LUCKNOW, India – Its gleaming white marble walls have for years been yellowed by India’s air pollution and now the Taj Mahal faces a fresh threat – from green insect excrement.

Authorities have ordered an investigation after green-tinged patches began appearing on the back wall of the monument to love, which stands on the banks of the heavily polluted Yamuna river.

Environmentalists believe the pollutants in the river have caused a rise in levels of algae, which has in turn led to a surge in the numbers of the insects which feed on it.

India’s National Green Tribunal, which hears cases related to environmental protection, raised the issue last week. Now the state government of Uttar Pradesh, home to the world’s most famous tomb, has ordered an inquiry.

“The state government is extremely concerned about this issue. People can rest assured that we will let no harm come to the Taj Mahal,” the chief minister’s spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary told AFP on Monday in the state capital Lucknow.

He said the chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, had ordered officials to find urgent solutions.

The alert was sounded by environmental activist DK Joshi.

“Three types of insects breeding in the stagnant and polluted waters of the Yamuna flowing behind the Taj Mahal are causing the problem,” he told AFP.

“They’re attracted to the white sheen of the marble and the swarms are leaving behind greenish-black faeces, which is discolouring the ancient monument.” Authorities have taken steps in recent years to try to protect the 17th-century monument from pollution from the nearby busy city of Agra, including banning local coal-powered industries.

The Taj – India’s top tourist attraction – was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth in 1631.

It has drawn a string of world leaders and royalty including former US President Bill Clinton, while Diana, the late British princess, was famously photographed alone on a marble seat there in 1992.

District officials in Agra said they had not yet heard of the chief minister’s directive but would take any action deemed necessary.

TOKYO – A manhunt is underway for criminals who looted millions from Japan’s cash machines nationwide in an hours-long heist, officials and reports said Monday.

Armed with fake credit card details from South Africa’s Standard Bank, the thieves hit 1,400 convenience store ATMs in a coordinated attack earlier this month.

The international gang members, reportedly numbering around 100 people, each made a series of withdrawals in less than three hours, Japanese media said.

Their haul totalled 1.4 billion yen (S$17.6 million), according to the reports, with machines in Tokyo and Osaka among those targeted.

It was not clear how the gang made off with the equivalent of millions of dollars so quickly as the cash machines usually limit withdrawals to 100,000 yen a day.

Japanese police declined to confirm the robbery, but Standard Bank acknowledged the heist and put its losses at around US$19 million.

The bank said it was a “victim of a sophisticated, coordinated fraud incident”.

“This involved the withdrawal of cash using a small number of fictitious cards at various ATMs in Japan,” it said in a statement.

Japan’s top-selling Yomiuri newspaper said the lightning-fast raids began early on the morning of May 15, a Sunday, when banks were closed.

That may have bought the thieves enough time to pull off the robbery and leave the country before authorities could act, reports said.

Japanese authorities are expected to analyse footage of ATM security cameras and work with South African authorities.

“Investigations are at a sensitive stage and further information will be provided as appropriate,” Standard Bank said.

It was believed that police had no suspects in custody.

Similar robberies have occurred in recent years, including a pair of heists totalling about US$45 million that saw a group of cyber thieves disable withdrawal limits on ATMs around the world.

The machines were later raided by street associates who used stolen security passcodes to harvest the loot.

HONG KONG – A new art installation on Hong Kong’s tallest building highlighting growing fears about the city’s freedoms under Beijing has been cancelled, authorities announced, saying the artists showed “disrespect”.

The artwork was a giant digital countdown to 2047, the year an agreement guaranteeing Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous status, made when Britain handed the city back to China in 1997, will come to an end.

“We regret to announce that the work… would no longer be part of the exhibition,” the Hong Kong Arts Development Council said in a statement, adding that the display “demonstrated disrespect”.

The artwork had run down the sides of the 484-metre tall International Commerce Centre, which occupies a prime harbourfront location, each night for around a minute since it opened Tuesday.

The display coincided with a highly charged three-day trip by Zhang Dejiang, a top Chinese official who chairs China’s communist-controlled legislature.

Zhang stayed at a waterfront hotel diagonally opposite the ICC tower, on the other side of the city’s famous Victoria Harbour.

The artwork was “jeopardising our profession and puts at risk any future possibility to work in the public space”, according to the arts council statement, which was published late Sunday.

The 50-year agreement between Britain and China means Hong Kong enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland.

But perceived interference from Beijing has led to growing concerns the city’s way of life is already disappearing.

Artist Sampson Wong confirmed that the artwork, which was originally scheduled to be on display until June 22, had been cancelled by authorities.

The year 2047 has become a key date for frustrated pro-democracy groups, who are calling for residents to have a say on what happens when the 50-year agreement lapses.

Many young campaigners are calling for greater autonomy, self-determination, or even outright independence. China has dismissed that notion.

Activists turned to the idea of a breakaway after mass rallies in 2014 calling for fully free leadership elections – known as the Umbrella Movement – failed to win concessions from Beijing.

The large, glowing white numbers of the “Countdown Machine” run almost the entire length of the ICC, counting down the seconds to July 1, 2047 – the exact date the agreement ends.

Hong Kong riot police clash with protesters

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Reuters, AFP, AFP PHOTO / SCMP / EDWARD WONG