In the Egyptian city of Alexandria on Monday, a building collapsed, killing at least five people—including a child—and injuring four more, according to the official newspaper Al-Ahram.
According to Al-Ahram, a 28-year-old man named Mohamed Hussein was found among the debris on Tuesday. He was the fifth victim. The search is still going on.
The names of one person retrieved from the rubble on Tuesday but not yet identified were Abdullah Mahfouz, 13, Mostafa Othman, 22, and Hamdy El-Sayed, 40.
A total of 16 families lived in the 14-story building, which was built about 50 years ago, while other apartments were used by domestic tourists spending the summer in Alexandria, the city’s governor Mohamed El Sherif said.
One of the residents told reporters on site about the harrowing moments when her missing family members fell with the building around 8 a.m. local time on Monday.
“I placed my younger siblings under the couch as bricks were falling,” said the young woman in tears. “I went back and called for my mother to leave with me, she said she was coming. So, I walked a few steps forward to find the ceiling falling along with them [my mother and brother]. I was facing the sky and they were down.”
A live video posted on the city’s Facebook page showed civil defense units attempting to put out a small fire in the rubble on Monday.
Egypt’s Public Prosecution has issued an order to detain the owner of the collapsed 14th floor and a contractor for four days pending investigations over involuntary manslaughter and unauthorized construction charges. According to Al-Ahram, the contractor carried out the constructions on the top floor despite a demolition order.
About 7,000 old, inhabited buildings in Alexandria are at risk of collapse, Al-Ahram reported, citing a member of Egypt’s House of Representatives.
Egyptian authorities have prohibited swimming near a beach at an Egyptian Red Sea resort following a fatal shark attack that claimed the life of a Russian person on Thursday, according to Egyptian and Russian officials.
The tragedy happened in Hurghada, a well-known tourist destination on Egypt’s eastern coast.
According to Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev, a Russian citizen who was born in 1999 “died as a result of a shark attack.”
Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, ordered a committee to investigate the incident, according to a statement released by Egypt’s Environment Ministry.
She also directed local authorities to implement the “highest levels of safety for those who go to the beaches of the Red Sea, and to take all possible measures to avoid a recurrence of the shark attack incident again,” the statement said.
According to the statement, a specialized team was able to capture the “Tiger shark” that caused the incident “to examine it to find out the possible reasons for its attack and to indicate whether it is the same fish that caused previous accidents.”
The Environment Ministry issued a two-day ban on swimming starting Friday, including snorkeling and all other water sports activities in the area between Gouna to the north of Hurghada and Soma Bay to its south.
Over the past years, several similar incidents have happened in the Egyptian Red Sea.
In 2022, two women were killed in shark attacks in Egypt’s Red Sea, south of the city of Hurghada, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Environment.
In 2020, a Ukrainian boy lost an arm, and an Egyptian tour guide lost a leg in a shark attack. In 2018, a shark killed a Czech tourist off a Red Sea beach,” according to the state-run Al-Ahram Online newspaper.
In ancient mummification factories and tombs found close to the capital Cairo, a stunningly well-preserved Egyptian sarcophagus has been found.
The beautiful blue, yellow, and maroon-patterned coffin was discovered in the Pharaonic necropolis of Saqqara, a section of Memphis, the former capital of Egypt and a Unesco World Heritage site.
In addition to the sarcophagus, archaeologists discovered clay pots, stone beds, and ceremonial containers in addition to natron salt, one of the primary materials needed for mummification.
Unveiling the spectacular find, Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the workshops had been used to mummify humans and sacred animals.
They are believed to date back to the 30th Pharaonic Dynasty (380BCE to 343BCE) and Ptolemaic period (305BCE to 30BCE).
The tombs found nearby date back much further. One belongs to Ne Hesut Ba of the Old Kingdom’s fifth dynasty, 4,400 years ago, and the other to Men Kheber of the late kingdom’s 18th dynasty, 3,400 years ago. Both men were priests.
Inscriptions of cultivation, hunting and other daily activities were found on the walls of Ne Hesut Ba’s tomb, while ‘scenes showing the deceased in different positions’ were engraved in Men Kheber’s tomb, officials said.
In January, archaeologists found 4,300-year-old statues of Egyptian priests, officials and servants in Saqqara, while last year the necropolis revealed a ‘dream discovery’ in the sarcophagus of Ptah-em-wia, treasurer for King Ramses II – also known as Ramses the Great.
