Bid to smuggle parts of mummies to Belgium foiled
A bid to smuggle parts of two mummies in a DHL package via Cairo airport has been foiled - Press PhotoCAIRO, Feb 22 (MENA) - A bid to smuggle parts of two mummies in a DHL package via Cairo airport has been foiled, according to the customs authorities.The parcel was bound to Belgium, said the customs department director on Friday.An investigation has been started into the case.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 09:56 UTC
Arab-European summit comes amid joint challenges: official
File- Sharm el Sheikh city hosts Egypt's first World Youth Forum- Hussein Tallal / Egypt TodayCAIRO, Feb 23 (MENA) - The Arab League-European Union summit that will kick off in Sharm el Sheikh on Sunday comes at a critical time that is full of joint challenges facing both the Arab and European worlds, Chairman of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA) Ambassador Munir Zahran said on Saturday.Zahran told MENA that the upcoming summit represents a great opportunity for enhancing the Arab-European cooperation and dialogue, where they will discuss problems of mutual concern and exchange views on various regional and international issues.This is the first ever platform that brings together the Arab and European heads of state and government to tackle the pressing issues, atop of which terrorism, organized crime and illegal immigration, Zahran said.Several political issues will be also raised during the summit, topped by the Palestinian cause, Zahran said, stressing the importance of maintaining the unity and territorial integrity of Syria and putting an end to the Libyan and Yemeni crises.He expressed hope that the Arab and European leaders would reach, during the summit, an agreement that serves their interests.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 09:45 UTC
African diplomats among spectators of Ramsis II sun alignment
Thousands of visitors watch sun alignment at Abu Simbel statue in Aswan-Egypt Today/Abdullah SalahCAIRO – 23 February 2019: Several African diplomats watched Friday the sun alignment on the statute of Pharaoh Ramses II at Egypt’s Abu Simbel temple, as many spectators gathered to attend the phenomenon.Among visitors who attended the event were 22 African ambassadors and diplomats, along with their relatives, watched the sun alignment. President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi assumed this month the chairmanship of the African Union for one year term, during which he seeks to boost relations between Cairo and countries of the continent.Egypt is also preparing to host the African Cup of Nations football tournament this summer.The 201-minute sun alignment phenomenon happens twice per year on the anniversaries of Paranoiac king’s birthday and coronation on October 22 and February 22 respectively.The sun illuminates four statues of King Ramses II seated at the top of the temple, symbolize the facade of the temple, which resembles an edifice.Among the visitors of the archaeological site were Ministers of Antiquities, Tourism, Investments, Culture and Communication Khaled Anani, Rania Mashat, Sahr Nasr, Inas Abdel-Dayem, Amr Talaat respectively, said a statement by the Ministry of Antiquities.The ministry announced that a total of 6,500 tourists watched the sun alignment at the face of Ramses II status at Abu Simbel temple
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 09:45 UTC
Egypt's embassy in Burundi celebrates establishment of 1st Orthodox church
File photo of an Egyptian Orthodox Church. (Photo:Reuters)CAIRO, Fed 22 (MENA) - The Egyptian Embassy in Gitega has hosted a ceremony celebrating the establishment of the Church of St. Mark and St. Anba Moussa; the first Coptic Orthodox Church to be established in Burundi.Ambassador Abeer Bassiouni hailed the vital role played by the Egyptian Church; the oldest in history, in various countries worldwide.The establishment of the church coincides with Egypt's current chairmanship of the African Union, the diplomat told the event.Her remarks were carried by spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox Church Bolis Halim in a statement released on Friday.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 09:45 UTC
Security under the spotlight as Nigerians vote in critical elections
