PARIS // France has handed over to New Zealand authorities 20 tattooed heads of Maori ethnic people once held in several French museums as a cultural curiosity.
Frederic Mitterrand, the French culture minister, presided over a handover ceremony today at the Quai Branly museum in Paris.
New Zealand's embassy said it involved the single largest group of Maori heads to be repatriated.
Since 2003, New Zealand has led an ambitious programme of collecting Maori heads and skeletal remains from museums around the world so they could be properly mourned and buried according to tradition.
France long resisted handing over such cultural artefacts, but a law passed in 2010 eventually paved the way for the return of the heads.
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
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Result
Tottenhan Hotspur 2 Roma 3
Tottenham: Winks 87', Janssen 90 1'
Roma 3
D Perotti 13' (pen), C Under 70', M Tumminello 90 2"
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
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