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☆ Scientists discover corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, March 2 (Reuters) - Egyptian antiquities officials announced on Thursday the discovery of a hidden nine metre-long corridor behind the main entrance of the Great Pyramid of Giza that they said could lead to further findings. The find was made under the Scan Pyramids project that since 2015 has been using modern technology including scans and endoscopes to peer inside the pyramid, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. The unfinished corridor was likely built to relieve the weight of the pyramid on either the main entrance, seven metres below, or on another as yet undiscovered chamber or space, said Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Great Pyramid was built as a monumental tomb around 2560 BC, during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops. It stands at a height of 146 metres (479 feet), the tallest structure built by humankind until the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1889.

☆ Scientists reveal hidden corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Aidan Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

2 story has been corrected to delete height comparison in paragraph 4)A hidden corridor nine metres (30 feet) long has been discovered close to the main entrance of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza, and this could lead to further findings, Egyptian antiquities officials said on Thursday. The Great Pyramid was constructed as a monumental tomb around 2560 BC during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops, to a height of 146 metres (479 feet). [1/4] A hidden corridor inside the Great Pyramid of Giza that was discovered by researches from the the Scan Pyramids project by the Egyptian Tourism Ministry of Antiquities is seen in Giza, Egypt March 2, 2023. Scientists detected the corridor through cosmic-ray muon radiography, before retrieving images of it by feeding a 6mm-thick endoscope from Japan through a tiny joint in the pyramid's stones. In 2017, Scan Pyramids researchers announced the discovery of a void at least 30 metres long inside the Great Pyramid, the first major inner structure found since the 19th century.

☆ Gulf states have given billions in aid to Egypt. Now they want to see returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

He was referring to the tens of billions of dollars in bailouts his country has received from the wealthy Gulf monarchies over the past decade. Many of those assets have long been under the control of Egypt’s military, an economic behemoth and the backbone of Sisi’s power. This time, however, Gulf Arab allies – especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – want to see returns. Last year alone, Gulf states pledged $22 billion to Egypt as it faced an economic crisis caused partly by the fallout from the Ukraine war, Reuters reported. Analysts say that Egypt was pushed by Gulf states to accept the IMF’s conditions, especially those on privatization.

Summary Egyptian FM says 'goal of visit primarily humanitarian'And to 'pass on our solidarity' from people of EgyptArab League suspended Syria in 2011DAMASCUS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Egypt's foreign minister met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday in the first visits to Syria and Turkey by a top Egyptian diplomat in a decade. "The goal of the visit is primarily humanitarian, and to pass on our solidarity – from the leadership, the government and the people of Egypt to the people of Syria," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters in Damascus. "When the foreign minister of Egypt comes to Damascus, he comes to his home, his people, and his country," Mekdad said. Shoukry also visited Turkey, pointing to another shift in Egypt's foreign ties. "Foreign minister offers condolences for the victims of earthquake, affirms solidarity of Egyptian leadership, government and people with Turkey, and asserting continuity of aid for supporting Turkey and its brotherly people," Ahmed Abu Zeid, spokesperson for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, said.

☆ Egypt unveils renovations of venerable Tahrir Square Museum
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa talks to the media at the Egyptian Museum during a news conference by Egypt's ministry of tourism and antiquities that unveiled a renovated wing at the museum, in Cairo, Egypt February 20, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshCAIRO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Egypt has inaugurated the first phase of renovations on the venerable Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, giving the collection a facelift after many of its objects were relocated to other museums around the country. Egypt hopes to grow its tourism industry by 25% to 30% a year, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa said at the inauguration ceremony on Monday. The renovation, financed by the European Union and assisted by five major European museums including the Louvre and British Museum, was designed to modernise the presentation of the objects. "The Egyptian Museum continues to develop itself, allowing it to compete with the other major modern museums," Issa said.

