Lebanon Returns 337 Artifacts of Different Eras to Iraq

An Iraqi clay tablet is displayed between a Lebanese flag, right, and an Iraqi flag during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut, before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An Iraqi clay tablet is displayed between a Lebanese flag, right, and an Iraqi flag during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut, before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Lebanon Returns 337 Artifacts of Different Eras to Iraq

An Iraqi clay tablet is displayed between a Lebanese flag, right, and an Iraqi flag during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut, before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An Iraqi clay tablet is displayed between a Lebanese flag, right, and an Iraqi flag during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut, before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture handed over to Iraq on Sunday 337 ancient artifacts that had been on display in a Lebanese museum for years.

The items, which included clay tablets, were returned by Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut.

Murtada told Iraq’s state-run news agency in a Saturday report that a Lebanese committee had been investigating the items since 2018, The Associated Press reported.

The artifacts had been stored most recently at the private Nabu Museum in northern Lebanon. The report gave no further details about the artifacts’ provenance.

“We are celebrating the handing over of 337 artifacts that are of different eras of civilizations in Mesopotamia,” Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon Haider Shyaa Al-Barrak said at the ceremony. This will not be the last handover, he added, without elaborating.

Many of Iraq’s antiquities were looted during the country’s decades of war and instability, mostly since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Iraq’s government has been slowly recovering the plundered antiquities since then. Archaeological sites across the country however continue to be neglected due to lack of funds.

At least half dozen shipments of antiquities and documents have been returned to Iraq’s museum since 2016, according to Iraqi authorities.



French Bikers Race to Buy Harleys before Possible Tariffs

 The logo of American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson is seen at an Harley-Davidson dealership in Paris, France, April 8, 2025. (Reuters)
The logo of American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson is seen at an Harley-Davidson dealership in Paris, France, April 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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French Bikers Race to Buy Harleys before Possible Tariffs

 The logo of American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson is seen at an Harley-Davidson dealership in Paris, France, April 8, 2025. (Reuters)
The logo of American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson is seen at an Harley-Davidson dealership in Paris, France, April 8, 2025. (Reuters)

Sales are brisk at the Villiers-Sur-Marne Harley-Davidson dealership outside Paris, where French bikers reckon they had better hurry if they want the American motorcycle of their dreams before trade war puts them out of reach.

"It's now or never," said 55-year-old carpenter Stephane Roger as he inspected the gleaming machines. He had been thinking about buying a Harley anyway, he said. But when he heard the news of US President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, he figured he had better hurry.

Motorcycles were on a list of American goods due to be hit by EU tariffs announced this week in response to Trump. After Trump rowed back on some of his tariffs, the EU suspended its levies but said they could still kick in if negotiations fail.

"Yeah, I think it's time to buy a Harley," said Theo Mottet, a 30-year-old French soldier. If tariffs put the price up, it will no longer be possible for regular people to own one, he said. "It's going to be an elitist pleasure."

Jean-Luc Peschel, a 65-year-old retired musician in a leather blazer and a red necktie, said Harleys conjured up images of Americana that had been swirling around in his head since childhood.

"I'm an old man," he said. "Harley-Davidson rocked my childhood. American films make you dream, and so I think there are people who need to dream today."