Latest news with #Alexandrian
Al-Ahram Weekly
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Gov't to build 60,000 housing units for Alexandria residents of near-collapse buildings - Society
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly directed Alexandria Governor Ahmed Khaled to build 60,000 housing units for residents living in buildings at risk of collapse in the Mediterranean city and offer affordable financial facilities. PM Madbouly gave these directions during his meeting on Monday with Governor Khaled, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Sherif El-Sherbiny, and other senior officials. During the meeting, Madbouly also directed that the project start immediately, describing the move as a life-saving measure for Alexandria's residents living in hundreds of near-collapse buildings. Khaled said the governorate has developed a database for all buildings with standing demolition orders. Located on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, Alexandria is the second largest city in the country after Cairo. The city's population has reached nearly 5.6 million as of 2024, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). In recent years, Alexandria has witnessed a sharp increase in building collapses, resulting in a tragic loss of lives. The causes are often linked to illegal construction, structural violations, and a long-standing failure to enforce demolition orders. The latest incident on Sunday, when a residential building collapsed in the Al-Attarin area, killing two people and injuring four others, has underscored the urgency of addressing the problem. In December 2024, the governorate formed 15 committees under the Public Prosecution's directives to inspect ageing buildings and initiate legal action where necessary. Buildings at risk In May, the crisis was highlighted during a parliament session, when Governor Khaled revealed that 24,108 buildings in Alexandria are at risk of collapse. Of these, 8,000 buildings already have demolition orders — some full, others partial. Khaled noted that the governorate has compiled a comprehensive database of these buildings and is intensifying law enforcement and monitoring efforts. These efforts include removing encroachments on state-owned and agricultural lands, cracking down on unlicensed constructions, conducting regular inspections, and enforcing immediate removal of new violations. Earlier, Alexandrian MP Mohamed Gaber Gibriel submitted a parliamentary inquiry to Parliament Speaker Hanafy El-Gebaly calling for urgent action to confront the growing crisis of unsafe and illegal construction. Gibriel stated that the most affected areas include Karmouz, El-Labban, Minyat Al-Basal, Moharam Bek, and the Western District, where many buildings are either leaning or structurally compromised. "Some of these unstable buildings are only 10 to 15 years old," he said. West Alexandria District alone has approximately 7,000 old buildings — around 90 years old — that have demolition orders, he added. However, local authorities have largely failed to enforce complete demolitions. They often remove the hazardous structural elements only, leaving the rest of the buildings intact, he concluded. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Jordan News
10-07-2025
- General
- Jordan News
Shawarma Ranked Best Sandwich in the World - Jordan News
The shawarma sandwich has claimed the top spot as the best sandwich in the world, according to a ranking by the food review website Taste Atlas. Taste Atlas selected shawarma as the top choice from a list of 50 sandwich varieties, including the Turkish Tombik Döner, the American Philly Cheesesteak, and the Egyptian Alexandrian liver sandwich. The shawarma received an impressive rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars, based on user reviews and culinary expert evaluations on the site. اضافة اعلان
09-07-2025
- Health
Toxic algae blooms increasing in Arctic due to climate change, new study finds
Harmful algae blooms have been rapidly producing in a place previously too cold to host the toxin: the Arctic. And climate change over the last several decades is to blame, according to new research. Scientists have found a link between rising ocean temperatures and an increasing amount of toxins from algae blooms entering the marine food chain by analyzing the feces of bowhead whales in the Arctic, according to paper published Wednesday in Nature. Collaborations with native tribal communities in the Arctic helped researchers in their findings, said Kathi Lefebvre, a research biologist for NOAA fisheries at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle and lead of the Wildlife Algal Toxins Research & Response Network (WARRN-West). Researchers at