- Acid complicates search after deadly Brazil bridge collapse
- Norwegian Haugan dazzles in men's World Cup slalom win
- Arsenal's Saka out for 'many weeks' with hamstring injury
- Mali singer Traore child custody case postponed
- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- Beyond Work Unveils Next-Generation Memory-Augmented AI Agent (MATRIX) for Enterprise Document Intelligence
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
- Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad
- Salah stars as rampant Liverpool hit Spurs for six
- Syria's new leader says all weapons to come under 'state control'
- 'Sonic 3' zips to top of N.America box office
Nigeria's ancient Benin Bronze treasures go digital
Nigeria's famed Benin bronzes -- artefacts stolen during British colonial rule and scattered across the globe -- have a new online archive that aims to become a digital record of the treasures.
Thousands of 16th to 18th century metal plaques, sculptures and objects were looted from the ancient Kingdom of Benin and ended up in museums and with art collectors across the US and Europe. Many experts hail them as the zenith of African art.
As Nigeria negotiates their return, "Digital Benin" (https://digitalbenin.org/) provides a centralised hub of images and descriptions of more than 5,000 artefacts held in 131 institutions around the world.
"It is unique, new possibility to see all the objects together and to compare them," Barbara Plankensteiner, director of Germany's MARKK museum and one of the project's founders, told AFP.
"It is really helpful for research for Nigerian scholars to be able to access knowledge they had not been able to before."
The project, which began planning and research two years ago, was launched at an official event at the weekend in Benin City, in southern Nigeria's Edo State, the heart of the former Benin Kingdom.
The platform contains a vast collection of images and details of artefacts categorised by the type of object from figureheads to shields and ceremonial roosters.
It details all the institutions where artefacts are held, from the British Museum with more than 900 objects to places like Toledo Museum of Art which has just one commemorative Queen Mother head statue.
Readers can also scroll through the story of the Benin Kingdom, its royalty, its chiefs and festivals, with a special section dedicated to oral history.
The project comes online as international momentum grows for the restoration of African artefacts from former colonial powers Britain, France, Germany and Belgium.
Nigeria's neighbour Benin earlier this year inaugurated an exhibition of artworks and treasures returned by France after two years of negotiations.
Those 26 pieces were stolen in 1892 by French colonial forces from the capital of the former Kingdom of Dahomey.
Germany is in the process of returning hundreds of Benin Bronze artefacts to Nigeria, where a new museum is being built in Benin City to house artefacts.
Many of the artefacts were originally taken in 1897, when a British military expedition attacked and destroyed Benin City, looting thousands of metal and ivory sculptures and carvings.
"These are our properties," Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki said at the event to open the platform. "They were taken from us and they should be returned to us."
The Kingdom of Benin, which despite its name was located in what is now southwestern NIgeria, traces its roots back to the first century BC.
It expanded through military conquest and commerce, which with the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century developed into trade in slaves, ivory and spices.
L.Mesquita--PC