World Briefs

Cult graffiti artist Banksy, whose works can fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds and are popular with some of the world's biggest stars, has refused to authenticate five works up for auction this weekend in London.

Pest Control, the organisation tasked with authenticating the anonymous British artist's works, said it would not approve any street pieces removed from their original setting, partly to crack down on fakes and partly to protect the original concept.

Banksy made a name for himself painting stencilled satirical and political images in public spaces, always keeping his identity hidden.

His work became so valuable that several street pieces were salvaged, including a painting attributed to Banksy on a wall in London that fetched £208,100 (€262,000) in an online sale. The cost of removing the wall and replacing it was not included.

Ben Hanly of Lyon & Turnbull said that the auctioneer would go ahead with the sale of five street pieces even without official verification, adding that it had no doubts the pieces on offer were original.

Role-swapping twins charged with fraud

An Italian woman who worked as a part-time judge as well as a lawyer was substituted by her identical twin sister in court so she would not lose out on legal fees when she had two simultaneous engagements.

The 54-year-old twins from northern Italy have now been charged with fraud and will go on trial in January, Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera, reported yesterday on its website.

One of the twins, identified only as Gabriella, worked primarily as a lawyer but also as an honorary judge, a part-time, paid position that entails helping full-time judges when their case load is heavy.

When Gabriella was called to be a substitute judge she sent her sister twin Patrizia to stand in for her at an existing engagement as a defence lawyer elsewhere in the Milan area. The problem was that sister Patrizia was not a lawyer like sister Gabriella but charged the clients anyway.

The clients discovered the sister act and are now suing both for damages. Prosecutors have charged both with fraud, the paper said.

Crosses Alps in wheelchair

A severely paralysed German pensioner crossed the Alps in a wheelchair, making the 2,500-kilometre journey from Hamburg to Rome to try to raise awareness about the failings of Germany's healthcare system.

After a nine-week trip in a motorised wheelchair equipped with headlights, horn and indicators, Joachim Friedrich was this week received by Pope Benedict on St Peter's Square.

"I feel relieved, ecstatic and deeply sad that my journey is over," the 70-year-old Mr Friedrich said yesterday. "The first thing I did when I got home was eat real German baked potatoes and meat. I'm sick of all that pizza and pasta."

Nabbed at airport with 200 birds in bag

Brazilian authorities detained a Portuguese man at Sao Paulo's international airport with 200 birds in his bag, police said yesterday.

Customs officials found 65 of 200 Canary birds dead, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement. Police will charge the man, who arrived from Peru and resides in Brazil, with animal trafficking, a federal police officer at the airport said.

The remaining live birds will be sent back to Peru by plane, in more humane conditions.

Government wants to grow marijuana

Sri Lanka's government wants to grow its own marijuana.

Facing a lack of the fresh weed for use in traditional Ayurvedic medical preparations, the government ministry responsible wants to be excepted from laws that have made marijuana illegal on the Indian Ocean island since the 1890s.

The Ministry of Indigenous Medicine this month broached a plan to grow 4,000 kilos a year of marijuana, also known as cannabis, on a proposed eight-hectare farm.

"We are interested in getting some approval to grow some cannabis with government sponsorship, but there must be controls. It is under study," Asoka Malimage, secretary at the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine, said yesterday.

Ayurveda is a traditional medicine with roots in the early Hindu era which makes wide use of herbs and natural remedies with the goal of healing the body and mind. In Sri Lanka, ayurveda practitioners outnumber Western-trained doctors.

Fresh marijuana fried in ghee, a form of clarified butter, is used in about 18 different traditional medicines for treating a wide variety of ailments, Mr Malimage said.