Scottish Museums Remove Mummies from Display to ‘Protect Their Privacy’

The sarcophagus of Lady Shep-En-Hor (Instagram)

Glasgow: Asharq Al Awsat

07:10-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

Glasgow: Asharq Al Awsat

07:10-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

Scottish Museums Remove Mummies from Display to ‘Protect Their Privacy’

The sarcophagus of Lady Shep-En-Hor (Instagram)

Two museums in Glasgow have removed the remains of Egyptian mummies from display over ethical concerns, according to BBC.

The mummified corpse of the priest Nekht was taken out of public view at Kelvingrove Gallery, while The Hunterian Museum has covered Lady Shep-En-Hor's body in a specially designed textile to protect it from being seen by visitors.

The institutions said the decisions followed a reassessment of their duty of care towards the deceased.

It comes after the International Council of Museums (Icom) revised its code of ethics, recommending that the “inherent dignity” of human remains be upheld.

Both museums said they would consider repatriation of the remains should they receive an approach from a country or institution.

Despite the new code of ethics, there is no uniform approach across Scotland's museum sector with different institutions given leeway on how to implement it.

Nekht is thought to have lived at some point between 1985 and 1797 BC and was excavated at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt during digs carried out in the early 20th century.

The remains were donated to the city of Glasgow in 1923.

A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said the withdrawal of the remains “reflected contemporary museum practice.”

They added a new draft human remains policy proposed that they were only displayed “where there is documented and informed consent from the deceased individual or, in appropriate circumstances, their descendants.”

They said a parliamentary group on African repatriation had highlighted “ethical concerns” over the display of such remains due to the “constant disregard” of potential wishes and intentions of ancestors who buried them.

Meanwhile, The Hunterian said it had sought advice from Egyptologists before protecting Lady Shep-En-Hor's remains as part of a “commitment to becoming a more ethical institution.”

A spokesperson for the museum, managed by the University of Glasgow, said the conclusion of that consultation led to the view Lady Shep-En-Hor “deserved privacy in death.”

Her ornate sarcophagus, which has been on display almost continuously since 1820, will remain on public view as a “fine work of late period ancient Egyptian funerary art.”

Lady Shep-En-Hor has never been removed from the coffin, but has been X-rayed and CT scanned in the last 50 years.

In the 1970s, several theories were put forward questioning whether the remains in the coffin were actually those of Lady Shep-En-Hor.

The Icom code, which was revised in June, states museums should “uphold the inherent dignity of human remains and promote respect for their significance.”

It adds: “Decisions about these items and collections should be made in collaboration with descendants or communities from which they originate, if known.”

Indonesia Sends Oxygen Bus to Aid Residents Choking on Forest Fire Haze

FILE PHOTO: A resident receives oxygen from a free mobile oxygen bus deployed by the city government amid haze from wildfires in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia, October 23, 2026. REUTERS/Arief Rahman Septian Prathama/File Photo

Asharq Al Awsat

07:41-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

07:41-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

Indonesia Sends Oxygen Bus to Aid Residents Choking on Forest Fire Haze

A bus fitted out with oxygen tanks is providing a sanctuary in a city on Indonesia's Borneo island where people are choking from forest-fire-induced haze and the blazes show no sign of letting up.

Indonesia regularly battles seasonal forest fires, predominantly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, but this year the infernos are the most intense in more than a decade. An intense El Niño weather phenomenon has driven up temperatures, leaving the country's vast forests and peatlands more vulnerable to fires that have turned skies orange across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

As respiratory illnesses increased in the Central Kalimantan city of ⁠Palangka Raya, the ⁠local government provided an 'oxygen bus' replete with oxygen tanks and medical professionals who offer residents a chance to be hooked up to a small oxygen tube around their nose for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.

"The service is intended to help people access oxygen, particularly those experiencing respiratory problems or who need oxygen ⁠support amid unhealthy air quality conditions," the Central Kalimantan provincial health department said on Instagram this week.

Indonesia's air pollution index has shown some areas of Borneo and Sumatra registering pollution levels of over 1,000, with readings of 300 or more already categorized as hazardous.

Respiratory illnesses linked to the fires have risen, with about 350,000 cases from August to October 25, the health ministry said. Central Kalimantan reported about 31,000 cases as of October 25.

"This is a disaster from nature and there is not much we can do," ⁠Oktawina, 44, ⁠who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said with an oxygen tube hooked to her nose.

Medical staff on the white-and-blue bus recorded patients' details and administered oxygen to residents reporting breathing difficulties. One of them, Yuda, said most residents who came to the bus coughing or had trouble breathing.

