Latest news with #GEM
Egypt Independent
13 hours ago
- Egypt Independent
Tourism Ministry denies confirming November 4 as opening date for Grand Egyptian Museum
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has denied reports claiming that November 4 was officially set as the opening date for the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). It explained that the official opening date of the GEM will be announced in due course through official channels. The ministry urged media outlets to verify the accuracy of published information and to refer to official sources before circulating any news related to this important event, which has received widespread local and international attention. The Ministry of Tourism announced in a statement that the official opening of GEM, which was scheduled for July 3, has been postponed 'Out of the Egyptian state's national responsibility and its commitment to presenting an exceptional global event in an atmosphere befitting the greatness of Egyptian civilization and its unique heritage, ensuring broad international participation commensurate with the significance of the event.' The statement noted that a new date for the museum's official opening will be set during the last quarter of this year, to be announced in due course, after coordination with all relevant authorities to ensure the organization of an event befitting Egypt's tourism and cultural standing on the international stage. The GEM is one of the world's most important cultural projects. Located just minutes from the Giza Pyramids, it houses more than 100,000 artifacts from various eras. It is designed to be the largest museum in the world housing artifacts from a single civilization. Egypt aims to attract three million tourists upon its opening.
Egypt Independent
19 hours ago
- Business
- Egypt Independent
PM chairs high committee meeting on GEM opening ceremony preparations
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly chaired a high-level meeting Tuesday, July 22, 2025, of the supreme committee tasked with organizing the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) opening ceremony, which is expected to be one of the most significant cultural events in modern Egyptian history. The meeting brought together key cabinet members and senior officials including Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania el-Mashat, Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy, Minister of Civil Aviation Sameh el-Hefny, Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber Khalil and Giza Governor Adel el-Naggar. Madbouli emphasized that the decision to delay GEM's opening was made with the intention of delivering a world-class event that truly honors the grandeur of ancient Egyptian civilization, while ensuring broad international participation and optimal global attention. Cabinet spokesperson Mohamed al Homsany stated that the committee reviewed key logistical and organizational elements of the ceremony including the detailed agenda of the celebratory events, hotel accommodations for international guests, transportation logistics and the dispatch of invitations to prominent global figures and dignitaries. The meeting also evaluated ongoing development projects in the vicinity of the museum, including landscaping, aesthetic enhancements, upgrades to public squares and lighting systems, and irrigation network installations, he said. Representatives from United Media Services (UMS) presented their latest updates on the ceremonial and media preparations, including visuals, logistics, stage management and global media outreach, he said.
Malaysian Reserve
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malaysian Reserve
Egyptian conservators give King Tut's treasures new glow
by MENNA FAROUK AS A teenager, Eid Mertah would pore over books about King Tutankhamun, tracing hieroglyphs and dreaming of holding the boy pharaoh's golden mask in his hands. Years later, the Egyptian conservator found himself gently brushing centuries-old dust off one of Tut's gilded ceremonial shrines — a piece he had only seen in textbooks. 'I studied archaeology because of Tut,' Mertah, 36, told AFP. 'It was my dream to work on his treasures — and that dream came true.' Mertah is one of more than 150 conservators and 100 archaeologists who have laboured quietly for over a decade to restore thousands of artefacts ahead of the long-awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) — a US$1 billion (RM4.25 billion) project on the edge of the Giza Plateau. Originally slated for July 3, the launch has once again been postponed — now expected in the final months of the year — due to regional security concerns. The museum's opening has faced delays over the years for various reasons, ranging from political upheaval to the Covid-19 pandemic. But when it finally opens, the GEM will be the world's largest archaeological museum devoted to a single civilisation. It will house more than 100,000 artefacts, with over half on public display, and will include a unique feature: A live conservation lab. From behind glass walls, visitors will be able to watch in real time as experts work over the next three years to restore a 4,500-year-old boat buried near the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu and intended to ferry his soul across the sky with the sun god Ra. But the star of the museum remains King Tut's collection of more than 5,000 objects — many to be displayed together for the first time. Among them are his golden funeral mask, gilded coffins, golden amulets, beaded collars, ceremonial chariots and two mummified foetuses believed to be his stillborn daughters. 