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law

18th-Century Painting Stolen By Nazis 80-Years-Ago Recovered From Argentinian Property Listing 

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Authorities in Argentina have recovered the long-lost Portrait of a Lady (Contessa Colleoni) by Italian master Giuseppe Ghislandi. The painting from the 18th-century was stolen more than 80 years ago by the Nazis from a Jewish art dealer in Amsterdam.

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The painting was spotted in a real estate listing, marking the first sighting of it since it was looted in the second world war. It was given to the Argentinian judiciary this week by Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of the late Nazi financier Friedrich Kadgien. Both Patricia and her husband have been under house arrest since Tuesday. 

Prosecutors are alleging that the couple tried to conceal the stolen artwork, and the two are now facing a hearing on charges of concealment and obstruction of justice. 

Dutch Newspaper AD found the painting after opening their own years-long investigation and tracing the painting to Kadgien’s house in an online property listing in the city of Mar del Plata. 

A photo in the listing showed the missing artwork hanging above a sofa in the living room of the home. AD then published their findings on August 25th. 

The painting was last seen in 1946, and belonged to Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. 

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After AD made their findings public, federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez ordered a raid of the entire property. However, when officials arrived at the home, the painting was no longer there, but the police were able to seize two unlicensed firearms and two mobile phones. 

Four additional raids took place this week in which two other paintings, several drawings, and engravings were found. The paintings are believed to be from the 19th century, and the judiciary is currently analyzing the works to tell if they were also stolen during the second world war. 

A federal court in Mar del Plata placed Kadgien and her husband under 72-hour house arrest this week. After the fall of the Third Reich at the end of the war, several high-ranking Nazi officials fled to South America, and Friedrich Kadgien was one of them. 

He initially fled the Netherlands in 1946, first going to Switzerland, then Brazil, then to Argentina where he had two daughters. 

The painting was likely with him during his travels and has remained in his family’s possession after his death in 1978. 

The portrait was among more than 1,000 works of art stolen by Nazis from Goudstikker, who died back in 1940. 

Goudstikker’s heirs are now planning to reclaim the painting.

world cup

World Cup Champion Argentina Returns Home To Massive Celebration

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The World Cup winning team of Argentina arrived home to a major celebration of fans in Buenos Aires. Millions of people took to the streets to celebrate the champions’ return.

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dollar

The International Value Of The US Dollar Is Making Travel Cheaper For Americans

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The US dollar has been moving upwards in value when compared to international currency, such as the Euro and British pound, which are typically much stronger than the US dollar, making travel much cheaper for Americans.

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patient

Mysterious Disease Plagues Argentina And Claims Third Victim

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An unknown form of pneumonia has been found in Argentina and killed three people and sickened at least six other individuals. 

The individuals who have come down with the new illness have been tested for other pneumonia-causing bugs, including COVID-19 and have all come back as negative.

All the most recent cases have been reported right around the small region of Tucumán, roughly 800 miles from the capital of Buenos Aires.

“It’s obviously concerning but we still need key information on transmission and hopefully [ the] underlying cause,” said Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global health at Edinburgh University.

Reports from Ministry of Public Health of Tucmán Province stated that the first six cases all had similar symptoms including fevers, muscle pain, abdominal pain and had difficulty breathing.

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“What these patients have in common is the severe respiratory condition with bilateral pneumonia and compromise in [Z-ray] images very similar to COVID, but that is ruled out,” said Tucmán health minister Luis Medina Ruiz. 

The European Centre for Disease Control’s epidemic intelligence team has been looking at and monitoring the rising cases since Tuesday and scientists at the World Health Organization started tracking as well.

Since Tucmán is the only place known to be the origin of the infection, local officials have also been testing the water and air conditioning units to see if there are any factors there as well.

Currently there has been no proof that this mysterious pneumonia has been contagious from person-to-person transmission.

Professor Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, told the BBC in an interview that it is pretty impossible at this stage to say what the impact of the disease might since it is still so new.

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“These things happen from time to time. Often they just fizzle out, but not always. Sometimes they cause a substantial local outbreak or something even bigger,” said Hunter.

He hopes that within the next few days that the experts who are working on the new disease will have even more answers due to the rapid speed that the tests can give results too. 

Dr. Ruiz has also stated that given the current situation, it would be hard to predict an origin with it only being 11 days since the first case was announced.

Moreover, every person who has come in contact with the disease has has a difference response with the outbreak. 

There is nothing that health officials can do at this point besides wait only because there is still many unknowns that are linked to the disease. 

 

Speech

Greta Thunberg Delivers Impassioned Speech to World Leaders at U.N.

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Just days after leading the largest climate protest in history and testifying before Congress about climate change, 16-year old activist Greta Thunberg delivered an impassioned, angry, and scathing speech directed at world leaders at the UN today. Thunberg, whose home country is Sweden, has captured the imagination of American youth for her emissions-free voyage by boat to the US, her outsider’s view of American society, which she observes as being characterized by excessive waste and denial of climate change, and for her blunt, impolite, and unapologetic manner of speaking. Despite her sudden rise in popularity and widespread admiration, Thunberg has urged adults not to celebrate her, instead shifting the focus towards the problem that has animated her protests. As her written testimony for Congress, Thunberg submitted the 2018 global warming report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, saying “I don’t want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists.”

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Last night, Thunberg in cooperation with a team of activists, projected a message onto the side of the U.N. building in 30 languages in advance of today’s summit. The message, signed with Thunberg’s name, insisted that for the sake of humanity global economic and political systems would have to undergo rapid and drastic change, urging leaders to “wake up” and saying that “everything needs to change and it has to start today.”

Although she has drawn criticism from people who have claimed she is naive, Thunberg readily admits she is not an expert in climate science, but insists that scientists ought to be listened to, and that world leaders have failed to heed their warnings. During her speech today, Thunberg was unapologetic, as she excoriated world leaders for their failure to act and essentially accused them of robbing her and her generation of their future. “How dare you,” Thunberg said, seemingly fighting back tears, “you have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, and yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing.” 

Thunberg warned that the consequences of continuing not to act would be remembered by her generation and generations to come.

In addition to castigating world leaders for their inaction on what she understands to be an urgent matter, Thunberg warned that the consequences of continuing not to act would be remembered by her generation and generations to come. “You are failing us, but young people are starting to understand your betrayal,” she said. “And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.” Thunberg also described the goals set by nearly every country in the world to reduce their carbon emissions as inadequate, noting that even if countries reach the targets set at the Paris Climate Accords, there is only a 50% chance that global warming will not exceed 1.5 degrees celsius. Also, Thunberg chided current strategies for dealing with climate change for relying on her generation to invent and deploy technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere, essentially leaving them with the burden of cleaning up their mess.

Alongside her emotional speech, which Thunberg delivered next to a panel of climate change experts, she and 15 other child plaintiffs filed a legal complaint against five countries, alleging that they violated a treaty protecting the rights of children by knowingly contributing to climate change. The complaint is addressed to Germany, Brazil, France, Argentina, and Turkey, five countries that have signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and asserts that these countries had an obligation to “prevent the deadly and foreseeable consequences” of climate change, and have long had the opportunity to do so but chose not to. On her Twitter account, Thunberg urged media outlets to report not just on her contributions to climate change activism, but to report on the countless number of other child activists and victims of climate change. This lawsuit resembles one filed by young people in the United States against the federal government, arguing that the government has a responsibility to protect young people from climate change. The lawsuit is currently being deliberated by judges from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and its outcome could have drastic effects on environmental law in the United States.