Netherlands returns pharaoh to Egypt

Egypt has recovered an ancient pharaoh's statue from the Netherlands, 15 years after it was stolen from a warehouse near a temple in the southern city of Luxor.

The Egyptian news agency said a delegation to the Netherlands returned on Friday with the statue of King Amenhotep the third, who lived from 1417 BC to 1379 BC.

A government official responsible for antiquities, Zahi Hawass, said the statue had been taken to the Egyptian Museum and would be exhibited in December.

He said Egypt's culture minister had backed a plan to end all scientific co-operation with foreign universities and museums that refuse to return stolen Egyptian antiquities.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service