Banksy unveils new art in London following speculation over murals depicting stargazing figures

Elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that a new mural in London, depicting two children lying down and pointing up at the sky, is his latest work.

The artist posted two photos of the artwork on his official Instagram account Monday, hours after its appearance on a wall on the side of a building in Bayswater, west London sparked speculation over whether Banksy was behind it.

The black and white mural, painted above a garage, depicts two figures dressed in winter hats and boots lying on the ground, with one of them pointing a finger upwards.

An identical image appeared at the foot of a tower in central London on Monday, but the graffiti artist did not post that version on his account.

Banksy began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists. His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction and have drawn thieves and vandals.

While his work is often critical of government policy on migration and war, the latest artwork did not seem to carry an overt political message.

In September he made headlines with a mural showing a judge holding a gavel looming over an unarmed protester holding a blood-splattered placard.

That piece, which appeared on an external wall of a Royal Courts of Justice building, was swiftly covered up and authorities said it had to be removed out of consideration of the building's historical significance.

Pedestrians walk past a graffiti artwork, depicting two people, outside Tottenham Court Road Station in London, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 as elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that an identical image appeared on a wall on the side of a building in Bayswater, west London is his latest work. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Pedestrians walk past a graffiti artwork, depicting two people, which recently appeared, outside Tottenham Court Road Station in London, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 as elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that an identical image appeared on a wall on the side of a building in Bayswater, west London is his latest work. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A person takes a selfie with a piece of graffiti artwork depicting two children, in London, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 as elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that a new mural in London, depicting two children lying down and pointing up at the sky, is his latest work. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

A person takes a selfie of a piece of graffiti artwork depicting two children, in London, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 as elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that a new mural in London, depicting two children lying down and pointing up at the sky, is his latest work. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

People take pictures of a graffiti artwork, depicting two people, outside Tottenham Court Road Station in London, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 as elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that an identical image appeared on a wall on the side of a building in Bayswater, west London is his latest work. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

PARIS (AP) — With just three days to go before Christmas, a cyberattack knocked France’s national postal service offline Monday, blocking and delaying package deliveries and online payments.

The timing was miserable for millions of people at the height of the Christmas season, as frazzled postal workers fended off frustrated customers.

No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicions abounded.

At a post office in southern Paris, usually bustling this time of year, workers questioned whether the attack could be linked to Russia. Or a disgruntled customer, or colleague.

Officials didn't comment on the culprit. Paris prosecutors were examining the case.

What the postal service La Poste called a ‘’major network incident'' remained unresolved by Monday evening, more than eight hours after it was first reported. For a company that delivered 2.6 billion packages last year and employs more than 200,000 people, that's a big hit.

La Poste said in a statement that a distributed denial of service incident, or DDoS, “rendered its online services inaccessible.” It said the incident had no impact on customer data, but disrupted package delivery.

Letters, including holiday greeting cards, could still be mailed and delivered. But transactions requiring tracking or access to the postal service internal computer systems were impossible.

The cyberattack also hurt online banking. Customers of the company’s banking arm, La Banque Postale, were blocked from using the application to approve payments or conduct other banking services. The bank redirected approvals to text messages instead.

“Our teams are mobilized to resolve the situation quickly,” the bank said in messages posted on social networks.

The disruption came a week after France’s government was targeted by a cyberattack that targeted the Interior Ministry, in charge of national security.

In that incident, a suspected hacker extracted a few dozen sensitive files and obtained access to data relating to police records and wanted persons, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on broadcaster France-Info. He blamed “imprudence” at the ministry for the incident. French media reported that a 22-year-old was detained.

Also last week, prosecutors said that France’s counterespionage agency is investigating a suspected cyberattack plot involving software that would have allowed remote users to control computer systems of an international passenger ferry. A Latvian crew member is in custody facing charges of having acted for an unidentified foreign power, officials said.

France and other European allies of Ukraine allege that Russia is waging “hybrid warfare” against them, using sabotage, assassinations, cyberattacks, disinformation and other hostile acts that are often hard to quickly trace back to Moscow.

FILE - A general view of France's national postal service, La Poste, in Paris, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Bertrand Combaldieu, File)