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French-Lebanese Architect to Redesign British Museum Galleries

French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh has been chosen to redesign part of the British Museum, in a major renovation. (AFP)
French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh has been chosen to redesign part of the British Museum, in a major renovation. (AFP)
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French-Lebanese Architect to Redesign British Museum Galleries

French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh has been chosen to redesign part of the British Museum, in a major renovation. (AFP)
French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh has been chosen to redesign part of the British Museum, in a major renovation. (AFP)

The British Museum said Friday it had chosen French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh to redesign a third of the venue's gallery space -- including a section housing the disputed Parthenon Marbles.

The museum, one of London's biggest tourist draws, received more than 60 entries after launching a competition last year for a remodeling of its Western Range galleries.

Judges were won over by Ghotmeh's "deep understanding and sensitivity towards the museum," it said in a statement, while British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan said Ghotmeh was "an architect of extraordinary grace and gravitas."

Her previous work includes the Hermes Leather Workshop in Louviers, France, the Estonian National Museum in Tartu and Stone Garden Housing in Beirut, the city where she was raised.

Ghotmeh said she looked forward to "transforming this section of the museum into an extraordinary space".

Abstract models of her designs showed a pared-back layout, with artifacts surrounded by wide spaces and archways.

The museum's Western Range galleries house ancient Roman, Egyptian, Middle Eastern and Greek objects -- including the Parthenon Marbles which Greece has long campaigned to have returned to Athens.

The 2,500-year-old sculptures once adorned the Parthenon temple in Athens in honor of the city's patron goddess Athena.

Greek authorities maintain the sculptures were looted in 1802 by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

London insists the sculptures were "legally acquired" by Elgin and then sold to the British Museum.

One of the models for the redesigned galleries appears to show friezes resembling the ancient marbles set snugly against the museum walls.

The museum did not address the marbles in its statement, which said Ghotmeh's team would work to develop the designs over the coming years.

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Culture

Priceless 2,500-year-old Golden Helmet Returned to Romania after Dutch Museum Raid

Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, are presented during a press conference after being returned, at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, are presented during a press conference after being returned, at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
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Priceless 2,500-year-old Golden Helmet Returned to Romania after Dutch Museum Raid

Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, are presented during a press conference after being returned, at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, are presented during a press conference after being returned, at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

A priceless golden helmet dating back 2,500 years was returned to Romania on Tuesday after the national heirloom was stolen from a Dutch museum where it was on loan last year.

The ornate Cotofenesti helmet and three golden bracelets — some of Romania’s most revered national treasures from the Dacia civilization — were taken from the Drents Museum in January 2025 in a raid which shocked the art world and devastated Romanian authorities.

But after 14 months of investigations, diplomatic tensions, and three suspects in an ongoing trial, most of the artifacts arrived at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport on Tuesday from where authorities transported them under guard to Bucharest’s National History Museum. They were displayed in a glass cabinet, flanked by masked, armed guards.

Cornel Constantin Ilie, the museum's interim director, said that the artifacts have been returned “not as simple patrimony items, but as relics of our historical memory, as the legacy of a civilization that continues to define us.”

“For us, this is a moment of joy, but also of contemplation,” he said. “For months, we have lived with the fear that part of our past could be lost forever. Today we can say that an essential part of this treasure has returned.”

Robert van Langh, the Drents Museum director, described the recovery and return of the relics as “an emotional moment for all involved,” and acknowledged “the grief, the anger and now the relief have naturally been even greater” in Romania than in the Netherlands.

“Romanian national heritage has returned home,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying. “The impact of this robbery was already significant in the Netherlands, but here it must have been truly unparalleled ... The police and judicial authorities of both countries have done extraordinary work.”

Dutch prosecutors unveiled the recovered items at a news conference in the eastern Dutch city of Assen earlier this month. The whereabouts of the third golden bracelet remains unknown, but van Langh vowed the search would continue and that a judicial verdict is expected in the coming weeks.

During its disappearance, the golden helmet was slightly dented, while the recovered bracelets were in perfect condition.

Romania’s Minister of Culture Demeter Andras Istvan said the return of the artifacts had shown “how strong the connection between heritage and collective consciousness can be.”

“This entire episode reminds us at the same time how exposed heritage can be. It can be exposed to violence, illegal trafficking, negligence, oblivion,” he said.

After the raid, Dutch authorities were left with grainy security footage of three people wrenching open a museum door with a crowbar, after which an explosion was seen. Before its recovery, there were fears the helmet may have been melted down because its fame and distinctive appearance made it virtually unsellable.