WARRN-West have received fecal samples from 205 bowhead whales from the indigenous groups that were collected by either subsistence harvesting or found stranded in an unusual mortality event in the Beaufort Sea over the past 19 years, which put them in a unique position to monitor the progression of harmful algal blooms on the West Coast of North America, Lefebvre, lead author of the study, told ABC News. By studying the samples, the biologists could look at algal toxin concentrations in the food web, Lefebvre. The krill and copepods that ingest the toxins are then eaten by the bowhead whales, which are filter feeders. Over the past century, sea surface temperatures in the region have been rising, causing the amount of sea ice to shrink significantly. The warmer waters combined with more open water is leading to the higher concentrations of at least two algal toxins: Alexandrium, which are dinoflagellates that produce saxitoxin -- a neurotoxin that can cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning; as well as domoic acid, which is produced by Pseudo-nitzschia, a needle-like group of single-celled algae, and causes amnesic shellfish poisoning, according to the study. "We know from laboratory studies that these algae grow faster in warmer conditions," Lefebvre said. "There's more light because the open water is there and the ice is not reflecting the light." The cells have always been present in low concentrations in the Arctic, but the potential blooms are now larger, longer lasting and more toxic, Lefebvre said. Alexandrium drops cyst-like seeds that lay dormant in the sediments until conditions are right to produce. "So seeds have been dropping from these Alexandrian cells for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, and these seeds need a certain temperature to be able to germinate," she said. In the past, the bottom waters of the Arctic have been too cold for the cysts to germinate, but as the ocean warms, conditions are becoming ripe for reproduction. This is the first study of its kind to quantitatively show a direct link between climate change, sea ice loss and harmful algal bloom concentrations in the food web, Lefebvre said. The Arctic tribal communities that collected the samples are still fully reliant on marine resources for subsistence, Lefebvre said. "Marine resources are utilized for survival, for cultural practices, for economic well being, etc.," she said. "They've been doing this for thousands of years." In most places around the world, there are protections in place to test for these toxins for commercial seafood. But in the "vast remote" regions of the Arctic, such testing would be difficult to conduct on a regular basis, Lefebvre said. The communities harvest everything from clams, crabs, sea birds and anemones. "We're finding these toxins in all of these species," Lefebvre said. It is unclear how many whales in he Arctic have died as a result of harmful algae blooms, but walrus populations in the region, which feed on clams found at the bottom of the ocean, have been likely dying off as a result, Lefebvre said. Lefebvre has been studying harmful algae blooms for her entire career and was involved in the first-ever study in 1998 that found domoic acid was impacting marine mammals in Central California. Ever since, dozens to hundreds of marine animals have been documented to suffer from domoic acid poisoning every year, Lefebvre said.
Watani
07-07-2025
- General
- Watani
St Didymus the Blind re-emerges from the depth of history
'Didymus the Blind (c.313 – 398) warrants recognition and commemoration because, even though he lost his eyesight at an early age, he was able to enlighten the minds generations by his thought and knowledge.' These words belong to Egyptian sculptor Girgis al-Gawly, professor of sculpture at Minya University, who recently sculpted a statue of St Didymus the Blind (313 – 398). Watani talked to Dr Gawly about the statue. 'This statue,' Dr Gawly noted, 'serves as an artistic and humane honour for a unique figure in the history of human and Christian thought. St Didymus was a man who lived during a time when blinds were doomed to darkness and need, yet he was able to overcame his disability and the darkness that engulfed him, to lead generations upon generations to the light of knowledge.' Cultural blend Dr Gawly said that the statue he sculpted of St Didymus features lines of a classical character that lived in Egypt during Greco-Roman times. The sculpture follows the distinctive Alexandrian style that was the outcome of intertwined Pharaonic, Hellenistic, Roman, and Christian Coptic art. The statue, he said, emulates the amazing cultural blend that enveloped Egypt throughout these eras that were rich in knowledge, art, and