☆ Egypt court to rule soon in case over Intesa's local unit - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It did not mention AlexBank, though a sale of its remaining stake to Intesa is a possibility, one of the sources said. The sale was challenged in court by activist group, the Egyptian Centre for Transparency, local media reported. Egypt's constitutional court in mid-January ruled to uphold that law rejecting a challenge brought against it. A number of cases, including that centred around the sale of AlexBank, had been put on hold pending the decision on the law. Reporting by Patrick Werr in Cairo and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Al Qaeda's new leader Adel has $10 million bounty on his head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Michael Georgy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Zawahiri's death piled pressure on the group to choose a strategic leader who can carefully plan deadly operations and run a jihadi network, experts on al Qaeda say. The department’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering up to $10 million for information on Adel, whom it says is a member of "al Qaeda’s leadership council” and heads the organisation’s military committee. He and other Al Qaeda leaders were placed under house arrest in April 2003 by Iran, which released him and four others in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Yemen. OPERATIVE TO LEADERAdel, one of the few remaining al Qaeda old guard, has been close to the central command for decades, experts say. Adel gained more jihadi credentials after he joined other Arab militants fighting Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan, where he eventually headed a training camp before becoming a senior figure in al Qaeda.

☆ Egypt's Sisi seeks to tamp down media clash with Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Hatem Maher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Saudi Arabia along with other energy-rich Gulf states has long provided crucial funding to Egypt, upping support after Sisi took power nearly a decade ago, and as an acute financial crisis took hold last year. "The mean, the scoundrels and the nouveau-riche have no right to insult their masters," he wrote, drawing on derogatory stereotypes and claims of historical superiority. Another well-known Saudi commentator, Ali Shihabi, later tweeted: "Egypt is a black hole that will never close unless the govt is able to make material structural reforms." Tawfik's article has been removed from Al Gomhuria's website and replaced by an editorial lauding Egyptian-Saudi relations as "historic and eternal". Additional reporting by Nadine Awadalla and Aziz El Yaakoubi, Writing by Aidan LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Making the Mummies of Egypt Involved a Lot More Than We Knew
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ariana Perez-Castells | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A re-creation of what the embalming process might have looked like around 664-525 B.C. in Saqqara, Egypt. Inscribed ceramic vessels left behind in an Egyptian subterranean embalming structure from the 26th Dynasty of ancient Egypt offer new clues as to how the dead were preserved, and the role trade played in the mummification process. Researchers for the first time analyzed the organic materials found inside 31 vessels used in the embalming process at the necropolis of Saqqara near Cairo, a burial ground for royals and people of high society. These vessels, which carried inscriptions on them, contained materials including animal fat, oils and resins that played a major role in preservation practices—and were obtained through long-distance exchange and routes from far away lands, according to researchers.

☆ Blinken discusses Mideast tensions with Egypt's Sisi on first leg of tour
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (not pictured) in Cairo, Egypt January 30, 2023. After arriving in Cairo on Sunday, Blinken met four activists to discuss the human rights situation in Egypt, said Hossam Bahgat, one of those who took part in the meeting. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has withheld some military aid, citing a failure to meet human rights conditions, though advocacy groups have pushed for more to be held back. "He was already well aware of the magnitude of Egypt's human rights crisis and that many more new political prisoners are detained than those the regime claims to be pardoning," Bahgat told Reuters after meeting Blinken. "I think the Biden administration now accepts that two years of engaging Sisi on human rights have not led to much improvement."

☆ 10 things about ancient Egypt that movies and TV got wrong, according to an expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Carter Thallon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Movies and television shape what people think about ancient Egypt. Here are 10 things that "Moon Knight", "The Mummy", and others got wrong and one they got right. When it comes to ancient Egypt, they can draw the portrait of pharaohs ruling Egypt with an iron fist, cruel torture, and wicked booby-trapped pyramids. "All of the sarcophagi that I've seen in Egypt were made of stone," said Browder, an author of several books on ancient Egypt. The curse that set Imhotep on his murderous path in "The Mummy" has no historical basisIn "The Mummy," Imhotep was mummified alive.

