there, okay? I'm Nicky Strong and this is VioA Wanda Hits.

Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America.

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This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower and we use words

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Today Brian Lynn has a report about the return of cultural art pieces stolen from Cambodia. Mario Ritter Jr. and Katie Weaver present this week's education report. We close the show with a visit to Shenandoah National Park, but first,

Cambodia has celebrated the return of numerous cultural art pieces stolen during the country's civil war period.

Prime Minister Hoon Manite period. back to Cambodia. The event took place at the nation's Peace Palace in Penh.

The palace houses the government's official headquarters. The ancient statues had been reunited with the country's people.

Most of the pieces are believed to have been stolen during Cambodia's civil war period from 1967 until 1975.

At the time the communist Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia.

It is blamed for the killings of more than one million Cambodians during its rule and years of unrest and economic difficulties.

Multiple international efforts over the years have helped Cambodia get back its artistic and archaeological

treasures. The stolen artifacts include ancient pieces from Asia as well as artwork lost or stolen in conflict areas such as Syria, Iraq, and Nazi occupied Europe.

A total of 70 Khmer cultural objects have been returned through a range of different processes.

Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a statement,

these included voluntary returns, negotiations, seizures,

and legal processes. The statement said the returned artifacts included

important Hindu and Buddhist pieces from the ninth to 14th century.

Among them were priceless stone statues representing mythical Hindu figures, it added,

Kuhn-Monite said that from 1996 until last month,

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