The artifacts will be exhibited to the public in Bucharest before undergoing some restoration work, the museum's interim director said.

“We believe that the public has the pleasure of celebrating them ... not only as splendid objects, but as a witness to an ordeal, an almost irreparable loss, and a return that we owe to the operation between institutions and the perseverance of the authorities,” he said. “Today, these treasures returned home.”

Culture

Saudi Heritage Commission Announces 2025 Excavation Results at Al-Serrain Archaeological Site

Saudi Heritage Commission Announces 2025 Excavation Results at Al-Serrain Archaeological Site
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Saudi Heritage Commission Announces 2025 Excavation Results at Al-Serrain Archaeological Site

Saudi Heritage Commission Announces 2025 Excavation Results at Al-Serrain Archaeological Site

The Saudi Heritage Commission announced on Tuesday the results of the 2025 archaeological excavation season of the Saudi-Chinese mission at the Al-Serrain archaeological site in Al-Lith Governorate, Makkah Region. The mission was part of its efforts to document and study coastal archaeological sites and deepen understanding of Islamic historical cities and ports along the Red Sea coast.

Excavation works during the season revealed architectural extensions, including documentation of residential, service, and storage units, as well as pottery kilns reflecting daily life activities.

The season documented diverse archaeological finds, including various types of pottery, ceramic incense burners, stone tools, agate beads, and glass, alongside organic materials such as shells and animal bones, reflecting the diversity of the site's inhabitants' economic and daily activities.

Among the most notable discoveries was a fragment of a Chinese ceramic jar dating to the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 CE), bearing remnants of a decorative seal with partially damaged, illegible Chinese script, serving as an archaeological testament to commercial contact between southern China and the Red Sea coast during the Islamic era.

The Heritage Commission underscored its commitment to ongoing excavation and study at Al-Serrain in the coming seasons, aiming to build a comprehensive scientific understanding of the site's settlement history and urban development, and to highlight its value as one of the most important historical ports on the Red Sea coast.

Culture

Ancient Mughal Tradition of Pigeon-Rearing Thrives in India’s Capital

Mohammed Rashid, alias "Rambo", a kabootarbaaz (pigeon keeper) feeds his pigeons as he trains them, on the rooftop of a restaurant in the old quarters of Delhi, India, January 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Mohammed Rashid, alias "Rambo", a kabootarbaaz (pigeon keeper) feeds his pigeons as he trains them, on the rooftop of a restaurant in the old quarters of Delhi, India, January 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Ancient Mughal Tradition of Pigeon-Rearing Thrives in India’s Capital

Mohammed Rashid, alias "Rambo", a kabootarbaaz (pigeon keeper) feeds his pigeons as he trains them, on the rooftop of a restaurant in the old quarters of Delhi, India, January 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Mohammed Rashid, alias "Rambo", a kabootarbaaz (pigeon keeper) feeds his pigeons as he trains them, on the rooftop of a restaurant in the old quarters of Delhi, India, January 24, 2026. (Reuters)

In the ‌heart of India's capital city New Delhi, a few men are practicing the ancient Mughal tradition of pigeon-rearing, training the birds to navigate long distances, as they preserve a skill passed on for generations.

Every day, among the packed lanes near the Jama Masjid, in the old part of the city and a few kilometers away from its toniest areas, Azhar Udeen, 30, gathers with his younger brother and friends at ‌his terrace, ‌letting more than 120 pigeons of various ‌breeds ⁠out of their ⁠cages.

The birds are then fed and trained to fly in different formations, and are sometimes raced, as men cheer them on.

"I saw my grandfather doing this when I was a child, and after I grew up, I watched and learned from ⁠my ustad (teacher)," Udeen told Reuters.

Kabootarbaazi, as the ‌tradition is known, comes ‌from the Hindi/Urdu word for pigeon, and was patronized by ‌the many Mughal kings who ruled in India, ‌when men kept a flock, taught them to fly in formation, and used them as messengers.

Training the birds how to fly straight against the wind and return after covering ‌a long distance takes nearly four months, and involves beating a whip against ⁠a ⁠hard surface to create loud sounds that will scare the birds into flying farther out, the trainers said.

For many, the rooftop gatherings are as important as the flying itself. Practitioners describe kabootarbaazi as a stress reliever that creates a pocket of calm and community in a crowded city.

"We sit with our friends and students, and all the tensions from our work or homes, all of it disappears and that’s what the main intention behind pigeon keeping is," Kahlifa Mohsin, another pigeon-keeper, said.