Recent Poor Internet Service Leaves Syrians Disgruntled

Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)
Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)
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Recent Poor Internet Service Leaves Syrians Disgruntled

Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)
Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)

A sharp decline in internet speed in Syria has caused much resentment in regime-held areas, especially since the majority of Syrians rely on the internet to communicate with their children and families in asylum countries.

The internet speed had fallen by more than 90 percent.

A resident from the capital said he noticed the deterioration of the internet four days ago, during his call with his refugee son in Europe, after the call was interrupted more than 10 times.

He first thought that the problem was in the router, but a technician told him that the country is affected by slow speeds.

"We are used to slow internet, but this time it is slower than ever. The problem is that all the router signals are high and do not indicate any interruption or slowness."

Hawa Al Sham Weather Station cited sources in the Regime’s Ministry of Communication saying: "The low quality of the internet is due to the disruption of one of the international submarine cables between Cyprus and Marseille."

Other media sources said however the submarine cable coming from Egypt had been damaged and led to poor internet in Syria, adding that efforts to fix the malfunction were hampered by a storm.

Other sources suggested that the internet speed was weakened due to repairs of cables in different parts of the country, which coincided with a storm.

The decline in the internet quality took place simultaneously with a low-pressure area, accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds that began on Thursday night, and lasted for two days. The weather improved on Saturday.



Ancient Egyptian Coffin Given New Life in Britain

Staff at Swansea University welcome back the artifact. Photo: Swansea University
Staff at Swansea University welcome back the artifact. Photo: Swansea University
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Ancient Egyptian Coffin Given New Life in Britain

Staff at Swansea University welcome back the artifact. Photo: Swansea University
Staff at Swansea University welcome back the artifact. Photo: Swansea University

An ancient Egyptian coffin was given a new life after it has been returned to Swansea University's Egypt Center in Wales.

The artifact, believed to date from about 650 BC, is now back at the university after thousands of hours of conservation work at Cardiff University, where it was painstakingly cleaned, reconstructed and consolidated to prevent it from deteriorating further, according to BBC.

The coffin, originally made for a man called Ankhpakhered in the Greek city of Thebes, was transported back under the watchful eye of the center’s curator Dr. Ken Griffin.

Staff described the finished project as “beyond our wildest dreams.”

“The coffin was gifted to us by Aberystwyth University in 1997 but details about its history are sketchy,” Griffin said.

He added: “It actually ended up being used as a storage box at one time, with other Egyptian objects placed in it for safekeeping.”

The university’s Phil Parkes explained that the wooden coffin was covered in textile and then had a thin layer of decorated plaster over the top.

He said: “Much of that textile had become detached over time and was just hanging loose.”

Parkes added that the separate wooden head was detached and there were a couple of large pieces of wood missing, the side of the base had fallen off and it was in a very sorry condition overall.