Egypt’s government has heavily promoted new archaeological finds to international media and diplomats in recent years. It hopes that such discoveries will help attract more tourists to the country to revive an industry that has suffered since the 2011 Arab Spring, and been further impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine war.
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has praised the African Development Bank Group’s efforts to assist the continent in coping with the effects of global economic issues.
The Egyptian leader on Tuesday received the President of the African Development Bank Group Dr Akinwumi Adesina in the capital Cairo.
Dr Adesina was accompanied by the bank’s Chief Economist and Vice President Professor Kevin Urama and the Secretary General Professor Vincent Nmehielle. Others at the meeting included the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Hassan
Abdallah, Deputy Governor for Monetary Stability Rami Aboul Naja and Deputy Governor for External Affairs Mannullah Farid.
Dr Adesina was in Egypt to familiarise himself with preparations ahead of the Bank Group’s 2023 Annual Meetings scheduled for 22-26 May in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Up to 13 heads of state and government are expected to join the bank’s Governors, executive directors, development partners and management at the meetings to discuss Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.
President El-Sisi said Egypt looked forward to continuing and increasing cooperation with the bank in various development sectors.
The bank is closely working with Egypt to mobilise international climate financing to address the country’s climate challenges, building resilience of vulnerable systems and promoting sustainable development.
The Just Green Transition (JGT) initiative has a pipeline of investment-ready projects worth $14.8 billion to tackle the Nexus on Water, Food and Energy.
The African Development Bank was asked to lead mobilisation of financing for the water pillar projects.
Dr Adesina said, “The bank has mobilised $2.3 billion exceeding the initial target of $1.4 billion.”
In addition, the bank is supporting water desalination projects in the country.
The African Development Bank Group head praised Egypt’s bold efforts to tap into private sector finance for green growth initiatives.
The government of Egypt plans to issue a green bond in the Chinese capital markets by end of June this year. The Green Panda Bond with a face value of $500 million will be issued in Chinese Renminbi.
Dr Adesina said, “This will be the first time for an African country to issue a bond in the Chinese capital markets.”
The bank’s Board of Directors will in the next couple of months discuss Egypt’s request to provide a partial credit guarantee of $345 million to support the issuance of the bond.
The Green Panda Bond will be the latest among several other bonds that Egypt has issued since 2020 when it launched its Green Financing Framework.
Adesina also commended Egypt for its commitment to increasing the role of the private sector in the economy.
Egypt launched early this year the privatisation of 32 state-owned entities worth $40 billion over the next four years to reduce the footprint of the public sector in the economy and give more room to private sector to grow.
In terms of additional financial support to Egypt in 2023, the bank plans to provide the country $133 million to deal with macroeconomic instability caused by the continuing global compounded crisis.
Last year, the bank provided $272 million policy-based operation in supporting Egypt’s efforts to tackle the impact of the crisis.
On Wednesday, Dr Adesina met with the Governor of South Sinai Governorate, Major General (Rt) Khaled Fouda who said the city of Sharm El Sheikh was ready to host more than 2,000 delegates who will be attending the bank’s Annual Meetings in May.
Adesina said the bank was impressed by the infrastructure and facilities the Egyptian government had established in Sharm El-Sheikh, which successfully hosted last year’s COP 27.
“The infrastructure you have developed in Sharm El-Sheikh is amazing. It’s world class. The city is constantly changing, putting green growth at the heart of its development. It’s an example of how
successful financing of municipalities and other sub-national entities can deliver impactful social economic development,” the bank chief said. “Other African countries can learn from Sharm El-Sheikh.”
Adesina also met with diplomats representing the bank’s shareholders and development partners in Egypt. He said the bank was committed to supporting countries across Africa achieve accelerated development despite the recent economic shocks and geopolitical tensions affecting them.
“It is a very difficult world to be dealing with, and so as African Development Bank, our role is to support the accelerated development of African countries in financing their economic and social development agenda, and also building the resilience of their economies. We help African countries to be able to deal with the series of shocks—whether it is climate, whether it is debt, whether it is recovering from the Covid-19 situation, or whether it is investing in the things they need for structural transformation of their economies,” Adesina reaffirmed.
