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Five Tombs of Senior Statesmen Discovered in Egypt

Sarcophaguses that are around 2,500 years old, from the newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, are seen during a presentation in Giza, Egypt November 14, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
Sarcophaguses that are around 2,500 years old, from the newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, are seen during a presentation in Giza, Egypt November 14, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
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Five Tombs of Senior Statesmen Discovered in Egypt

Sarcophaguses that are around 2,500 years old, from the newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, are seen during a presentation in Giza, Egypt November 14, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
Sarcophaguses that are around 2,500 years old, from the newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, are seen during a presentation in Giza, Egypt November 14, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced the discovery of five historic cemeteries in the Saqqara region, Giza, (western Cairo) that belong to major statesmen from the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC), and the First Intermediate Period (2181-2055 BC), dating to over 4,600 years ago. The ministry organizes a media tour in the site on Saturday to explore the cemeteries.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El Anani visited the discovery site to examine the excavation works led by the Egyptian mission near the King Merenre pyramid in Saqqara. “Five engraved cemeteries containing burials and antiquities from the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period have been discovered in the Saqqara region, which saw many archeological discoveries in the past years,” the minister noted in an official statement.

“This discovery will help rewrite the First Intermediate Period in the Egyptian history because it could provide more information about those who lived and ruled during that period. It was a critical phase in the Egyptian history, it saw the political and economic collapse of the state, the independence of rulers each in his region, and an economic deterioration caused by wasting the state’s resources on building the pyramids in the Old Kingdom, in addition to the scarcity of Nile water and its impact on agriculture,” Dr. Hussein Abdul Bassir, director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Saqqara is a part of the Memphis cemetery, located 40 km west of Cairo, and was named after God Seker from the Old Kingdom. The region is an open museum featuring antiquities from different eras of the Egyptian history.
“The first cemetery, burying a senior statesman named Eri, includes a well leading to a burial chamber with engraved walls featuring funerary drawings including sacrifices tables, the palace’s façade, containers of the seven oils, a huge tomb built of limestone, and a collection of engraved pieces that belonged to the cemetery’s owner,” said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and head of the Saqqara mission, in a press statement.

“The archeological mission currently works on cleaning and documenting the discovered cemeteries,” he added.

The second cemetery, a rectangle-shaped well belongs to the wife of a man named ‘Yart’. The third belongs to a man who had many titles including the supervisor of the grand house. The fourth cemetery belongs to a lady, ‘Betty’ who held many titles; it’s a rectangular well located at six meters underground. Built for a man called ‘Heno’, the fifth cemetery is a rectangular well built at seven meters underground. Its owner had many titles including the supervisor of the royal palace and the mayor.

The Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest stone construction in history, is Saqqara’s most known landmark. The Saqqara archeological site includes the cemeteries of kings and senior statesmen from the 1st and 2nd Dynasties, in addition to king pyramids from the 5th and 6th Dynasties including the King Wenis Pyramid, who was the first to engrave his burial chamber with texts to protect himself during his journey in the other world.

The region also features cemeteries of statesmen from the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2055-1650 BC), and the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC) known for its unique architecture and constructions such as the cemetery of King Horemheb (1323-1295 BC).

The region also houses the cemetery of sacred calf Apis, known as Serapeum of Saqqara, which was used from the 18th Dynasty until the Ptolemaic Kingdom. But Saqqara is not only Pharaonic; it includes Coptic landmarks such as the Monastery of Anba Ermia, located to the southeast of King Djoser’s pyramid collection. The Monastery was used until the 10th century AD.

Over the past year, Saqqara witnessed many archeological discoveries including hundreds of colored tombs containing well-preserved mummies of senior statesmen and priests from the 26th Dynasty, selected among the world’s top 10 archeological discoveries in 2020. Two cemeteries of priest Wa Ti, and the supervisor of the royal palace ‘Khoy’, in addition to several cat cemeteries were unearthed last year as well.

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Innovative Drug Lowers Triglycerides, Other Blood Lipids

High levels of triglycerides in the blood increase the risk of heart disease (Monash University) 
High levels of triglycerides in the blood increase the risk of heart disease (Monash University) 
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Innovative Drug Lowers Triglycerides, Other Blood Lipids

High levels of triglycerides in the blood increase the risk of heart disease (Monash University) 
High levels of triglycerides in the blood increase the risk of heart disease (Monash University) 

A study led by researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, revealed a new liver- and gut-targeted oral drug that can safely lower triglycerides and other blood lipids.

Researchers of the study, published last Friday in Nature Medicine, said the innovative drug could represent a breakthrough in treating metabolic diseases related to high triglycerides in the body.

The study said that when we eat, our bodies convert extra calories, especially from carbs, sugar, fats, and alcohol, into molecules called “triglycerides.”