Luis Tato, AFP | An electoral commission official checks an electoral manual while ballot boxes and other voting material arrive at a polling station in Yola, Nigeria Feb. 22, 2019. "We have fled, along with our wives and children and hundreds of others," Ibrahim Gobi, who lives in the town of Geidam in Yobe state, told Reuters by telephone. “The interesting thing is that it is actually the duty of the police to do security during elections. The rule is, should measures be needed, then they can call in the military. To be declared winner, the candidate with the most votes must have at least one quarter of the vote in two thirds of Nigeria's 36 states and the capital.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 09:33 UTC
Court recommends death sentence to Monks accused of killing Bishop Epiphanius
FILE - Bishop EpiphaniusCAIRO – 23 February 2019: Damanhur Criminal Court ruled on Saturday to refer two Coptic Christian monks to Egypt's top religious authority for consideration of the death penalty against them over killing Head of St. Macarius Monastery in Wadi El-Natroun, Bishop Epiphanius in July 2018.The expelled monk Ash’eyaa, whose birth name is Wael Saad, and Monk Faltaous al-Makary, whose birth name is Raymond Rasmi Mansour, were charged of deliberate murder of Bishop Epiphanius.During the trial, Ash’eyaa pleaded not guilty, claiming that he was framed, al-Dostor newspaper reported.Bishop Epiphanius was found dead on July 29 inside the monastery and two monks, who were kept in detention pending investigation since then, confessed their crime.Monk Faltaous al-Makary tried to commit suicide via slitting his wrist and then jumping off a high building inside the monastery. On August 21, he was hospitalized due to a degraded case of gangrene in his leg. Also, Ash’eyaa tried to commit suicide a day after the murder.Following the death of Bishiop Epiphanius, Pope Tawadros II issued new monasticism laws, topping which is the deactivation of the social media accounts of all monks and bishops. The death of Bishop Epiphanius revealed the struggle between the school of late Pope Shenouda and the ecclesiastical school of late Matthew the poor.“We should look at it [the incident of the murder] as a wake-up call for all of us... the death of Bishop Epiphanius was like an alarm call,” said Tawadros II, pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, during a mass marking the 40th day of the bishop’s death.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 09:11 UTC
Bashir declares year-long state of emergency across Sudan
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir declared a nationwide state of emergency on Friday and dissolved the government in an effort to quell weeks of demonstrations that have rocked his iron-fisted rule. “I announce imposing a state of emergency across the country for one year,” Bashir said in a televised address to the nation from the presidential palace in Khartoum. Protest organizers vowed to press on with their demonstrations until Bashir steps down. Bashir, 75, swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989 that overthrew the elected government of then premier Sadiq al-Mahdi. Bashir has countered the anti-government demonstrations with his own rallies, promising economic development and promoting peace.
Source:Egypt Independent
February 23, 2019 06:56 UTC
Facing charges of sex abuse against minors, R. Kelly surrenders to police
R&B superstar R. Kelly turned himself in to Chicago police on Friday, after prosecutors charged him with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse against four victims, three of them minors. Kelly surrendered to Chicago police at approximately 8:15 p.m. (0215 GMT) and was taken into custody. A court clerk had earlier told AFP nine of the charges involve minors ages 13 to 16. After Kelly was booked his lawyer Steve Greenberg dismissed the charges, saying they were based on old and false accusations. It is the second time Chicago prosecutors have charged Kelly with a sex crime: after a dramatic trial that also involved a sex tape, the musician was acquitted of 21 counts of child pornography in 2008.
Source:Egypt Independent
February 23, 2019 06:45 UTC
NASA greenlights SpaceX crew capsule test to ISS
NASA on Friday gave SpaceX the green light to test a new crew capsule by first sending an unmanned craft with a life-sized mannequin to the International Space Station. A Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX is scheduled to lift off, weather permitting, on March 2 to take the Crew Dragon test capsule to the ISS. NASA signed contracts in 2014 with SpaceX and Boeing for the companies to shuttle US astronauts to the ISS. The Crew Dragon capsule has seven seats. But the safety criteria for manned flights are higher, and NASA said that the Crew Dragon still has some problems, including with its parachutes.
