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Sisi Inaugurates Al-Hussein Mosque after Renovation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi inaugurated the Imam Hussein Mosque in central Cairo
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi inaugurated the Imam Hussein Mosque in central Cairo
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Sisi Inaugurates Al-Hussein Mosque after Renovation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi inaugurated the Imam Hussein Mosque in central Cairo
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi inaugurated the Imam Hussein Mosque in central Cairo

After 21 days of non-stop work, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi inaugurated the Imam Hussein Mosque in central Cairo. The mosque has recovered its charm as one of the most prestigious, historic, and religious landmarks in Egypt following a renovation project that cost 150 million Egyptian pounds (1$-18.5 Egyptian pound).

Accompanied by Sultan of the Bohra sect in India Mufaddal Seif Al-Din, Sisi visited the mosque and examined the renovations including the new cabin in the Imam Hussein shrine.

“The development of the Imam Hussein Mosque came in light of the president’s directives to restore the shrines of Ahl al-Bayt including the tombs of Imam Hussein, Sayyida Nafisa, and Sayyida Zaynab. The renovations included repairing the interior halls of the mosques and their architectural decorations, along with developing services and facilities surrounding the sites including roads, squares, and entrances leading to them. This project aims at supporting the government’s efforts to develop the historic sites in the capital,” said Presidential Spokesperson Ambassador Bassam Rady in a statement.

The project kicked off in mid-March. The mosque was closed and the renovations were launched based on a protocol signed in December with the Ministry of Awqaf, syndicate of Al Ashraf, the Sufi Association, and Mawadda association for the development and embellishment of the Imam Hussein Mosque. According to the protocol, the Masajid Development Foundation pledged to fund the project with 150 million Egyptian pounds.

Sisi and the accompanying delegation started their visit with prayers, and then examined the Imam Hussein Shrine where he read Al Fatiha. Then, he visited the chamber featuring the memorabilia of the Prophet Muhammad including hair strands, kohl tool, a sword and a cane, in addition to a Quran written by Imam Ali on deer leather, comprising 501 pages and weighing 4.5 kg.

The project manager briefed the president on the renovation, saying “the development works were accomplished in a record time. They took 21 days with the participation of 300 workers. The works included restoring walls, replacing damaged parts, selecting colors matching the historic columns, painting over 4,000 square meters of ceilings, changing electricity grid and improving its efficiency, equipping the mosque with a central cooling system, replacing the lightning and sound systems, expanding women’s praying space to accommodate 450 instead of 85, adding an external space that accommodates 3,000 worshipers, building a fence featuring six entrance gates and four parking gates, and adding a Qibla in the external space and a stage for Eid prayers.”

The president assured that ‘the landmark was preserved during the project,” stressing that “all the works were implemented in coordination with the ministry of tourism and antiquities.” For his part, the project manager emphasized that “all the implemented works were executed in coordination with the ministry, even the controversial restoration of the dome and its improved air conditioning system.”

The restoration of the Imam Hussein Mosque sparked some controversy over the past weeks. Archeologists and heritage advocates shared photos of the projects on social media and criticized equipping the dome with an air conditioner, and constructing a wall around the mosque for fear of “affecting the historic identity of the mosque.” The closure of the mosque before the Holy Month was also criticized, which prompted the ministry of Awqaf to reopen it for prayers as of the beginning of Ramadan.

“According to historic writings, the head of Imam Hussein ibn Ali ibin Abi Talib was transferred from Ashkelon to Cairo, on 8 Jumada al-Thani in 548 AH/1153 AD. It was carried in a cellar to the Emerald Palace, then it was buried in the Mashhad Dome, which was constructed for this purpose in 549 AH (1154 AD). When Saladin took the rule of Egypt in 1171 AD, he built a school near the dome, which was later turned into the current Imam Hussein Mosque,” said Dr. Abdullah Kamel, professor of Islamic antiquities, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“In 1235 AD, Abu Al Kassem bin Yahya bin Nasser al-Sukari, launched the construction of a minaret that was completed in 1236. It’s a decorated gypsum minaret above the green door, dating to the Fatimid Caliphate, and it was constantly renewed and maintained. The current mosque was built during the rule of Isma'il Pasha. It took 10 years and was completed in 1873. The area of the mosque was expanded from 1,550 meters to 1,840 meters in the 1950s,” Kamel added.

Ambassador Rady hailed “the appreciated efforts of Sultan of the Bohra sect to renovate and restore the shrines of Ahl Al Bayt and other historic mosques in Egypt, in addition to contributing to various charity works such as supporting the ‘Tahya Masr Fund’.”

Egypt has built great ties with the Bohra sect. Over the past years, the Egyptian president and Bohra Sultan met several times: in August 2014, July 2019, and in 2018. During each of the three meetings, Sultan Mufaddal Seif Al-Din donated 10 million Egyptian pounds to the ‘Tahya Masr Fund’, according to official reports.

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Varieties

India Vows Action after 1st Cheetah Shot Dead

A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
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India Vows Action after 1st Cheetah Shot Dead

A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)

India has vowed "swift action" after a cheetah was shot dead, the first such killing since the country began reintroducing the animals in 2022, the government said Wednesday.

The environment ministry said it had ordered a "high-level team for an on-ground investigation" into the shooting of the 19-month-old male, treating the incident with "utmost gravity”

The India-born cheetah -- whose mother was among those introduced to India from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa as part of efforts to restore the planet's fastest land animal -- was shot as it prowled in forests outside a protected national park.

Asiatic cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952. The critically endangered subspecies, once found across the Middle East, Central Asia and India, now survives in very small numbers in Iran.

Their African cousins were first reintroduced in September 2022 to India, to the Kuno National Park, 300 kilometers south of New Delhi.

