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The British Museum said Wednesday that a member of its staff has been dismissed after items dating back as far as the 15th century B.C. were found to be missing, stolen or damaged.

The museum said it has also ordered an independent review of security and a “vigorous program to recover the missing items.”

The stolen artifacts include gold jewelry and gems of semiprecious stones and glass dating from the 15th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D. Most were small items kept in a storeroom and none had been on display recently, the museum said.

“Our priority is now threefold: first, to recover the stolen items; second, to find out what, if anything, could have been done to stop this; and third, to do whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said George Osborne, the museum’s chair.

“This incident only reinforces the case for the reimagination of the museum we have embarked upon,” Osborne said.

The museum said that legal action would be taken against the dismissed staff member and that the matter was under investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police Service.

The 264-year-old British Museum is a major London tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world who come to see a vast collection of artifacts ranging from the Rosetta Stone that unlocked the language of ancient Egypt to scrolls bearing 12th century Chinese poetry and masks created by the indigenous people of Canada.

But the museum has also attracted controversy because it has resisted calls from communities around the world to return items of historical significance that were acquired during the era of the British Empire. The most famous of these disputes include marble carvings from the Parthenon in Greece and the Benin bronzes from West Africa.

Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum, apologized and said the institution was determined to put things right.

“This is a highly unusual incident,” said Fischer said. “I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.”
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When Britain granted India independence in 1947, the subcontinent was divided along religious lines, triggering an exodus of an estimated 12 million people amid carnage and violence across the newly carved borders of the two countries, India and Pakistan.

Among the cities that received a massive influx of refugees was the Indian capital, Delhi.

A partition museum that opened in the city three months ago, documents the traumatic legacy of the times through the stories and memorabilia of the men, women and children who came there 76 years ago.

“Delhi was inundated with refugees. They came without any hope, without any home, they had lost their family, they had lost their friends, very often they came with very little money, and they had to start life all over again,” said Kishwar Desai, chairperson of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust that has set up the museum.

The museum, housed in a revamped Mughal-era building given by the government, is the second one set up by the non-profit group – it opened one in the northern city of Amritsar six years ago.

The purpose is to ensure that future generations can learn of the massive scale of loss and displacement that accompanied the subcontinent’s chaotic division. “It’s a very important but forgotten narrative,” said Desai.

One of the seven galleries in the museum recreates a train in which millions fled across both sides of the border. Even some of the trains were ambushed by mobs.

The journeys were difficult, with refugees clambering onto trains clutching a handful of possessions – some meant to secure livelihoods, others as memorabilia. Some of these items that were carefully preserved by families for decades have been donated to the museum. They are diverse — a sewing machine, a chair, a drum used to store wheat.

In another gallery, a tent symbolizes the sprawling refugee camps that sprang up in the city for those who survived the slaughtering and rioting in which half-a-million to one million people were killed.

There are black and white photographs of the times, newspaper clippings and interviews running on screens of those who made it across the border.

But the exhibits also demonstrate that, despite the violence at that time and the decades-long political rivalry between India and Pakistan that persists, the bond among ordinary people on both sides of the border remains strong.

There is an old electricity meter handed over to an Indian family when it revisited their former home in Pakistan – the Pakistani family living there had kept it in memory of the earlier occupant. A frayed ledger on display belonged to an Indian man who once ran a shop in the neighboring country. It had been carefully preserved by the shop’s new owner in Pakistan.

“These small things, memories which are kept alive by both sides, add to the fact that there is still hope,” said Desai. “Even if politically, it is a very difficult narrative, when people from here go back to Pakistan, the contact is just wonderful. They are treated like VIP’s (very important persons). People say come in, this is your own home, and this happens on both sides of the border.”

Many survivors of partition carry no bitterness. Like Ashok Kumar Talwar, who has donated a brass bowl to the museum – it was among the handful of things his family had carried when they brought him to Delhi as a five-year-old.

Why a brass bowl? “I don’t know,” he answers. He speculates that it is probably because his family thought they would be able to return and reclaim their more precious possessions like jewelry, so they only carried what they needed during the journey.

Talwar’s family still fondly calls him “Shaukat,” a Muslim name given to him in Pakistan by his father’s student. And he has not forgotten his Pakistani roots. “I am fond of Pakistani things. I watch Pakistani movies and shows on TV. I have friends who are Muslim in the city. I am doing very well with them. There is no enmity at the grassroot level.”

