​ Graffiti conviction for Australian woman who stuck googly eyes on sculpture. 1 hour ago. Koh Ewe. Facebook/Amelia Vanderhorst. A 20-year-old woman has been convicted on a graffiti charge for sticking googly eyes on a famous sculpture in South Australia.. Amelia Vanderhorst pleaded guilty to the charge at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on Tuesday. She was ordered to pay A$2,000 ($1,394; £1,040) as compensation and complete 60 hours of community service.. Vanderhorst had been under the influence of MDMA and three litres of vodka she had consumed on the night of the offence last September, her lawyer Michael Hill told the court.. She was originally charged with property damage, but that was amended to a graffiti charge after negotiations with the prosecution, Hill said.. Since the incident, Vanderhorst has “taken meaningful steps to address the issues that contributed to her offending, including reducing her substance use and focusing on stabilising her personal circumstances”, Hill said in a statement to the BBC.. “She is committed to making better decisions moving forward,” he said.. Vanderhorst had initially started a crowdfunding campaign for a lawyer, claiming that she was “young and jobless”, ABC reported. But she later decided to cancel the campaign and return the donated funds, Hill said.. Last July, the city unveiled the sculpture Cast in Blue, which locals have since nicknamed the Blue Blob. When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.. Local Mayor Lynette Martin said the googly eyes was “wilful damage to a valued public artwork”, and that repairs to the artwork would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.. Costing A$136,000, the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.. City of Mount Gambier. Australia  

​ Warning oil rise to $150 could trigger global recession. 17 minutes ago. Simon Jack,Business editorand. Nick Edser,Business reporter. If the price of oil hits $150 a barrel it will trigger a global recession, the boss of US financial giant BlackRock has told the BBC.. Larry Fink, who leads the world’s largest asset manager, said if Iran “remains a threat” and oil prices stay high it will have “profound implications” for the world economy.. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview, he also denied there was an AI bubble, although he said the new technology meant too many people were pursuing university degrees and not enough doing technical training.. BlackRock is a financial colossus, controlling assets worth $14 trillion (£10.5tn), and is one of the biggest investors in many of the world’s largest companies.. Its size and spread gives Fink – who is one of the eight co-founders of the business, which started in 1988 – a unique insight into the health of the global economy.. The conflict in the Middle East has triggered wild moves on financial markets as people try to assess what will happen to energy costs.. For Fink, it is too early to determine the ultimate scale and outcome of the conflict, but he believes it will be one of two extreme scenarios.. In one, if the conflict is settled and Iran becomes a country that can be accepted again by the international community then the price of oil could fall back to below where it stood before the war.. But if not, he says, then there could be “years of above $100, closer to $150 oil, which has profound implications in the economy” and an outcome of “a probably stark and steep recession”.. The surge in energy costs has led to some in the UK to argue that it should be focusing more on producing its own oil and gas.. On Tuesday, industry body Offshore Energies UK said that without more domestic production, the country risks becoming reliant on imports “at a time of rising global instability”.. Fink says countries need to be pragmatic about their energy mix by using all sources available to them, but providing cheap energy is key to driving growth and raising living standards.. Oil back above $100 a barrel as conflicting claims emerge on US-Iran talks. What on earth is going on with the oil price?. Why are gas prices soaring and how could it affect you?. “Rising energy prices is a very regressive tax. It affects the poor more than the wealthy.”. While the UK already has some solar and wind power and hydrocarbons, if oil prices were to rise to $150 for three or four years, “you would have so many countries moving so rapidly towards solar and maybe even wind”.. Countries should not depend on just one source, he says.. “Use what you have unquestionably, but also aggressively move towards alternative sources too.”. ‘Zero similarities with 2007-08’. Some analysts have suggested that there are some echoes of the run-up to the 2007-08 financial crisis in the markets at the moment.. Energy prices are surging and some  

​ Danish PM fails to secure majority in party’s weakest election showing since 1903. 47 minutes ago. Adrienne Murrayin Copenhagen. Reuters. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats won the most votes in Tuesday’s Danish general election but slumped to its weakest performance since 1903, as her coalition bloc failed to secure a majority.. With 21.9% of the vote, Frederiksen’s party still has by the far the most seats, but her left-wing grouping has fallen well short of the 90 seats needed to form a majority.. The Social Democrats have been in power since 2019, and Frederiksen told cheering supporters she was “sorry that we did not get more votes”.. In a message of defiance, she added: “There is nothing today that can make me sad that the Social Democrats have once again become the Danes’ absolute favourite political party.”. The Social Democrats’ main right-wing rival, the Liberals, also had their worst showing for a century, with just 10.1%, falling behind the Green Left SF.. Frederiksen still has a chance to stay in power for a third term, however Denmark is typically run by coalition governments, and so tough negotiations – which could take days or weeks – now loom.. Twelve different political parties were on the ballot paper, and this tightly contested race has come right down to the wire.. Claiming a total of 84 seats, the “red bloc” of left-wing parties have clinched a small lead over the “blue bloc” on the right, who have 77 seats combined.. Both blocs have fallen short of the 90 seats that are needed for a majority in Denmark’s 179-seat parliament.. It is not yet clear which bloc will be able to build a majority.. “I have been responsible for this wonderful country for almost 7 years,” Frederiksen continued. “I am still ready to take on responsibility as Denmark’s prime minister.”. However, the Moderates, a small party holding 14 seats in the middle, now have the power to act as kingmaker, and all eyes are on its leader, former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.. Reuters. He took the lead in handling the Greenland stand-off with the United States, and went viral for his fist-bump following a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.. With his signature pipe in hand, and surrounded by supporters on Tuesday night, Rasmussen told the crowd he favoured forming a government across the centre.. “We’re standing in the middle,” he said. “We’re ready.”. But Troels Lund Poulsen, who leads the Liberals, the blue bloc’s biggest party, has flatly ruled out going into government again with the Social Democrats, and urged Rasmussen to join him on the right. “It is possible to get a new direction in Denmark,” he said.. DR’s political correspondent, Christine Cordsen, has suggested that the most likely outcome is a center-left government with the Social Democrats, Red-Greens, the Moderates and the Danish Social Liberal Party.. This has been a bruising election outcome for Frederiksen, who after six y  