☆ Archaeologist hails possibly 'oldest' mummy yet found in Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] People work at the site after the announcement of the discovery of 4,300-year-old sealed tombs in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, in Giza, Egypt, January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El GhanyCAIRO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Egyptologists have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb near the capital Cairo containing what may be the oldest and "most complete" mummy yet to be discovered in the country, the excavation team leader said on Thursday. The mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, was in a limestone sarcophagus that had been sealed in mortar. "This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date," Hawass, one of Egypt's former ministers of antiquities, said in a statement. Numerous statues were found among the tombs, including one representing a man and his wife and several servants, the statement said.

☆ 2,300-year-old 'golden boy' mummy was found with 49 amulets, including a gold tongue to let him speak with the gods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The child, nicknamed the "golden boy," was mummified with 49 protective amulets. A team of scientists has digitally unwrapped the 2,300-year-old mummy using a CT scanner to uncover its secrets. The team found that the so-called "golden boy" was lavishly mummified with gold and semi-precious stones. Forty-nine protective amulets were precisely placed in three columns on his body, suggesting he was rich and of high status. A curved arrow shows the location of a dense golden amulet placed in the boy's mouth.

☆ Italy's foreign minister eyes migration, energy on trip to Cairo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Aidan Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani attends a European Union foreign ministers' meeting with their counterparts from 'Eastern Partnership' countries in Brussels, Belgium December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna GeronCAIRO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Italy's Foreign Minister said on Sunday his country saw Egypt as an important partner in stemming irregular migration across the Mediterranean and in bolstering its energy security. As part of efforts to tackle irregular migration, Italy was "ready to have more legal migrants, including those coming from Egypt", Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said during a trip to Cairo. "The solution to the Libyan problem is also part of the solution of the illegal immigration problem," said Tajani. Italy aspires to be a big European energy hub and on this point there can be convergence with Egypt," he said.

☆ Founder of Egypt’s Juhayna Food Industries and his son released from prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CAIRO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The founder and former CEO of Juhayna Food Industries (JUFO.CA) and his son were released from prison in Egypt on Saturday after about two years in detention, according to a judicial source and a family member. The arrests of Safwan and Seifeldin Thabet two months apart had shaken Egypt’s business community as well as Egyptian and foreign investors. The Thabet family have denied any wrongdoing in statements on social media. A member of the Thabet family told Reuters the two men were released from a police station and returned home, but said the family had no other information about why they were freed. The family had pleaded for their release partly due to the illness of Safwan’s wife, who died during his detention.

☆ Egypt's soaring prices drive home economic pain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Mariam Rizk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Over recent months accelerating inflation has pummelled the spending power of Egyptians, who had already endured repeated economic shocks and years of austerity. The government says it is doing what it can to tamp down prices and expand social spending, often blaming current pressures on external factors linked to the war in Ukraine. While many countries are struggling to contain rampant inflation, Egypt, with a population of 104 million, is among the hardest hit. Reuters GraphicsStill, more economic turmoil in the shorter term complicates Egypt's plans to try to turn things round after the political and economic turbulence that followed its 2011 Arab Spring uprising. The agreement also provides for increasing social spending to protect the vulnerable.

☆ Why Egypt is asking its people to eat chicken feet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Abu Dhabi CNN —Egypt’s economic situation is so dire that the government is asking people to eat chicken feet. In Egypt, chicken feet are seen as the cheapest of meat items, considered by most as animal waste rather than food. After the recommendation to switch to chicken feet, the price of one kilogram of the product reportedly doubled to 20 Egyptian pounds ($0.67). But those firms don’t operate like private companies, enjoying special privileges without disclosing their financial data to the public. Experts have questioned why international creditors had not leveraged their loans to drive Egypt’s military out of the economy.

☆ Davos 2023: India's ReNew Power exploring Egypt green hydrogen project
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Maha El Dahan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ReNew Power is now studying green hydrogen opportunities, specifically in Egypt, having signed a framework agreement during the COP27 climate conference last year, Sumant Sinha told Reuters in Davos at the World Economic Forum. The plant would be located around 200 kilometres south of the capital Cairo and the green hydrogen would be shipped through the Suez canal. India also has plans to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, which ReNew Power wants to be a part of. "India has very good natural resources also and we can ship out of India just like we can out of Egypt." "One of the big reasons why there is so much volatility in the capital markets especially for clean tech stocks is because interest rates are going up," he said.

