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Byzantine Church Discovered in Heart of Tunisian Desert

A picture taken on May 2, 2014 shows, amidst desert sand, a film set where numerous Star Wars scenes were filmed in Ong Jmel, in southern Tunisia. Fethi Belaid/AFP
A picture taken on May 2, 2014 shows, amidst desert sand, a film set where numerous Star Wars scenes were filmed in Ong Jmel, in southern Tunisia. Fethi Belaid/AFP
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Byzantine Church Discovered in Heart of Tunisian Desert

A picture taken on May 2, 2014 shows, amidst desert sand, a film set where numerous Star Wars scenes were filmed in Ong Jmel, in southern Tunisia. Fethi Belaid/AFP
A picture taken on May 2, 2014 shows, amidst desert sand, a film set where numerous Star Wars scenes were filmed in Ong Jmel, in southern Tunisia. Fethi Belaid/AFP

Excavations conducted by a team from the Tunisian National Heritage Institute this month revealed that a church dating back to the Byzantine period was found in an archaeological site called Castillia.

The church has been completely submerged in the sands of the Tunisian desert, specifically between the cities of Tozeur and Dougga, which preserved a big part of it. This archaeological discovery dates back to the late Roman period, between the 5th and 7th centuries AD.

At the site, the team also found many ceramic items and potteries, as well as lamps discovered near the church.

The archeologists also found several walls that are still under the sand, which confirms the presence of other buildings, adjacent to the church.

Murad Al-Shatawi, representative of the Tunisian Heritage Institute in Tozeur said: "The church has three main compartments: a main entrance, two sub-entrances, two annexes and a circular surface. The church stretches over 140 square meters, with a 3.50 to 3.70 meters height."

Bassam bin Saad, a specialist in archaeological architecture, said that the primary materials used for the construction of this archeological monument are local. He suggested that the stones were brought from the entrance to the city of Dougga.

This archaeological discovery is expected to boost the Tunisian tourism sector.

Researchers suggest that the archaeological site was fully submerged under the sand, which helped in preserving it.

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Varieties

Tokyo Police Care for Lost Umbrellas, Keys, Flying Squirrels

This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
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Tokyo Police Care for Lost Umbrellas, Keys, Flying Squirrels

This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)

Lost your umbrella, keys, or perhaps a flying squirrel? In Tokyo, the police are almost certainly taking meticulous care of it.

In Japan, lost items are rarely disconnected from their owners for long, even in a mega city like Tokyo -- population 14 million.

"Foreign visitors are often surprised to get their things back," said Hiroshi Fujii, a 67-year-old tour guide at Tokyo's vast police lost-and-found center.

"But in Japan, there's always an expectation that we will."

It's a "national trait" to report items found in public places in Japan, he told AFP. "We pass down this custom of reporting things we picked up, from parents to children."

Around 80 staff at the police center in Tokyo's central Iidabashi district ensure items are well organized using a database system, its director Harumi Shoji told AFP.

Everything is tagged and sorted to hasten a return to its rightful owner.

ID cards and driving licenses are most frequently lost, Shoji said.

- Flying squirrels, iguanas -

But dogs, cats and even flying squirrels and iguanas have been dropped off at police stations, where officers look after them "with great sensitivity" -- consulting books, online articles and vets for advice.

More than four million items were handed in to Tokyo Metropolitan Police last year, with about 70 percent of valuables such as wallets, phones and important documents successfully reunited with their owners.

"Even if it's just a key, we enter details such as the mascot keychain it's attached to," Shoji said in a room filled with belongings, including a large Cookie Monster stuffed toy.

Over the course of one afternoon, dozens of people came to collect or search for their lost property at the center, which receives items left with train station staff or at small local police stations across Tokyo if they are not claimed within two weeks.

If no one turns up at the police facility within three months, the unwanted item is sold or discarded.

The number of lost items handled by the center is increasing as Japan welcomes a record influx of tourists post-pandemic, and as gadgets become smaller, Shoji said.

Wireless earphones and hand-held fans are an increasingly frequent sight at the lost-and-found center, which has been operating since the 1950s.

But a whopping 200 square meters is dedicated to lost umbrellas -- 300,000 of which were brought in last year, with only 3,700 of them returned, Shoji said.

"We have a designated floor for umbrellas... during the rainy season, there are so many umbrellas that the umbrella trolley is overflowing and we have to store them in two tiers."