"The European art trade, synonymous with wealth and glamour, has always involved a degree of stolen and smuggled art. Now, Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage is financing terrorism and the Taliban. From Afghans scrabbling in the sand for treasures, to the dazzling show rooms of unscrupulous dealers and private collectors -- Blood Antiques uncovers one of the most outrageous illegal trades since blood diamonds."

Link:  http://www.linktv.org/programs/blood-antiques

According to an article in "The Art Newspaper" the UK government has confirmed that art is likely to be among the items seized as part of a drive to recover billions of dollars worth of assets siphoned off by the Qaddafi family during four decades in power. 

Link: www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Interpol+targets+Qaddafi+family+treasures/29571

"Six weeks ago the Metropolitan Museum of Art sent two of its top executives to Cambodia to resolve a thorny dispute: whether two pieces of ancient Khmer art that the museum has long prominently exhibited were the product of looting." - An article by "The New York Times". 
 
Full article: www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/arts/design/the-met-to-return-statues-to-cambodia.html?_r=0

St. John's University School of Law is offering a seminar in International Art & Cultural Heritage Law during the summer session in Rome.  

More under: www.stjohns.edu/academics/graduate/law/academics/globalprograms/transnational_programs/study_abroad/rome_summer/curriculum.stj

According to the "New York Times" and “The Phom Penh Post”   a New York district judge has ruled against a motion to dismiss the caseof of the Angkor-era sandstone warrior (also see our news item dating 15.10.2012 ). US District Judge George B Daniels ruled Thursday that Sotheby’s auction house, which currently holds the statue, had not provided sufficient evidence to rule out the possibility that it was stolen and known to be so by Sotheby’s in 2010, when the auction house agreed to sell it on behalf of a Mrs Ruspoli Di Poggio Suasa.

Full articles (in English):  http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/judge-says-cambodian-statue-case-can-go-forward/   

www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040164818/National/statue-case-still-alive.html 

According to an article  of  Cyprus Mail"  Munich's Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that part of the stolen religious artefacts found in the possession of Turkish man, Aydin Dikmen in 1997 in Munich, should be returned to Cyprus.

Article (in english): www.cyprus-mail.com/artefacts/german-court-rules-return-stolen-artefacts/20130320

Article in German (Die Welt): www.welt.de/kultur/article114554552/Deutschland-gibt-Zypern-Millionen-Schatz-zurueck.html

"US museums promise to be more open about lack of provenance, but are new rules too flexible?"  -  An article by Javier Pes and Helen Stoilas published in "The Art Newspaper". 

Article in English: www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/New-deal-for-donors-with-problem-antiquities/28990

The Sunday Review of the New York Times published an opion on the issue of the return of cultural objects  by US museums to their countries of origin .

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-great-giveback.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

...and the reactions to it: http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.gr/2013/01/reactions-to-hugh-eakins-anti.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+IllicitCulturalProperty+(Illicit+Cultural+Property)#!/2013/01/reactions-to-hugh-eakins-anti.html

In the wake of a scandal over its acquisition of looted antiquities, the J. Paul Getty Museum is trying to verify the ownership histories of 45,000 antiquities and publish the results in the museum's online collections database.

Full article: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/19/entertainment/la-et-getty-ambers-20130119

"Ankara accused of blackmailing museums into returning artefacts while allowing excavation sites to be destroyed"
Full article: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/21/turkey-cultural-war-archaeological-treasure