Lebanese Museum Returns Artifacts from Syria's Palmyra

A road sign that shows the direction to the Syrian city of Palmyra is pictured on the edge of the city, in this handout picture provided by SANA on March 2, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
A road sign that shows the direction to the Syrian city of Palmyra is pictured on the edge of the city, in this handout picture provided by SANA on March 2, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanese Museum Returns Artifacts from Syria's Palmyra

A road sign that shows the direction to the Syrian city of Palmyra is pictured on the edge of the city, in this handout picture provided by SANA on March 2, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
A road sign that shows the direction to the Syrian city of Palmyra is pictured on the edge of the city, in this handout picture provided by SANA on March 2, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Five Roman artifacts from the ancient city of Palmyra, a site damaged during Syria's decade-long conflict, were returned to Damascus on Thursday by a private Lebanese museum where they had been on display since 2018.

The limestone statues and carved funerary stones dating from the Roman second and third centuries AD were returned at the initiative of a private Lebanese collector, Syrian antiquities chief Mohamed Nazir Awad said at a handover ceremony hosted by Lebanon's National Museum in Beirut.

The collector, Jawad Adra, acquired them from European auction houses before Syria's war began in 2011, Reuters quoted Awad as saying, describing his actions as "a generous initiative".

The pieces, which had been on display at the Nabu Museum in northern Lebanon, were returning to "their original homeland", the Syrian official added.

During the Syrian conflict, the site of Palmyra, one of the most important cultural centers in the ancient world, fell under the control of ISIS, which blew up some of its major monuments, including the Arch of Triumph.

Syria's ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim, said talks were underway to arrange the return of other artifacts from the National Museum in Beirut to Syria.



Japan Post to Stop Delivery of Live Reptiles 

A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Japan Post to Stop Delivery of Live Reptiles 

A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)

Japan Post will not deliver live reptiles starting from April on animal welfare grounds, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Customers had raised concerns and animal rights activists had criticized the service online, the spokeswoman for the nationwide postal service told AFP.

"After consulting with the government... we came to realize that shipping animals in an environment where temperature control and food are unavailable can amount to animal abuse," she said.

From April 1, Japan Post -- which already does not allow mammals or birds to be sent by mail -- will not deliver reptiles through any parcel or other postal services, the spokeswoman added.