Source:Egypt Independent
February 23, 2019 06:45 UTC
Guaido arrives at border concert, delivering blow to Maduro
Luis Robayo, AFP | Juan Guaido arrives at the "Venezuela Aid Live" concert, at the Tienditas International Bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 22, 2019. 'Soldiers started shooting'The tense standoff over aid claimed its first casualties Friday as two indigenous people were killed trying to prevent troops from sealing unofficial pathways across the Brazilian border. "United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned Venezuelan authorities "not to use lethal force against demonstrators. "'Freedom'Hundreds chanted "freedom" and "the government is going to fall" while they waited for the Cucuta concert to begin on Friday under a hot sun, with the barricaded border crossing visible nearby. "We don't want to be interfered with, we don't want to be invaded," said Johana Suarez.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 03:22 UTC
The eight contenders for the best picture Oscar
"BlacKkKlansman" unfolds in the 1970s, but the film ends with images of rallies in Charlottesville two years ago, becoming a searing indictment of divisions in today's America.Lee has notoriously been denied on Oscars night, including a snub 30 years ago for his seminal work "Do The Right Thing." It earned 10 nominations, tying with "Roma," and all three women got Oscar nods.- 'Green Book' -Can a classical black pianist and a rough-and-ready Italian-American bouncer-turned-driver become friends in the 1960s as they travel through the segregated Deep South? "Roma" tells the story of an indigenous woman named Cleo -- played by first-time actress Yalitza Aparicio -- who works as a housekeeper and nanny for a middle-class family in Mexico City during the 1970s.The movie, shot in a mixture of Spanish and the indigenous Mixtec language, is a personal triumph for Cuaron, already an Oscar winner for best director in 2014 for space epic "Gravity. It enjoyed massive success at the box office. Critics loved it.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 02:37 UTC
Trump adviser Bolton cancels trip to South Korea to focus on Venezuela
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland. WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton has canceled plans to travel to South Korea ahead of next week's summit in Hanoi aimed at addressing North Korea's nuclear program, Bolton's spokesman Garrett Marquis said on Friday.Bolton decided to stay in Washington to focus on events unfolding in Venezuela, where the military faces a pivotal decision on whether to allow in convoys of humanitarian aid, Marquis said.Bolton is still expected to attend the summit itself, he said.
Source:Egypt Today
February 23, 2019 00:45 UTC
Amazon dropping New York HQ a 'big loss': Trump
Amazon had promised the sprawling complex in the borough of Queens would create 25,000 jobs AFP/FileWashington (AFP) President Donald Trump said on Friday Amazon's abandonment of plans for a headquarters in New York marked a "big loss" for the US financial capital.The Long Island City neighborhood was one of two locations the online retail giant selected last year after a long search for a second base, or "HQ2. "Amazon had promised the sprawling complex in the borough of Queens would create 25,000 jobs in exchange for nearly $3 billion in state and city incentives.But it withdrew the plans last week, blaming opposition from community leaders angry at the huge subsidies being offered to one of the world's most successful companies. "I think it's a big loss," New York real estate mogul Trump said. "I think if you look at the deal, the deal was not a great deal from the standpoint of they could have made a better deal than that, a much better deal, but still it's a loss to New York City. "It marked a rare concession from the president, who has been a highly vocal critic of Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post.Trump has repeatedly accused the Post of lobbying for the company -- and claims the US Postal Service loses "billions of dollars" delivering Amazon packages.
Source:Egypt Today
February 22, 2019 23:15 UTC
New Bottega Veneta designer Lee mixes modern and classic at Milan show
A model presents a creation by Bottega Veneta during the Milan Fashion Week in Milan, Italy February 22, 2019. Other coats had leather closures in some instances, while shiny jackets were taken in at the waist. Tailored coats were sleek and worn over sheer-like tops. Trousers were tucked into chunky boots.The color palette was mainly dark - black, dark purple, navy and brown, but dabs of orange, turquoise, cream, shiny pink and lilac added bursts of color.Heels and men’s shoes also bore the quilted pattern. Women also wore chunky boots.Milan Fashion Week runs until Feb 25.
Source:Egypt Today
February 22, 2019 18:56 UTC
Reactions to execution of 9 convicts of Attorney General goes viral on social media
Hesham Barakat - File photoHesham Barakat's son denies sister's skeptical post, says account hacked CAIRO - 21 February 2019: Prosecutor Mohamed Hesham Barakat, son of the assassinated general prosecutor, denied his sister published a post on her Facebook account calling for the "real murderers" of their father, saying that her account was hacked. A video shows top prosecutor's killers making confession with no signs of torture CAIRO - 20 February 2019: A video of the nine individuals involved in assassinating the country's top prosecutor Hesham Barakat in 2015 proves that the perpetrators gave a full confession to the police without any torture. CAIRO – 22 February 2019: A wave of controversial posts swept over social media after executing nine individuals accused with assassinating the country's top prosecutor Hesham Barakat in 2015. “Some days I hear families chant for justice of which they think judges brought to them; and in the following day others chant against the same judges for their judgment in others cases. On April 19, the Court of Cassation rejected appeals by 46 convicts in the same case upholding their enlistment as terrorists for three years.
Source:Egypt Today
February 22, 2019 18:45 UTC