The political relationship is starkly different – ties between the two bitter South Asian rivals have been in deep freeze for nearly eight years.

Many visitors to the museum are young people. Some draw a lesson from an event that left a deep mark on millions in both India and Pakistan but about which they had so far learned largely from fiction or movies.

For Sangeeta Geet, a postgraduate student, the museum highlighted the dangers of polarization that she says is driven by politicians on both sides of the border.

“We should learn from 1947. Here we can see what happens when we divide on the basis of religion,” said Geet. “So, we should step forward toward peace.”

That is the message the museum reinforces in the last section. Here a red mail box “of dreams and hope” underlines the hope that two countries with a shared heritage can have a better future. Visitors can write down their thoughts on postcards – many have said they had no idea what an older generation had experienced.

“We want people to leave the museum saying this should never happen again,” said Desai, who grew up hearing stories of partition from her parents, who also had to leave their homes in Pakistan in 1947.
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Brazil forward Neymar has signed for Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain, the clubs announced on Tuesday, joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema as the latest big name lured to the oil-rich Gulf state.

“I am here in Saudi Arabia, I am Hilali,” the 31-year-old Neymar said in a video posted to Al Hilal’s social media accounts.

“It is always difficult to say goodbye to an amazing player like Neymar, one of the best players in the world,” said PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi in a statement from the French champions.

“I will never forget the day he arrived at Paris Saint-Germain, and what he has contributed to our club and our project over the last six years. We had a great moment and Neymar will always be a big part of our history,” he added.

Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona in 2017 for a world record fee of $242 million, a few weeks before they recruited Kylian Mbappe.

The Brazilian scored 118 goals in 173 matches for PSG, winning five Ligue 1 titles and three French Cups, but his time at PSG was blighted by injuries.

Although he helped the club to the 2020 Champions League final, which they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich, he was sidelined for key games.

Neymar underwent surgery on his right ankle in early March, only returning to join PSG on their preseason tour of Asia.

However, he no longer figured in new coach Luis Enrique’s plans and was immediately linked with a move to Al Hilal, where he will earn “100 million euros a season,” according to a source close to the matter.

PSG will not come close to recouping the fee they paid for Neymar but will still pocket close to 100 million euros as well, according to the same source.

Al Hilal have traditionally been one of Saudi Arabia’s top clubs and have been crowned Asian Champions League winners on four occasions.

They are coached by Portugal’s Jorge Jesus, who is in his second spell at the club, while the squad currently boasts four international players recently lured from Europe — Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Neymar’s Brazilian compatriot Malcom.

Last month Al Hilal made a $328 million bid for Mbappe, though the striker reportedly refused to meet with officials from the team.

Neymar’s departure from PSG follows that of Lionel Messi who now plays for Inter Miami in the United States.
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A court in Iran has sentenced prominent movie director Saeed Roustaee to six months in prison for the screening of his film “Leila’s Brothers” at the Cannes Film Festival last year, local media reported Tuesday.

“Leila’s Brothers,” a rich and complex tale of a family struggling with economic hardship in Tehran, has been banned in Iran since its release last year.

The movie was in competition for the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes festival. It missed the top prize but won the International Federation of Film Critics award.

On Tuesday, the reformist daily Etemad said that Roustaee, along with the movie’s producer Javad Noruzbegi, “were sentenced to six months in prison for screening the movie at Cannes Film festival.”

Roustaee and Noruzbegi were found guilty of “contributing to propaganda of the opposition against the Islamic system.”

“Leila’s Brothers” was banned after it “broke the rules by being entered at international film festivals without authorization,” and the director refused to “correct” it as requested by the culture ministry, official media said at the time.

The filmmakers will only serve about nine days of their sentence, while the remainder “will be suspended over five years,” according to Etemad, which added the verdict can be appealed.

During the suspension period, the defendants will be required to take a filmmaking course while “preserving national and ethical interests” and refrain from associating with other cinema professionals, the newspaper said.

Roustaee, 34, has gained international renown since the 2019 release of his film “Just 6.5,” an uncompromising look at Iran’s drug problem and the brutal, and fruitless, police response.

Iran has long had a thriving cinema scene, with figures like Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi winning awards around the world.
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The music genre hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with events across the United States. A Los Angeles art gallery is showing photographs of hip-hop legends. Genia Dulot visited the gallery and files this report. (Camera: Genia Dulot)
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