Triglycerides are a form of fat or “lipid,” which the body stores away into its fat cells as an energy fuel for energy between meals.

But, excess amounts of fat in the body can be dangerous, causing a condition known as “hypertriglyceridemia” (“excess triglycerides in the blood”), which significantly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and pancreatitis.

This is why we are universally advised to make healthy lifestyle choices in diet, exercise, while particularly bad cases require medication.

The study also found that keeping blood fats in check depends on a careful balance.

It said the liver and intestine release fat particles into the bloodstream, while enzymes work to break them down and clear them away.

When fat production outpaces clearance, triglycerides build up, setting the stage for metabolic diseases like dyslipidemia, acute pancreatitis, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

One of the master switches in this system is a protein called Liver X Receptor, or LXR, which controls several genes that are involved in making and handling fats.

When LXR is active, triglycerides and cholesterol tend to rise.

Therefore, dialing it down through medication seems promising, but as LXR is also involved in protective cholesterol pathways elsewhere in the body, blocking it everywhere could do more harm than good.

Now, scientists have addressed this problem with an orally administered compound that can repress the activity of LXR specifically in the liver and gut to lower triglycerides without disrupting the body’s protective cholesterol pathways.

The compound, TLC‑2716, is what is known as an “inverse agonist” for the LXR. Unlike a “blocker” (“antagonist”) that merely stops a receptor from being activated, an “inverse agonist” makes the receptor signal the opposite effect to what it would normally do.

Clinical Trial

The lab findings set the stage for a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 study in healthy adults. Participants received TLC‑2716 for 14 days given as a single dose per day and the trial focused first on safety and tolerability, and the authors report that the drug met these primary endpoints.

But even this short trial had clear effects: participants who received higher doses of TLC‑2716 showed notable drops in triglycerides as well as remnant cholesterol.

At the highest doses of TLC‑2716 (12mg), triglycerides fell by up to 38.5%, while postprandial (“after eating”) remnant cholesterol dropped by as much as 61%.

This happened despite participants starting with relatively normal lipid levels and without the use of other lipid-lowering drugs, the study showed.

Also, the treatment sped up triglyceride clearance by reducing the activity of two proteins that normally slow it down, ApoC3 and ANGPTL3.

At the same time, the study did not detect reductions in blood-cell expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1, genes used here as markers linked to reverse cholesterol transport.

Researchers said larger trials will be needed, but, for now, the concept has its first human proof of principle.

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Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
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Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)

A small part of Florida is the Snowy State for the second year in a row.

Snow briefly covered the grass and rooftops in parts of the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning as just enough frigid air rushed in behind a cold front to turn the last rain showers into snowflakes in the Sunshine State.

And it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Less than a year ago, on Jan. 21, 2025, some of those same areas saw up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow in what was the most significant snowfall in many places since the late 1800s.

Snow photos flooded social media. There were a few flakes on the beach and snow nestled into palm fronds. It was too warm to stick to the roads, but a dusting of snow sat on the grass for a little while before mostly melting.

The rare snow in the South wasn't just in Florida. Southeastern Alabama and southern Georgia also reported snow in areas that also got to celebrate a second winter wonderland in less than a year.

Snow covered the ground in Columbus and Macon, Georgia, and officials warned enough might fall to make travel treacherous.

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Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)

A shark mauled a boy swimming in Sydney Harbor on Sunday, leaving him in critical condition with serious leg injuries, authorities said.

The predator bit the boy, believed to be about 13 years old, during the late afternoon off Shark Beach, New South Wales state police said.

"The injuries are consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark," police said in a statement.

Officers pulled the boy from the water off the harbor beach within minutes of being alerted to the incident, police said.

They gave the boy first aid for "serious" leg injuries while he was aboard a police boat, applying two medical tourniquets.

Paramedics transported him to Sydney Children's Hospital, where he was said to be in critical condition.

"Swimmers are advised to avoid entering nearby waters at this time," police said.

Shark Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburb of Vaucluse, was closed and police evacuated nearby beaches in the harbor, the state government said.

Wildlife experts were working to identify the shark species involved, it said in a statement.

"This is a tragic shark attack on a young boy having a swim on a Sunday afternoon near a harbor beach in Sydney's east," New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.

"Our thoughts are with the young boy and his family. I understand there were also other young people with him at the time of the attack, our thoughts are also with them."

There have been more than 1,280 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which more than 250 resulted in death, according to a database of the predators' encounters with humans.

Increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures that appear to be swaying sharks' migratory patterns may be contributing to a rise in attacks despite overfishing depleting some species, scientists say.

A great white shark mauled surfer Mercury Psillakis to death at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach in September.

Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney.