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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

17th Century Wreck Reappears from Stockholm Deep

The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
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17th Century Wreck Reappears from Stockholm Deep

The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

A 17th century Swedish Navy shipwreck buried underwater in central Stockholm for 400 years has suddenly become visible due to unusually low Baltic Sea levels.

The wooden planks of the ship's well-preserved hull have since early February been peeking out above the surface of the water off the island of Kastellholmen, providing a clear picture of its skeleton.

"We have a shipwreck here, which was sunk on purpose by the Swedish Navy," Jim Hansson, a marine archeologist at Stockholm's Vrak - Museum of Wrecks, told AFP.

Hansson said experts believe that after serving in the navy, the ship was sunk around 1640 to use as a foundation for a new bridge to the island of Kastellholmen.

Archeologists have yet to identify the exact ship, as it is one of five similar wrecks lined up in the same area to form the bridge, all dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

"This is a solution, instead of using new wood you can use the hull itself, which is oak" to build the bridge, Hansson said.

"We don't have shipworm here in the Baltic that eats the wood, so it lasts, as you see, for 400 years," he said, standing in front of the wreck.

Parts of the ship had already broken the surface in 2013, but never before has it been as visible as it is now, as the waters of the Baltic Sea reach their lowest level in about 100 years, according to the archaeologist.

"There has been a really long period of high pressure here around our area in the Nordics. So the water from the Baltic has been pushed out to the North Sea and the Atlantic," Hansson explained.

A research program dubbed "the Lost Navy" is underway to identify and precisely date the large number of Swedish naval shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the Baltic.

Varieties

China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
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China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)

Fifteen years ago, Beijing's Liangma riverbanks would have been smog-choked and deserted in winter, but these days they are dotted with families and exercising pensioners most mornings.

The turnaround is the result of a years-long campaign that threw China's state power behind policies like moving factories and electrifying vehicles, to improve some of the world's worst air quality.

Pollution levels in many Chinese cities still top the World Health Organization's (WHO) limits, but they have fallen dramatically since the "airpocalypse" days of the past.

"It used to be really bad," said Zhao, 83, soaking up the sun by the river with friends.

"Back then when there was smog, I wouldn't come out," she told AFP, declining to give her full name.

These days though, the air is "very fresh".

Since 2013, levels of PM2.5 -- small particulate that can enter the lungs and bloodstream -- have fallen 69.8 percent, Beijing municipality said in January.

Particulate pollution fell 41 percent nationwide in the decade from 2014, and average life expectancy has increased 1.8 years, according to the University of Chicago's Air Quality Life Index (AQLI).

China's rapid development and heavy coal use saw air quality decline dramatically by the 2000s, especially when cold winter weather trapped pollutants close to the ground.

There were early attempts to tackle the issue, including installing desulphurization technology at coal power plants, while factory shutdowns and traffic control improved the air quality for events like the 2008 Olympics.

But the impact was short-lived, and the problem worsened.

- Action plan -

Public awareness grew, heightened by factors like the US embassy in Beijing making monitoring data public.

By 2013, several international schools had installed giant inflatable domes around sport facilities to protect students.

That year, multiple episodes of prolonged haze shrouded Chinese cities, with one in October bringing northeastern Harbin to a standstill for days as PM2.5 levels hit 40 times the WHO's then-recommended standard.

The phrase "I'm holding your hand, but I can't see your face" took off online.

Later that year, an eight-year-old became the country's youngest lung cancer patient, with doctors directly blaming pollution.

As concerns mounted, China's ruling Communist Party released a ten-point action plan, declaring "a war against pollution".

It led to expanded monitoring, improved factory technology and the closure or relocation of coal plants and mines.

In big cities, vehicles were restricted and the groundwork was laid for widespread electrification.

For the first time, "quantitative air quality improvement goals for key regions within a clear time limit" were set, a 2016 study noted.

These targets were "the most important measure", said Bluetech Clean Air Alliance director Tonny Xie, whose non-profit worked with the government on the plan.

"At that time, there were a lot of debates about whether we can achieve it, because (they were) very ambitious," he told AFP.

The policy targeted several key regions, where PM2.5 levels fell rapidly between 2013 and 2017, and the approach was expanded nationwide afterwards.

"Everybody, I think, would agree that this is a miracle that was achieved in China," Xie said.

China's success is "entirely" responsible for a decline in global pollution since 2014, AQLI said last summer.

- 'Low-hanging fruits' gone -

Still, in much of China the air remains dangerous to breathe by WHO standards.

This winter, Chinese cities, including financial hub Shanghai, were regularly among the world's twenty most polluted on monitoring site IQAir.

Linda Li, a running coach who has lived in both Beijing and Shanghai, said air quality has improved, but she still loses up to seven running days to pollution in a good month.

A top environment official last year said China aimed to "basically eliminate severe air pollution by 2025", but the government did not respond when AFP asked if that goal had been met.

Official 2025 data found nationwide average PM2.5 concentrations decreased 4.4 percent on-year.

Eighty-eight percent of days featured "good" air quality.

However, China's current definition of "good" is PM2.5 levels of under 35 micrograms per cubic meter, significantly higher than the WHO's recommended five micrograms.

China wants to tighten the standard to 25 by 2035.

The last five years have also seen pollution reduction slow.

The "low-hanging fruits" are gone, said Chengcheng Qiu from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Qiu's research suggests pollution is shifting west as heavy industry relocates to regions like Xinjiang, and that some cities in China have seen double-digit percentage increases in PM2.5 in the last five years.

"They can't just stop all industrial production. They need to find cleaner ways to produce the output," Qiu said.

There is hope for that, given China's status as a renewable energy powerhouse, with coal generation falling in 2025.

"Cleaner air ultimately rests on one clear direction," said Qiu.

"Move beyond fossil fuels and let clean energy power the next stage of development."

Varieties

Sydney Man Jailed for Mailing Reptiles in Popcorn Bags 

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
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Sydney Man Jailed for Mailing Reptiles in Popcorn Bags 

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)

A Sydney man who tried to post native lizards, dragons and other reptiles out of Australia in bags of popcorn and biscuit tins has been sentenced to eight years in jail, authorities said Tuesday.

The eight-year term handed down on Friday was a record for wildlife smuggling, federal environment officials said.

A district court in Sydney gave the man, 61-year-old Neil Simpson, a non-parole period of five years and four months.

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from seized parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania, the officials said in a statement.

The animals -- including shingleback lizards, western blue-tongue lizards, bearded dragons and southern pygmy spiny-tailed skinks -- were posted in 15 packages between 2018 and 2023.

"Lizards, skinks and dragons were secured in calico bags. These bags were concealed in bags of popcorn, biscuit tins and a women's handbag and placed inside cardboard boxes," the statement said.

The smuggler had attempted to get others to post the animals on his behalf but was identified by government investigators and the New South Wales police, it added.

Three other people were convicted for taking part in the crime.

The New South Wales government's environment department said that "the illegal wildlife trade is not a victimless crime", harming conservation and stripping the state "and Australia of its unique biodiversity".