Names and faces

— The former Canadian ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis says it will reflect poorly on Ben Affleck if he doesn’t say a few words about Canada’s role should the director’s film Argo win the Oscar for best picture tonight. But Ken Taylor - who said he feels slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics in the rescue of six U.S. Embassy staff members caught in the crisis - is notexpecting it. “I would hope he would. If he doesn’t then it’s a further reflection,” Taylor said. “But given the events of the last while I’m not necessarily anticipating anything.” Taylor kept the Americans hidden at his residence and the home of his deputy, John Sheardown, in Tehran and facilitated their escape by arranging plane tickets and persuading the Ottawa government to issue fake passports. He also agreed to go along with the CIA’s film production cover story to get the Americans out of Iran. Taylor felt that the role that he and other Canadians played in helping the Americans to freedom was minimized in the film. Affleck said in a statement Friday night that he thought his issue with Taylor had been resolved. “I admire Ken very much for his role in rescuing the six houseguests. I consider him a hero. In light of my many conversations as well as a change to an end card that Ken requested I am surprised that Ken continues to take issue with the film,” Affleck said in the statement.

A Banksy mural recently removed from a London street was withdrawn Saturday night from an auction in Florida.The spray painting Slave Labour, showing a young boy making Union Jack bunting with a sewing machine, had been stenciled by the pseudonymous artist on the wall of a store in northeast London in 2012. The work, satirizing Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, was removed from the wall earlier this month. It reappeared in a sale of modern, contemporary and street art at Fine Art Auctions Miami. The lot was withdrawn at the last moment, Fine Art Auctions said. “There’s a sense of outrage among local people,” Claire Kober, leader of the Haringey Council, said in an interview before the planned auction. “Banksy gives these paintings to communities.” Kober wrote to Tomas Regalado, mayor of Miami appealing to stop the auction of the painting. Bristol-born Banksy is the world’s most famous and expensive urban artist. A canvas by him sold for a record $1.9 million at auction in February 2008.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 02/24/2013

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