☆ Russian gas will eventually return to Europe as nations 'forgive and forget,' Qatari energy minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

On Friday, Russian energy supplier Gazprom said it would not resume its supply of natural gas to Germany through the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline, blaming a malfunctioning turbine. Hannibal Hanschke | ReutersThe European Union's rejection of Russian energy commodities following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine won't last forever, Qatar's Energy Minister said during an energy conference over the weekend. EU countries have dramatically cut down their imports of Russian energy supplies, imposing sanctions in response to Moscow's brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "But Russian gas is going back, in my view, to Europe," al-Kaabi said. Italy has dramatically reduced its reliance on Russian gas by replacing it with energy sources from alternative producers, such as Algeria.

☆ Foreign investors pour $925 mln into Egypt since Wednesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CAIRO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Foreign investors transferred more than $925 million dollars into the Egyptian foreign exchange market in the three days since its currency sharply depreciated last week, Egypt's central bank said in a statement on Monday. Additional foreign currency from local sources, remittances from Egyptians working abroad and tourism also flowed into the market over the past three business days, the central bank statement added. Banks were able to fulfil more than $2 billion in requests by Egyptian importers over the past three days, in addition to the requests other clients, the central bank statement added. Goods began backing up in Egyptian ports after the central bank placed restrictions on imports in February. Last month the central bank removed those restrictions, and importers have been scouring for dollars to get their goods released.

☆ Eni, Chevron announce new gas discovery in Egyptian East Med field
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Eni (ENI.MI) and U.S. energy major Chevron (CVX.N) said on Sunday they had made a new gas discovery in an Egyptian offshore field in the Eastern Mediterranean sea. km Nargis Offshore Area concession operated by Chevron (CVX.N), which holds a 45% interest in it. Eni also holds a 45% stake, while Egypt's Tharwa Petroleum Company SAE holds a 10% interest. State-controlled Eni is looking for new gas sources as it aims to completely replace gas imports from Russia by 2025 following the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The new discovery is located in the Nargis-1 exploration well and "can be developed leveraging the proximity to Eni's existing facilities", the group said in a statement.

☆ Eni announces new gas discovery offshore Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Eni (ENI.MI) said on Sunday it had made a new gas discovery in an Egyptian offshore field in the Eastern Mediterranean sea. State-controlled Eni is looking for new gas sources as it aims to completely replace gas imports from Russia by 2025 following the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The new discovery is located in the Nargis-1 exploration well and "can be developed leveraging the proximity to Eni's existing facilities", the group said in a statement. km Nargis Offshore Area concession operated by Chevron (CVX.N), with a 45% interest in it. Eni also holds a 45% stake, while Tharwa Petroleum Company SAE holds a 10% interest.

☆ Egypt's currency weakens to 26.49 to the dollar
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Coins of a one Egyptian pound are seen at the Mint Museum, in Cairo, Egypt January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File PhotoCAIRO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The Egyptian pound weakened to 26.49 to the dollar on Wednesday, its biggest one-day move since the central bank allowed it to fall by 14.5% on Oct. 27, according Refinitiv Data. Currency flexibility has been a key demand by the International Monetary Fund, which approved a 46-month, $3 billion financial rescue package in October. read moreThe currency has weakened from 19.7 to the dollar in March. Black market currency dealers continued to buy dollars for 29 pounds each on the black market on Wednesday, even after the devaluation.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ Did we get Egyptian mummification totally wrong? It might have nothing to do with preserving the body after death, experts say.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Egyptians may not have used mummification to preserve the body at all, some scientists say. Their aim may have been to turn royal remains into godly statues — preservation was a perk, they say. Instead, the experts say, Egyptians intended to turn their pharaohs into statues, works of art with religious significance. The approach is explored in the upcoming "Golden Mummies of Egypt" exhibition, which opens at the Manchester Museum in February. Manchester Museum/ Julia ThorneStatues were seen by ancient Egyptians as godly.

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