'Puzzle of Gold' Many of these treasures have not undergone restoration since British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered them in 1922. The conservation methods used by Carter's team were intended to protect the objects, but over a century later, they have posed challenges for their modern-day successors. Coating gold surfaces in wax, for instance, 'preserved the objects at the time', said conservator Hind Bayoumi, 'but it then hid the very details we want the world to see'. For months, Bayoumi, 39, and her colleagues painstakingly removed the wax applied by British chemist Alfred Lucas, which had over decades trapped dirt and dulled the shine of the gold. Restoration has been a joint effort between Egypt and Japan, which contributed US$800 million in loans and provided technical support. Egyptian conservators — many trained by Japanese experts — have led cutting-edge work across 19 laboratories covering wood, metal, papyrus, textiles and more. Tut's gilded coffin — brought from his tomb in Luxor — proved one of the most intricate jobs. At the GEM's wood lab, conservator Fatma Magdy, 34, used magnifying lenses and archival photos to reassemble its delicate gold sheets. 'It was like solving a giant puzzle,' she said. 'The shape of the break, the flow of the hieroglyphs — every detail mattered.' Touching History Before restoration, the Tutankhamun collection was retrieved from several museums and storage sites, including the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, the Luxor Museum and the tomb itself. Some items were given light restoration before their relocation to ensure they could be safely moved. Teams first conducted photographic documentation, X-ray analysis and material testing to understand each item's condition before touching it. 'We had to understand the condition of each piece — the gold layers, the adhesives, wood structure — everything,' said Mertah, who worked on King Tut's ceremonial shrines at the Egyptian Museum. Fragile pieces were stabilised with Japanese tissue paper — thin but strong — and adhesives like Paraloid B-72 and Klucel G, both reversible and minimally invasive. The team's guiding philosophy throughout has been one of restraint. 'The goal is always to do the least amount necessary — and to respect the object's history,' said Mohamed Moustafa, 36, another senior restorer. Beyond the restoration work, the process has been an emotional journey for many of those involved. 'I think we're more excited to see the museum than tourists are,' Moustafa said. 'When visitors walk through the museum, they'll see the beauty of these artefacts. But for us, every piece is a reminder of the endless working hours, the debates, the training,' he added. 'Every piece tells a story.' — AFP This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
India Today
3 days ago
- Science
- India Today
Children may lose 1.5 years of schooling due to climate change: UNESCO
Children exposed to extreme heatwaves could lose up to 1.5 years of schooling, with climate change now directly impacting education systems and threatening to reverse decades of academic progress, according to a new global report from report, compiled by UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) team, the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project, and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, warns of significant learning losses due to climate-related include heatwaves, wildfires, floods, droughts, storms, diseases and rising sea levels. The study revealed that most low-and middle-income countries experience climate-related school closures every year, increasing the risk of learning loss and student CLOSURES LINKED TO CLIMATE CHANGEOver the past 20 years, schools were closed in at least 75 per cent of extreme weather events affecting five million or more report linked heat exposure to reduced educational outcomes. In 29 countries studied between 1969 and 2012, higher temperatures during the prenatal and early life stages were associated with fewer years of schooling, especially in Southeast Asia.'A child experiencing temperatures that are two standard deviations above average is predicted to attain 1.5 fewer years of schooling than children experiencing average temperatures,' the Unesco report SCORES AND GRADUATION RATES AFFECTEDThe report cited how higher temperatures in China reduced high-stakes exam performance and lowered high school graduation and college entrance the United States, schools without air conditioning saw test scores drop by 1 percent for each additional 1 degree Celsius rise in American and Hispanic students, often studying in poorly maintained infrastructure, were disproportionately affected -- contributing to roughly 5 percent of the racial achievement also found that nearly half of all public school districts in the US need to update or replace multiple heating, ventilation, and air conditioning COMMUNITIES FACE GREATER RISKSIn Brazil's