Mosque in Germany sounds 1st public call to prayer

Cologne: The Islamic call to prayer was sounded in public for the first time from one of Germany’s biggest mosques on Friday as part of a project agreed with the authorities in Cologne, which has one of the country’s largest Muslim communities. The authorities in Germany’s fourth-biggest city last year cleared the way for mosques to apply for permission for the muezzin to call for a maximum five minutes between noon and 3 pm on Fridays, with a noise limit for each mosque as per location. AP

Protesters throw soup on Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’

London: Climate protesters threw soup on Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery on Friday to protest fossil fuel extraction, but caused no discernible damage to the glass-covered painting. Group ‘Just Stop Oil’, which wants the British Government to halt new oil and gas projects, said activists dumped two cans of tomato soup over the oil painting, one of the Dutch artist’s most iconic works. The two protesters glued themselves to the gallery wall. AP

Pink diamond sells for $57.7M at Hong Kong auction

HONG KONG: A pink diamond was sold for $57.7 million in Hong Kong, setting a world record for the highest price per carat for a diamond sold at auction. The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star, auctioned by Sotheby’s Hong Kong, fetched close to $5.2 million per carat, exceeding the previous record of $4 million for a blue diamond sold in 2015. The buyer was a private collector in the United States, Sotheby’s said. The Williamson Pink Star draws its name from two legendary pink diamonds. AP