The condition and other details of the painting, assumed to be Pablo Picasso's, are unclear, making it difficult to date or name the work. Getty Imges
The condition and other details of the painting, assumed to be Pablo Picasso's, are unclear, making it difficult to date or name the work. Getty Imges
The condition and other details of the painting, assumed to be Pablo Picasso's, are unclear, making it difficult to date or name the work. Getty Imges
The condition and other details of the painting, assumed to be Pablo Picasso's, are unclear, making it difficult to date or name the work. Getty Imges

Stolen Picasso found in Iraq drug raid


Maan Jalal
  • English
  • Arabic

A painting believed to be by Pablo Picasso has been found during an anti-drugs raid in Iraq's province of Diyala.

The work, which when authenticated could be worth millions of dollars, was found in the possession of three people arrested for their involvement in the trade and transport of narcotics.

The condition of the artwork is unclear and details of its size and the subject matter have also not been disclosed.

The Ministry of Interior announced that the painting's discovery was part of security operations that have been ongoing since July.

“The work is ongoing and intensive to curb the trade, promotion and use of drugs," Colonel Bilal Sobhi told the Iraqi News Agency.

Sobhi said that 1,300 suspects had been arrested and 46 kilograms of narcotic substances and 37kg of stimulants had been seized since the security operation began. He called on people to continue assisting police to dismantle drug networks.

This is not the first time a suspected Picasso has been found in Iraq.

In August 2009, police recovered a rare painting by the Spanish master in the town of Hillah, central Iraq. Said to be stolen during the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the painting, titled Naked Woman, was marked with the word "Louvre" and included stamps from the Paris museum.

However, the Louvre Museum denied ever having a Picasso in its collection, while the Art Loss Register in London stated they had no record of any missing paintings from the Kuwait National Museum.

It is also unclear whether the recent, unauthenticated Picasso is the only artwork or cultural artefact that may have been held as collateral by the suspects.

"The drug trade is linked to many crimes,” Sobhi said. “Including murder, theft, kidnapping, rape, gang formation, corruption and family disintegration, until it reaches the antiquities trade.”

The use of famous artworks, or pieces by renowned artists, as bartering collateral has become a profitable, and increasingly popular means for organised crime groups to secure deals in recent years.

Caravaggio's 'Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence' (1609) has been missing since 1969 when it was stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo. Photo: public domain
Caravaggio's 'Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence' (1609) has been missing since 1969 when it was stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo. Photo: public domain

Most notably, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s Nativity was stolen from the church of San Lorenzo in Palermo by members of Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia, in 1969. The masterwork is still missing.

Since then, many artworks by Vincent van Gogh, Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet and LS Lowry have been stolen with the intention of being sold within a closed black market, or to be used as barter or collateral in deals with other organised crime groups.

Eight stolen artworks that are still missing — in pictures

  • 'Poppy Flowers' by Vincent van Gogh. The 1887 painting was stolen from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum, Cairo, in August, 2010. Photo: Commons
    'Poppy Flowers' by Vincent van Gogh. The 1887 painting was stolen from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum, Cairo, in August, 2010. Photo: Commons
  • 'Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois' by Pablo Picasso. The painting was stolen in May, 2010, from the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Photo: Commons
    'Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois' by Pablo Picasso. The painting was stolen in May, 2010, from the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Photo: Commons
  • 'View of Auvers-sur-Oise' by Cezanne. On New Year’s Eve 1999, the artwork was stolen from the Ashmolean Museum at University of Oxford in a theft UK police believe was stolen-to-order. Photo: Commons
    'View of Auvers-sur-Oise' by Cezanne. On New Year’s Eve 1999, the artwork was stolen from the Ashmolean Museum at University of Oxford in a theft UK police believe was stolen-to-order. Photo: Commons
  • 'Portrait of a Young Man' by Raphael. The $100 million artwork was looted by the Nazis when they invaded Poland in 1939. It was last seen in 1945, but then disappeared. Photo: Commons
    'Portrait of a Young Man' by Raphael. The $100 million artwork was looted by the Nazis when they invaded Poland in 1939. It was last seen in 1945, but then disappeared. Photo: Commons
  • 'The Storm on the Sea of Galilee' by Rembrandt. The piece was one of 13 works stolen from a museum in Boston, US, in a $500 million heist. Photo: Commons
    'The Storm on the Sea of Galilee' by Rembrandt. The piece was one of 13 works stolen from a museum in Boston, US, in a $500 million heist. Photo: Commons
  • 'Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence' by Caravaggio. This $20 million work was stolen from a church in Sicily, with a mafia informant claiming a mob boss used it as a floor mat. Photo: Commons
    'Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence' by Caravaggio. This $20 million work was stolen from a church in Sicily, with a mafia informant claiming a mob boss used it as a floor mat. Photo: Commons
  • 'Francis Bacon' by Lucian Freud. The artwork was stolen from a Berlin gallery in a short half hour window during an exhibition. EPA
    'Francis Bacon' by Lucian Freud. The artwork was stolen from a Berlin gallery in a short half hour window during an exhibition. EPA
  • 'Charing Cross Bridge, London' by Claude Monet. After it was stolen from a Rotterdam museum, the mother of one of the alleged thieves claimed she burned the artwork in her fireplace to protect her son. Photo: Commons
    'Charing Cross Bridge, London' by Claude Monet. After it was stolen from a Rotterdam museum, the mother of one of the alleged thieves claimed she burned the artwork in her fireplace to protect her son. Photo: Commons
Juvenile arthritis

Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.

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India squads

Test squad against Afghanistan: Rahane (c), Dhawan, Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Karun, Saha, Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Umesh, Shami, Pandya, Ishant, Thakur.

T20 squad against Ireland and England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Raina, Pandey, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh.

ODI squad against England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Shreyas, Rayudu, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh

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Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

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Score

New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs 

New Zealand win by 47 runs

New Zealand lead three-match ODI series 1-0

Next match: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Friday

MATCH DETAILS

Manchester United 3

Greenwood (21), Martial (33), Rashford (49)

Partizan Belgrade 0

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TOUCH RULES

Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.

Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.

Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.

A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.

After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.

At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.

A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.

Updated: August 15, 2022, 1:48 PM