The wounded cheetah was picked up on Sunday in forests in Madhya Pradesh state, outside Kuno's boundaries, and taken for veterinary care.

"During the surgery, five firearm pellets were recovered from its body," the environment ministry said.

Despite efforts, the cheetah died on Tuesday, AFP reported.

"Medical examinations corroborated multiple internal injuries associated with the recovered firearm pellets," it added.

The high-profile project, championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been dogged by criticism over the deaths of several of the cats.

But experts in animal reintroductions say they often result in more than 50 percent mortality, especially in the initial phases.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority, which oversees the cheetah project, said that survival rates and hunting successes are "comparable to other international cheetah reintroduction efforts, with recorded wild prey kills confirming successful adaptation to the Indian landscape.”

The total cheetah population in the wild in India is around 60, including some 40 Indian-born cheetahs.

Varieties

Philippine Island Fights Rising Seas with Nature, Not Concrete

Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
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Philippine Island Fights Rising Seas with Nature, Not Concrete

Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP

For years, residents of a flood-prone Philippine island north of Manila have elevated their homes atop layer upon layer of concrete, only to see floodwaters threaten them again.

Burdened by strong storm surges, land subsidence and rising seas exacerbated by climate change, the 3,000 residents of tiny Pamarawan Island have turned to bamboo poles and discarded oyster shells to build a barrier aimed at weakening waves and managing floods.

The unusual approach offers a nature-based alternative for a country still grappling with a multibillion-dollar scandal that drove public fury over substandard -- and at times non-existent -- concrete flood-control projects.

"We were terrified whenever there were typhoons. We couldn't sleep at night," fisherman Edgar Javier told AFP on a recent visit, recalling how strong waves once brought down one of his home's concrete walls.

"Whenever the waves hit, the wall shakes."

The project began when the city government of Malolos, home to the island, launched a study with a Dutch engineering consultancy.

"(Concrete infrastructure) projects won't suffice," Mayor Christian Natividad told AFP.

While the project, the first of its kind in the country, initially faced resistance from officials and residents working without a blueprint, Natividad said they had "nothing to lose".

"It's like you accept daily flooding or you do something else with risk," he said.

"I chose risk."

- Slowing the waves -

By May last year, workers, many of them residents, had begun installing bamboo poles packed with brushwood along the coast. They are designed to slow water flow and trap sediment, with the goal of gradually raising the seabed and supporting mangrove growth.

When AFP journalists visited the site, workers were building an oyster-shell breakwater about 100 meters (330 feet) offshore.

Under the searing heat, men in caps pounded wooden stakes used to secure coconut-fiber bags filled with shells on an artificial shore first created with sea sand.

"This breakwater's main purpose is to lessen the impact of the wave before it can reach the community," project manager Lyana Galang told AFP, adding that the oyster-shell barriers work in concert with bamboo sediment traps.

Filipino scientist Antonio Contreras said the Philippines had long relied heavily on concrete dykes and seawalls, many undertaken without adequate study.

"We have altered the environment so much that we tend to work against nature when in fact we should work with it," Contreras told AFP, noting that some design flaws linked to corruption had cost lives.

But nature-based solutions were not a universal answer, he warned, particularly during catastrophic floods, and should complement conventional infrastructure.

Contreras said the approach in Pamarawan could be replicated elsewhere, provided local environmental conditions were carefully taken into account.

Bamboo and oyster shells also need to be sourced sustainably, he warned, as bamboo deteriorates over time and releases carbon as it decomposes.

The nature-based installations, which cover about 14 hectares along Manila Bay, cost 70 million pesos ($1.1 million), including maintenance, compared with around 90 million pesos for a concrete seawall, Mayor Natividad said.

He estimated bamboo will need to be replaced once every five years.

- 'Our feet are dry' -

With its first phase completed in late 2025, the installation has already brought some comfort to residents.

Fisherman Edgar Javier said the breakwaters had softened waves and helped keep floodwaters at bay during typhoons and monsoon rains this year.

"This has made a huge difference for us. We can still feel the waves, but they have significantly weakened. (They're) almost nothing now," he said.

Arsenia Cabigao, 58, said flooding had previously disrupted her livelihood by submerging areas where she dried fish.

"Our feet are dry at last. They weren't before," she told AFP as she sliced small fish in a narrow Pamarawan alley.

The project's long-term effectiveness remains uncertain, with a scientific assessment due next year to determine if mangrove planting can begin, Natividad said.

Its success, he added, would become more tangible over the next decade as accumulated sediment stabilized the seabed and allowed for the growth of mangroves, which would provide another natural barrier.

Vince Dizon, head of the public works department before a recent reassignment, said he hoped the Pamarawan project could be replicated in other flood-prone areas.

"We need to study this, and learn from those who know and have already done this correctly, so we won't waste public funds again," Dizon told reporters on a visit to the island.

For residents who fear being driven from their longtime home, the ultimate test will be whether their houses remain upright when typhoons and monsoon rains strike.

"It's hard to fight water. Now we're trying to live with water," Natividad told AFP.

"We're building with nature."

Varieties

Child Attacked by Wolf in German Wildlife Park

A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
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Child Attacked by Wolf in German Wildlife Park

A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

A young girl was attacked by a wolf and badly injured in a German wildlife park Wednesday, police said, adding that the eight-year-old was taken to hospital by rescue helicopter.

"The girl was attacked and seriously injured by at least one wolf within an animal enclosure while she was there with two other children and a staff member," AFP quoted police said.

They added in a statement that "the precise circumstances of the incident are the subject of an ongoing police investigation.”

The attack took place in the town of Baruth/Mark south of the capital Berlin, police said, adding that the staff member and other children were not injured.

The park keeps brown bears, lynx and grey and arctic wolves, according to its website, which said that the facility was temporarily closed without providing further details.