gaza. “The situation in the Middle East does not justify antisemitism,” Ms Borne told the National Assembly during a regular questioning session. “Nothing ever excuses antisemitism ... my government is determined to wage a merciless fight against it." Since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, French authorities have registered 857 antisemitic acts, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday. “That's as many acts of antisemitism in three weeks as there have been so far this year,” he said. Mr Darmanin said police and judicial authorities have opened several investigations into the anti-Jewish graffiti around the capital and vowed to Jewish communities around France that “we will protect you, absolutely, completely, day and night.” The graffiti included a blue Star of David stamped on several buildings around the capital. “I am crying because I am going to again feel the hatred that was there when we were children,” a tearful resident of a graffiti-tagged building who gave only her first name, Marie, told BFM-TV. Carine Petit, the mayor of Paris's 14th district, reminded residents that such tags trigger painful memories. "This act of marking (buildings) is reminiscent of the acts in the (19)30s and the Second World War, which led to the extermination of millions of Jews,” Petit said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. Read More Bolivia severs diplomatic ties with Israel over ‘disproportionate’ attack in Gaza Orsted scraps 2 offshore wind power projects in New Jersey, citing supply chain issues The Day of the Dead in Mexico is a celebration for the 5 senses

Prada SpA’s sales slowed as the Italian fashion company experiences a cutback in luxury demand that other competitors

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to head back to Israel after dozens were reported killed

Oil advanced after slumping in the first two days of the week, as a still-contained Israel-Hamas war caused