Two Ancient Statues Stolen in the 1980s From Italian Museums are Now Home

ROME (AP),- Two ancient statues stolen in the 1980s from Italian museums are now back home, thanks in part to a police art squad expert who spotted one of them in a New York gallery while window-shopping on vacation in the United States. The bronze statue of the Greek god Zeus and a marble female torso, both dating from the 1st century, had ended up in the hands of a dealer and a collector in New York, officials told a [...]

Iraqi Police Seize Artifacts on Tuesday Amid Smuggling Fears

BAGHDAD.- Iraqi police on Tuesday seized a small cache of ancient statues and other artifacts in the south of the country that officials said were set to be smuggled abroad and sold. Iraq, home to relics of the world’s most ancient urban civilizations, has had its priceless heritage plundered and sold to collectors abroad in the chaotic years since the U.S.-led invasion. The 39 artifacts were discovered stashed in a hole near a shrine outside the southern city of Nasiriyah, [...]