most disadvantaged municipalities -- also amongst those most exposed to heat -- students lose about 1 percent of learning each year due to rising report stressed that climate-induced education vulnerabilities are particularly severe for marginalised populations. Of the 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events in 2019, eight were low- or lower-middle-income the 33 countries classified as extremely high climate risk zones for children -- home to nearly 1 billion people -- 29 are considered fragile INEQUALITY AND DISASTER IMPACTSIn the United States, those with lower income or without a secondary school certificate are 15 percent more likely to live in areas projected to see increased childhood asthma from climate-driven air districts in the United States that received federal disaster recovery funds had higher proportions of students from socially vulnerable groups,' the report disasters have not only disrupted education but also caused loss of life and damage to Jakarta, floods in 2013 disrupted access to schools, converted them into emergency shelters, and forced several to shut due to 81 percent of schools that had disaster management plans in place found them effective during the FORWARD IN A WARMING WORLDThe report calls for urgent policy interventions to make education systems more resilient to climate include upgrading school infrastructure, incorporating climate education into curricula, and ensuring that disaster response plans are in place and extreme weather events grow more frequent and intense, safeguarding children's right to uninterrupted, quality education must become a global priority.(With inputs from PTI)- Ends
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Science
- The Hindu
Children exposed to heat wave worldwide may lose up to 1.5 years of schooling: Report
Children exposed early to extreme heat may lose up to 1.5 years of schooling, with climate change having a direct impact on education and threatening to undo educational gains of recent decades, according to a new global report. Climate related stressors such as heat, wildfires, storms, floods, droughts, diseases and rising sea levels, affect education outcomes. Most low and middle-income countries are experiencing climate-related school closures every year, increasing chances of learning loss and dropout, it noted. The report compiled by UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) team, Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada has pointed out that over the past 20 years, schools were closed in at least 75% of the extreme weather events, impacting five million people or more. Exposure to heat has significant detrimental effects on children's educational outcomes. An analysis linking census and climate data in 29 countries between 1969 and 2012 showed that exposure to higher than average temperatures during the prenatal and early life period is associated with fewer years of schooling, especially in Southeast Asia. 'A child experiencing temperatures that are two standard deviations above average is predicted to attain 1.5 fewer years of schooling than children experiencing average temperatures. High temperatures reduced high-stakes test performance in China and led to reductions in both high school graduation and college entrance rates,' the report said. 'In the United States, without air conditioning, a school year hotter by 1℃ reduced test scores by 1%. Very hot school days disproportionately impacted African American and Hispanic students, due to poor infrastructure conditions, accounting for roughly 5% of the racial achievement gap,' it added. The report noted that about half of public school districts need to update or replace multiple heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. 'In the most disadvantaged municipalities in Brazil, which were also amongst those most exposed to heat risk, students lost about 1% of learning per year due to rising temperatures,' it said. The global report flagged that climate-induced education vulnerability is worse for marginalised populations. Of the 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events in 2019, eight were low- or lower-middle-income countries. Of the 33 countries identified as bearing extremely high climate risks for children, where nearly 1 billion people live, 29 are also considered to be fragile states. In the United States, those with low income or without a secondary school certificate are 15% more likely to live in areas with the highest projected increases in childhood asthma diagnoses due to climate-driven increases in particulate air pollution. 'School districts in the United States that received federal disaster recovery funds had higher proportions of students from socially vulnerable groups,' the report said. The team flagged that increasingly frequent natural disasters, including floods and cyclones, have led to the deaths of students and teachers and have damaged and destroyed schools. 'Following the 2013 floods in Jakarta, access to schools was disrupted, schools were used as emergency shelters and some schools closed because of damage. Among schools surveyed, 81% of those with disaster management plans and a standard operating procedure for dealing with flood emergencies agreed that these were effective in times of crisis,' it said.