spirituality. The two-metre-high Didymus statue is made of Aswan clay, a material sourced out of Egyptian soil. Dr Gawly said that the work depicts St Didymus as a man of determination and courage, reflecting his amazing character that transcended visual impairment to revolutionise the way blind people were taught reading and writing through raised relief letters, a method that paralleled the Braille concept but predated it by some 15 centuries. Dr Gawly sculpted Didymus standing tall, his eyes blindfolded and his hands holding a wooden tablet, the means through which he read and wrote. Didymus the Seer The Coptic Orthodox Church commemorates St Didymus the Blind on 13 June as a writer, ascetic, theologian, and polymath. The synaxarium describes him as 'a wonderful model of holy perseverance and discipline who went on to become the Dean of the Catechetical School of Alexandria. 'He was born in Alexandria in 313AD and was named Didymus which is Greek for Thomas. When only four, he contracted a disease that led to loss of his sight. He never went to school because he was blind, but his great love for knowledge led him to overcome that obstacle by learning the alphabet through running his fingers over carved wooden letters. That was 15 centuries before the Braille system was used.' Didymus learned language and grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, logic, theology, arithmetic and music, excelling in them to the point of debating scholars. The fame of his knowledge became well known everywhere. St Jerome called him 'Didymus the Seer'. In 346, Pope Athanasius entrusted to Didymus the management of the Theological School of Alexandria which flourished under him and grew to attract some of the great learned men of the time, including Palladius, Rufinus and Jerome. St Jerome said that Didymus bore the characteristics of an apostolic person; Rufinus called him a prophet; and Sozomin the historian said that the way Didymus defended the teachings of the Council of Nicaea against the Arians was incomparable. Didymus was a pious ascetic who prayed for the Christians persecuted by Julian the Infidel. He saw in a vision that Julian was killed in war and it was fulfilled on the exact day and hour. St Anthony visited him in his cell; they prayed together and talked about the Holy Scriptures. When he saw him sorrowful for the loss of his vision, the father of all monks told him: 'How can you be sorrowful for losing something shared with the least of animals and not rejoice in that God has given you a spiritual vision which He does not grant except to those whom He loves? He gave you eyes with which you see spiritual things and perceive the mysteries of God Himself.' Didymus was greatly comforted by these words. St Didymus wrote many books in theology, dogma, and exegesis on both testaments of the Bible. He departed the world in peace in 398. He had lived 85 years, 52 of them as Dean of the Theological School of Alexandria. He was a contemporary of four Coptic patriarchs: Pope Athanasius the Apostolic, Pope Peter II, Pope Timothy I, and Pope Theophilus. When Pope Shenouda III (Patriarch in 1971 – 2012) inaugurated the Institute for Coptic Church Cantors, many of whom had been traditionally chosen from among the blind but the tradition no longer holds, he named it St Didymus Institute in honour of this great theologian and saint. Comments comments Tags: Didymus the BlindMichael Girgissculptor Girgis Al-Gawly
Spectator
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Spectator Competition: Problematic
For Competition 3406 you were invited to cast a well-known fictional or non-fictional character, living or dead, in the role of agony aunt or uncle and provide a problem of your invention and their solution. There was very little to choose between an excellent crop. Unlucky losers include Bill Greenwell, Ralph Goldswain, Peter Smalley, Frank McDonald, Mark Ambrose, Bill Ries, Frank Upton and Brian Murdoch. The £25 John Lewis vouchers go to those entries printed below. Q: A near neighbour has a white van he insists on parking right outside my house, even though his own parking space usually stands unoccupied. At home most of the time and noticing its comings and infrequent goings, I ponder constantly how to resolve the situation amicably. A: Amicably be damned! In van or rear, the white monstrosity described in thy beseechings hath transfixed thee to the limits of obsession. 