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Libya Retrieves Statue of Faustina, Daughter of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius

Statue head of Faustina», daughter of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (Libyan Foreign Ministry)
Statue head of Faustina», daughter of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (Libyan Foreign Ministry)
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Libya Retrieves Statue of Faustina, Daughter of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius

Statue head of Faustina», daughter of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (Libyan Foreign Ministry)
Statue head of Faustina», daughter of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (Libyan Foreign Ministry)

Through continuous diplomatic efforts, Libya has retrieved a rare marble statue of the head of Faustina, the daughter of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and Roman Empress Faustina the Elder. This comes 75 years after it was smuggled out of the country during the Second World War, and the statue dates back to the era of the Nerva- Antione dynasty.

Yesterday, the Libyan ministry of foreign affairs announced that its embassy in Austria had successfully retrieved the statue from the Garz Museum in a press conference that included ambassadors and officials from both sides. The ministry noted that the handover process had begun after diplomatic discussions between the Libyan embassy and the Austrian state, as well as the Libyan Antiquities Authority’s efforts to retrieve items that had been lost and smuggled abroad.

Libya’s permanent representative to UNESCO, Dr. Hafiz Al-Ouldah, explained that the statue was lost from the Libyan Sousse Museum in the Jabal Akhdar region during the Second World War and that it a statue Faustina, also known as Faustina the Younger, indicating that studies and research have shown that the head of the statue had been displayed in the Sousse Museum until World War Two.

An archeologist concerned with protecting Libyan heritage during the armed conflict, Dr. Ouldah added that the statue had been examined more meticulously by the German Committee for the Recovery of Antiquities.

According to Dr. Ouldah, the committee has been looking into the origins of artifacts that had been seized from its owners during the Nazi era since 2000, adding: “the committee returned the statue of Faustina’s head to its original historic home, and it has been handed over to the Libyan Antiques Authority during a ceremony attended by Libyan Ambassador to Vienna Jalal Alashy”.

In a speech given on the Libyan Antiques Authority’s behalf, Alashi hailed the authorities’ joint efforts from both countries to protect cultural heritage wherever it is, stressing the depth of the relationship between Libya and Austria.

Many Libyan antiquities were looted, smuggled, or destroyed during the years following the overthrow of the former regime, but the country’s authorities are striving to retrieve the greatest possible number of these antiques. Dr. Ouldah previously spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat about the Libyan team’s efforts to retrieve antiquities smuggled abroad.

Several countries, including Britain and the US, have handed over artifacts considered as “important” to the Libyan authorities, and the country has also thwarted attempts to smuggle artifacts out of the country.

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Beirut's 'Mother of Cats' Who Rescues Felines

Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Beirut's 'Mother of Cats' Who Rescues Felines

Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Diana Abadi is known in the southern suburbs of Beirut as the “Mother of Cats.”

For the past 12 years, she has turned her home and shop into a refuge for abandoned felines who now number between 50 and 70, and she often sleeps beside the cats as she cares for them full time.

Abadi began by taking in a single kitten.

Word spread, and residents started bringing her injured and unwanted animals, especially during periods of crisis. At its peak, the shelter housed more than 150 cats, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Israel-Hezbollah war, when fear and displacement led many people to abandon their pets.

Her plant and pet food shop in the southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh serves as both her livelihood and the cats’ shelter. Among those currently in her care are Joujou, 13, the oldest, as well as cats named Loulou, Fluffy, Emma and Panda.

One of the most challenging cases involves a cat that was completely blind when abandoned. A woman offered to cover the animal’s expenses if Abadi would take him in. After months of treatment, the cat has partially regained vision in one eye.

Social media has recently helped improve adoption rates, reducing the number of cats under Abadi's care. Rising costs, however, threaten the shelter’s future. Monthly rent has climbed to $800, up from $250 before the war, forcing Abadi to cover most expenses herself.

“These are living beings,” she said. “I don’t take holidays or Sundays off.”

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Face of 400-Year-Old 'Vampire' Recreated

Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)
Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)
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Face of 400-Year-Old 'Vampire' Recreated

Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)
Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)

The face of a "vampire", whose remains were posthumously mutilated to prevent them from rising from the dead, can be seen for the first time in more than 400 years, reported Sky News.

Discovered in a grave at Racesa, a fortress in eastern Croatia, the body had been exhumed, beheaded and reburied face down beneath heavy stones.

And since the desecration cannot be explained by environmental factors, experts believe it was done to stop the dead man returning as a vampire.

Now the face of the deceased can be seen for the first time in centuries, after scientists rebuilt his likeness from his skull.

Archaeologist Natasa Sarkic, part of the excavation team, said the fear inspired by the man in death may stem from the fear he inspired in life.

She said: “Bioarchaeological analysis showed that this man often participated in violent conflicts, and died a violent death. He experienced at least three episodes of serious interpersonal violence during his lifetime.”

“One of those attacks left his face disfigured, which could cause fear and repulsion, leading to social exclusion. Before even recovering from the penultimate trauma, he sustained a final fatal attack,” she revealed.

“Individuals who died violently, behaved violently in life, or were considered sinful or socially deviant, were believed to be at risk of becoming vampires,” she continued.

“He may have been regarded as a 'vampire', or a supernatural threat due to his facial disfigurement and his marginal lifestyle, characterized by repeated interpersonal violence,” Sarkic explained.

She said such beings were thought to be restless, vengeful, and capable of harming the living, spreading disease and killing people or livestock.

Sarkic said that, in the Slavic tradition, the soul remains attached to the body for about 40 days after death.

Varieties

Caffeinated Beverages May Help Protect the Brain, Study Says

A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)
A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)
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Caffeinated Beverages May Help Protect the Brain, Study Says

A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)
A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)

Drinking a few cups of caffeinated coffee or tea every day may help in a small way to preserve brain power and prevent dementia, researchers reported on Monday.

People with the highest daily intake of caffeinated coffee had an 18% lower risk of developing dementia compared to those with the lowest such intake, according to a study based on responses to questionnaires by 132,000 U.S. adults spanning four decades.

The study, published in JAMA, also found that the people with the highest intake had a lower rate - by nearly 2 percentage points - of ‌self-perceived memory ‌or thinking problems compared to those with ‌the ⁠lowest intake.

Results were ‌similar with caffeinated tea, but not with decaffeinated beverages, the researchers said.

While the findings are encouraging, the study does not prove caffeine helps protect the brain, they said.

The magnitude of caffeine's effect, if any, was small, and there are other better-documented ways to protect cognitive function as people age, study leader Dr. Daniel Wang ⁠of Harvard Medical School said in a statement.

Lifestyle factors linked with lower risks of ‌dementia include physical exercise, a healthy diet ‍and adequate sleep, according to previous ‍research.

"Our study suggests that caffeinated coffee or tea consumption can ‍be one piece of that puzzle," Wang said.

The findings were most pronounced in participants who consumed two to three cups of caffeinated coffee or one to two cups of caffeinated tea daily, the researchers reported.

Those who drank caffeinated coffee also showed better performance on some objective tests of cognitive function, according to the ⁠study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Further research is needed to validate the factors and mechanisms responsible for the findings, the researchers said.

They noted that bioactive ingredients in coffee and tea such as caffeine and polyphenols have emerged as possible factors that reduce nerve cell inflammation and damage while protecting against cognitive decline.

"We also compared people with different genetic predispositions to developing dementia and saw the same results - meaning coffee or caffeine is likely equally beneficial for people with high and low genetic risk of developing ‌dementia," study coauthor Dr. Yu Zhang of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said in a statement.