​ ‘He liked the fear in our eyes’, Epstein survivors tell BBC. 31 minutes ago. Ana FaguyWashington. Joanna Harrison never wanted to speak about the abuse she faced at the hands of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.. Like many survivors, she says Epstein’s assault filled her with shame and embarrassment. But after her name was unintentionally made public in the release of millions of files by the US government, she told BBC Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire she felt she had to speak out.. “It gets to a point where you’re being suffocated and you need to breathe, and I feel this is my way of trying to breathe,” Harrison said.. BBC Newsnight brought Harrison and four other Epstein survivors together for the first time in the same room. During the hours-long discussion that followed, there were supportive gestures and, as they studied photos of themselves from the time when they first met Epstein, there were tears.. In the wide-ranging interview, the survivors told their stories of grief and anger. Some revisited Epstein’s infamous private island, Little St James, while others recounted “eerie” moments at his New Mexico ranch.. They said they believed the powerful figures with whom he associated himself would most likely have known what was going on.. Survivor’s identity thrust into spotlight. Millions of documents related to the various investigations of Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice, but some of the unredacted material failed to obscure the identity of his victims.. Harrison was one of those people whose name was made public.. She told BBC Newsnight she never wanted the files to be released, fearing she would lose her anonymity.. “It’s not normal to see your abuser’s face every day for six years on TV,” Harrison said.. She recounted meeting Epstein in Florida when she was 18, and like other survivors, she said everything began with a massage.. “Everything seemed normal,” Harrison said. “When he began to masturbate, I completely froze. I don’t think I said two words in the car in the ride home.”. She later recounted Epstein raping her on his birthday.. Speaking publicly for the first time, Harrison said she doubted she and other survivors would ever get justice now that Epstein was dead. “I have questions I’ll never get an answer to.”. Five countries in five days with Clinton, Spacey and Maxwell. Chauntae Davies shared never-before-seen images with BBC Newsnight of her time travelling with Epstein on his private plane to Africa.. The pictures included Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell as well as actor Kevin Spacey and former President Bill Clinton. Spacey and Clinton were travelling on a humanitarian trip to promote Aids prevention.. “I described it in my journal at the time as the most eclectic group of people that you could put together… it was almost like a camp feel because you were travelling to five different countries in five days,” she said. On the plane they ate snacks, played cards and told stories.. “It  

​ ‘Major player’ in alleged mistaken identity kidnap of Sydney grandfather charged. 56 minutes ago. Helen LivingstoneSydney. NSW Police. A “major player” in the alleged kidnap and murder of an 85-year-old grandfather in Sydney last month has been arrested and charged with murder, police have said.. Widower Chris Baghsarian, 85, was taken from his home in North Ryde on 13 February, in what police say was a case of mistaken identity. His body was found almost two weeks later near a golf course.. Two men have already been charged in connection with his death and on Wednesday police said they had charged a 23-year-old man with multiple offences including kidnap, murder, and firearms and drugs offences.. “He is not the highest but he is a major player in this matter,” Det Chief Insp Andrew Marks told reporters.. “We will allege that he facilitated and recruited others to help in the kidnapping and detention of Mr Baghsarian,” he said. “We will also allege that he arranged for people to dispose of Mr Baghsarian’s body.”. The man, who was arrested at a home in the north-west suburb of Seven Hills early on Wednesday, was refused bail and will appear in court on Thursday.. A 23-year-old woman who was arrested at the same time has been charged with breaching an apprehended violence order but does not face any charges in connection with Baghsarian’s death.. Detectives believe up to nine people were involved in the kidnapping and murder, and they will continue to investigate, Marks said on Wednesday.. Local media say the alleged attack may have been aimed at a family with links to organised crime.. In the days after the kidnapping, police made several pleas for those who had taken Baghsarian to safely return him as he had health issues and needed daily medication.. Last week police released CCTV footage of three men near what police say was a “stronghold” in Dural, on the outskirts of Sydney, where Baghsarian was kept after being kidnapped.. Police believe the 23-year-old charged on Wednesday was one of the trio pictured.. Marks said the man was also “physically involved” in the kidnapping.. “He was there at the North Ryde address, and we will allege he conveyed Mr Baghsarian to the stronghold,” he said. Police would also present evidence he was “in and around the area” for the 40 hours that Baghsarian was held, Marks added.. Two men, 29-year-old Gerard Andrews and 24-year-old Daniel Stevens, were arrested and charged with kidnap and murder last month, a day after Baghsarian’s body was found, and are due to appear in court again in April.. Australia