'Tis a predicament I know, for all my locale hath been the insufficient vasts of seven seas, whereon I have been haunted by a whiteness I cannot unsee, a blankness that is nothingness and yet carries about it intimations of Eternity. Thy white leviathan hath consumed something of thee, be it only thy sanity, and a hunt to its or thy extinction stands revealed the sole route to resolution. The quarry stands outside thy very window – harpoon it, damn thee! Adrian Fry/Captain Ahab Dear Senor Borges: I hesitated to propose to my girl; now she has accepted and married someone else. What should I do? Answer: In similar circumstances the Alexandrian poet Plestocles committed suicide by eating fire. Less drastic would be to take consolation from philosophy. Our universe, though unbounded, contains only a finite number of atoms. In time it will inevitably collapse and perish, but, following immutable laws, it must again expand and rebuild itself, using those same atoms. The process will be repeated infinitely, and since the permutations of a finite number of atoms are themselves finite, a fraction of these eternal recurrences will be universes precisely like ours. It may be consoling to consider that therefore (a fraction of infinity being itself infinite) countless future yous will in their turn have the opportunity to muster courage to propose more punctually. In a few cases, you may even be accepted. George Simmers/J.L. Borges Dear Mrs Malaprop, I'm a happily married man, but I've developed an unwholesome infatuation with my mother-in-law. Please help. Perturbed of Dorney Dear Disturbed of Porny, I'm sorry to hear you've taken a swine to your muddler-in-law, but it's a more condom problem than most people are wary of. It's known as 'erratic transference'. Perhaps you're secretly raving for someone to pimper and care for you, just like your own smotherer used to. How does your monster-in-law respond to your advantages? Is she rappelled? Or is she as inflatulated with you as you are with her? To resolve matters, try neuro-linguini programming: when tempted to think about your mutton–in-law, instead picture an unpleasant animal, like a wartyhag or a harrypottermas. This will gradually desanitise you to the charms of the muddy-in-loo. A word of whining: don't mention this to your wife or you'll end up in diverse proceedings. Joseph Houlihan/Mrs Malaprop You write, sir, that you are tempted to ask a young lady of your acquaintance to lie with you and your wife so you may have full conversation with them both. You assure me that your wife is well disposed to such a scheme but fear the lady will take your proposal ill for she appears mannerly and modest although rumour has it otherwise. Prithee, sir, do not importune her under any circumstances for if she is indeed careful of her reputation no good will come of it, viz. you risk the loss of your name. Procure instead a comely wench of easy virtue, nay, already debauched, who in return for gold will open up her purse for you and consent to the particular congress you describe. Indeed I know of such a one and can reveal to you her whereabouts. Write to me in the strictest confidence. Sue Pickard/Moll Flanders Aunt Titania, cans't thou guide me through the predicament that afflicts me? I am in love, yet my companions murmur and say I am away with the fairies, that the object of my passion is a beast and I should be rid of him. Yet I dote on him in extremity. I know not what to do. 'Love-in-Idleness'. Dear 'Love-in-Idleness', hark not to the ne'er-sayers, nay, follow the dictates of thy heart. Indulge thy love, give him jewels from the deep, feed him with apricocks and purple grapes. Like the night owl, ride on moonbeams while thou can'st, for pleasure may swiftly flee. Do not, as alas did I, abandon thy dreams for one who is, forsooth, somewhat of a fairy, with a perverse fancy for changeling boys. Hence I commend thee from the bottom of my heart, be not sway'd by others, but straightway pursue thy dream. Sylvia Fairley/Titania Dear Pollyanna, I am having a terrible time with my neighbours. I invested in some peaceful, civilian-use-only heating technology, but they've got it into their heads that it's going to explode all over their property. I think it might be the 'Radiation – severe danger' signs I stuck on for a joke. Anyway, they and their friend Donald have been throwing rocks over the fence all week and say they'll keep it up until I move out. What can I do? Dear Mr Khamenei, Why, your neighbours sound perfectly lovely! It's delightful that they're encouraging you to build a beautiful rockery in your garden and then take a holiday. Not everyone's neighbours take such an interest, so remember to hunt out the glad things and invite them over for ice-cream before going to Church together. If Donald comes too you can be sure it'll go with a bang! Tom Adam/Pollyanna No. 3409: Family matters You are invited to submit parental advice courtesy of famous writers. Please email entries (150 words/16 lines maximum) to competition@ by midday on 16 July.