Purnasari, 31, another patient on the bus, said: "If I've been out of the house lately I feel tightness and coughing ... because this morning the thick yellowish smoke so my breathing feels tight."

Hundreds of students protested at the office of the provincial governor last week demanding a greater response to the fires, local news website Kompas reported.

Varieties

World’s Highest Bridge Becomes Tourist Hot Spot in China

Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge is the world’s highest, according to Guinness World Records (Shutterstock)

London: Asharq Al Awsat

07:33-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

07:20-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

London: Asharq Al Awsat

07:33-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

07:20-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

World’s Highest Bridge Becomes Tourist Hot Spot in China

Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge is the world’s highest, according to Guinness World Records (Shutterstock)

Against the towering mountains of southwestern China, a crowd gathered as a young man prepared to bungee jump off the world’s highest bridge.

He stood above a vast canyon, the bridge’s roadway soaring nearly nine times higher above the water than San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Beyond him, the ancient peaks of Guizhou rolled toward the horizon. Around him, spectators edged closer, phones raised, eager to capture the moment.

First came the safety checks. Strapped into a harness, he stood on a platform beneath the roadway as staff inspected his equipment.

Then he stepped into the air.

For seven seconds, he plunged toward the canyon floor, hundreds of meters below.

Then the huge bungee cord bounced him back. Next came the applause.

It was an extraordinary spectacle, not least because of where it was happening: a towering suspension bridge in one of China’s most mountainous provinces, where an engineering marvel is now an unlikely playground for tourists and thrill-seekers, according to CNN.

Opened in September 2025, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge towers 625 meters above southwestern China’s Beipan River, making it the world’s highest, according to Guinness World Records.

Built to slash a once-arduous journey across the canyon from roughly two hours to just two minutes, the span connects rural mountain communities to China’s wider road network.

From its opening through August 2026, the bridge attracted approximately 3.3 million visitors, according to figures provided to CNN by local officials.

For decades, China has built bridges to conquer its difficult terrain. Huajiang raises a different question: What happens when the bridge itself becomes the vacation spot?

The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge stretches nearly 2.9 kilometers across the landscape, its two enormous teal towers rising above a gorge that seems to disappear into the mountains.

But the span’s most unusual feature may be what happens beneath its traffic.

Visitors can enter the structure itself, stepping onto glass observation platforms offering stomach-churning views of the canyon below.

For those seeking something more adventurous, there’s the bungee jump, along with an exposed walkway beneath the road.

For Lin Guoquan, the bridge opened possibilities he could scarcely have imagined for his family’s village.

After years working as a chef in Yunnan, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, Lin returned to Guizhou and began converting old houses, including his grandparents’ home, into guest accommodations. He was betting that the new bridge would bring visitors to a place few outsiders had reason to visit before.

The gamble appears to have paid off.

“When we first opened, we only had nine rooms. Now we have expanded to 52, and we still don’t have enough rooms for all our guests,” Lin told CNN.

His business has grown alongside an extraordinary surge in tourism. During the nine-day Chinese New Year holiday in February 2026, more than 300,000 visits were recorded at the bridge’s service area — greater than the population of Buffalo, New York.

For entrepreneurs like Lin, attracting visitors now depends on more than the roads leading into the canyon. It also depends on being able to reach potential guests online.

Mobile coverage in the area was once limited. State-owned telecom operator China Mobile, working with technology giant Huawei, has since expanded the network, adding base stations to handle growing numbers of visitors.

“What people see is this mighty physical bridge,” said Zhou Jianguo, a member of Huawei’s China strategy and business development division. “Yet a bridge in the digital world is equally necessary, and that is our communications network.”

Near the top of the canyon, tourists post from a perch at the other end of the hospitality spectrum.

Unlike Lin’s converted village homes, the 83-room luxury Onaemont Hotel was conceived as part of the larger development project to build a tourism industry around the new bridge.

For Cao Luyao, the hotel’s marketing communications manager, the bigger change isn’t simply how many people are visiting this remote corner of Guizhou—it’s how long they’re staying.

“Tourists no longer just come to see the bridge, they can stay overnight beside it,” Cao said. “This upgrades bridge-centered tourism from quick pass-through visits to immersive overnight stays.”

Varieties

Scottish Museums Remove Mummies from Display to ‘Protect Their Privacy’

The sarcophagus of Lady Shep-En-Hor (Instagram)

Glasgow: Asharq Al Awsat

07:10-27 October 2026 AD ـ 16 Jumada Al-Ula 1448 AH

Glasgow: Asharq Al Awsat