Present at the event were Egypt’s Minister for International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat; Deputy Assistant Minister for Regional Economic Organizations Ebtisam Rakha; the Acting Central Bank Governor of Egypt, Mr Hassan Abdallah, who is also the Governor for Egypt of the African Development Bank; Dr Mohamadou Labarang, Cameroon Ambassador and dean of African Ambassadors in Egypt; and the bank’s Executive Director Nomoto Takaaki.
Ancient Egyptian mummies have been discovered with golden tongues inserted in their mouths.
Researchers believe they were meant to help the dead talk with Osiris, the god of the underworld, per The Daily Mail.
The mummies were found in the Quewaisna necropolis, about 40 miles south of Cairo in Egypt, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a Facebook post on November 24.
It is the latest in a series of mummies found with gold tongues in the mouth.
Last year, archaeologists reported finding mummies with gold tongues twice, once in El Bahnasa, about 136 miles south of Cairo, and once in Alexandria.
Those mummies were about 2,500 and about 2,000 years old respectively.
Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Archeology, said the mummies in the Quewaisna necropolis were in a poor state of preservation.
Gold flakes were also found on the bones of some of the remains, per the Facebook post, suggesting their bodies were sprinkled with gold.
Some of the flakes were shaped into lotus flowers or scarabs, ARTNews reported.
It’s not clear when the mummies were buried, as the cemetery was used during three distinct historical periods: the Ptolemaic period, and two phases in the Roman era.
Amulets, figurines, and pottery, were also found at the site.
Ancient Egyptians believed the deceased could take items with them in the afterlife, so often buired them with objects meant to help.
Deceased dignitaries have been found buried with mummified food, mummified animals, protective amulets and figurines, elaborate face masks, and even boats.
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Egyptian top-flight side Pyramids FC has no plans of parting ways with Ghanaian international John Antwi, footballghana.com can report.
The highly-rated striker joined Pyramids in 2019 on the back of an outstanding spell with Misr El-Makasa which lasted 3 years.
At the beginning of the 2019/2020 football season in Egypt before the Coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis forced the campaign to be suspended, John Antwi displayed his qualities but not fully.
In the midst of the current situation, clubs have started planning for the next season not knowing what will really happen to this one.
According to sources, though Pyramids FC will be required to reduce the number of foreign players in their team, they have no plans of adding a striker.
“The foreign striker will be a rejected option, regardless of whether or not the clause of reducing the number of foreign players in the Egyptian leagueâ€, a close source to the club has shared.
That means that the Ghana forward John Antwi is safe because the club will not need to offload him to make room for an Egyptian attacker.
Egyptian giants Zamalek are eyeing a move for Ghana and Bechem United youngster Prince Adu Kwabena ahead of the transfer window.
According to reports, Kwabena is also on the radar of Wydad Casablanca and Esperance de Tunis who have both shown keen interest in signing him following his impressive performance for Bechem United in the suspended 2019/20 Ghana Premier League season.
Zamalek have officially written to Bechem United to inquiry about the availability of the 17-year-old forward.
Esperance de Tunis and Wydad Casablanca have also contacted the 2017 MTN FA Cup champions with hopes of sealing a deal with the club.
Kwabena has made 14 appearances and scored eight goals for Bechem United in his debut season.
A gilded coffin looted by art thieves in the wake of the Arab Spring and unwittingly purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has been returned to the Egyptian authorities.
The sarcophagus dates back to the first century BC and once held the mummy of Nedjemankh, a priest of the ram god Heryshaf.
The highly ornamented coffin was bought by the museum for $4m (£3.2m) in 2017 and was the centrepiece of the Nedjemankh and His Gilded Coffin exhibition that opened the following year.
But in February the coffin was seized by a New York unit investigating the trafficking of antiquities.
“Thus far our investigation has determined that this coffin is just one of hundreds of antiquities stolen by the same multinational trafficking ring,” Cyrus Vance, Manhattan’s district attorney, is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying at the ceremony to return the coffin.
After it was taken from Egypt’s Minya region amid the political upheaval of the revolution in 2011, it passed through Dubai and Germany and on to France.
There a Paris art dealer, whose identity was not revealed, sold the 6ft (1.8m) artefact to the Met, the AFP news agency reports.
Egypt’s foreign minister attended the ceremony in New York where investigators revealed the “glaring inconsistencies”
“This is not only for Egyptians but this is for our common human heritage and our sense that we all share in the values and we all are one of the same international family,” Reuters quotes Sameh Shoukry as saying.
