Entertainment
With presidents and royalty in attendance, Egypt unveils $1bn cultural ‘GEM’
Prime ministers, presidents and royalty descended on Cairo on Saturday to attend the spectacle-laden inauguration of a sprawling new museum built near the Pyramids to house one of the world’s richest collections of antiquities.
The inauguration of the $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum, or GEM, marks the end of a two-decade construction effort hampered by the Arab Spring uprisings, pandemic and wars in neighbouring countries.
“We’ve all dreamed of this project and whether it would really come true,” Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told a press conference, calling the museum a “gift from Egypt to the whole world from a country whose history goes back more than 7,000 years.”
Spectators, including President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, gathered late on Saturday before an enormous screen outside the museum, which projected images of the country’s most famous cultural sites as dancers in glittering pharaonic-style garb waved glowing orbs and sceptres.
‘New chapter for Egypt’
They were accompanied by Egyptian pop stars and an international orchestra decked out in white beneath a sky lit with lasers, fireworks and hovering lights that formed into moving hieroglyphics.
By opening the museum, Egypt was “writing a new chapter in the story of this ancient nation’s present and future,” Sisi said at the opening.
The audience included German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, and the crown princes of Oman and Bahrain.
The museum’s most heavily promoted attraction is the expansive collection of treasures from Tutankhamun’s tomb, uncovered in 1922, including the boy-king’s golden burial mask, throne and sarcophagus, and thousands of other objects.
A colossal statue of Ramses II that sat for decades in a downtown Cairo square bearing the pharaoh’s name now adorns the grand entry hall.
The complex’s sleek design, evoking the Pyramids, cuts a marked contrast to the dusty and often outmoded displays in the neoclassical Egyptian Museum that opened over a century ago in central Cairo overlooking Tahrir Square.
Old museum looted
The old museum suffered indignities in recent years, including the looting of several display cases during Egypt’s 2011 uprising, when antiquities theft was rife.
In 2014, the beard of Tutankhamun’s burial mask broke off when workers were changing the lights in the display case, then was clumsily glued back on. The following year, the mask was more properly restored and put back on display.
Officials hope the new museum can end a perception fueled by such events that Egypt has been remiss in caring for its priceless treasures, and add weight to its claims for Egyptian objects held in museums abroad to be returned.
“Is it a national shrine or a global showcase? A gesture of cultural sovereignty or a tool of soft power?” read an article in a special edition of state-run Al-Ahram Weekly devoted to the museum, which it called “a philosophy as much as it is a building.”
“The GEM is not a replica of the Louvre or the British Museum. It is Egypt’s response to both. Those museums were born of empire; this one is born of authenticity.”
The museum’s more than $1 billion price tag was funded in large part by Japanese development loans. Designed by an Irish firm, Heneghan Peng Architects, it covers some 120 acres, making it roughly the same size as Vatican City.
Officials are also betting that the museum, the latest in a series of mega-projects launched or completed since 2014, can accelerate a revival of tourism, a vital source of foreign currency for an economy battered by years of regional conflicts and economic uncertainty.
A series of galleries had been opened late last year, but many exhibits were not accessible to the public.
Entertainment
Blood found inside home of Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, source says
A little bit of blood was found inside the Arizona home of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, whose disappearance is being investigated as a crime, a law enforcement source familiar with the case told CBS News.
It is unclear whose blood it is, but it is being tested. Investigators and analysts combed through Guthrie’s Tucson, Arizona, home in search of clues to the 84-year-old’s disappearance. During a news conference Tuesday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the house was turned back over to the family Monday.
When asked about the blood, Nanos said evidence collected from the home was still being processed and that none of it pointed toward a suspect so far.
“I’m not saying there’s blood inside that house or outside that house,” Nanos told reporters. He said he couldn’t provide details about what was collected from the home.
Investigators believe Guthrie was abducted from her home in the middle of the night over the weekend, Nanos told CBS News. Nanos told reporters Tuesday the search was ongoing.
“We don’t know where she is,” the sheriff said.
Nanos said it wasn’t clear how many people took Guthrie. “It could be one, it could’ve been more, I don’t know,” he said.
Asked if the perpetrators may have taken a security camera from the front of the home, he said investigators were looking into that.
Nanos was asked if a ransom demand had been made for Guthrie. “We’re following all leads,” the sheriff said. He also said, “That’s all I can tell you. We’ve got hundreds of leads.”
Nanos said investigators hadn’t determined whether Guthrie was targeted or if the abduction was random. “We’re going to assume both sides of that,” he said.
Jon Edwards, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Tucson, said the bureau was working with the sheriff’s department and providing support, including obtaining information from cell towers. He renewed a call for people to contact authorities if they saw anything in Guthrie’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood Saturday night or Sunday morning.
“We are looking at this from every angle, but we need your help,” Edwards said.
The sheriff has dismissed the possibility that Guthrie, who lives alone, may have wandered away from her home because he said she doesn’t have any cognitive issues and her mobility is limited.
Authorities have been searching for Guthrie since Sunday. She was last seen at her home Saturday night, but no one knew she was missing until she didn’t show up for church the next morning, Nanos said.
Guthrie takes daily medication, adding additional urgency to the search. Asked if investigators were looking for someone who was still alive, Nanos said, “We hope we are.”
Savannah Guthrie asked people on social media Monday to pray for her mother.
“Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant,” she said on Instagram. “Raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. we need you.”
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
An official told CBS News that 88-Crime, an Arizona-based, non-profit program that works with law enforcement to help solve crimes, is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for “information leading to the arrest of the person or persons involved in the disappearance.”
Nancy Guthrie’s family has asked residents near her home to review their security footage from over the weekend, especially between the hours of 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Sunday. When CBS News asked Nanos about the time frame, he said the department is starting with a narrow window and will expand outward.
“Keep looking. You never know what you’ll see,” Nanos told CBS News. “Maybe it’s just a pair of headlights. But if you see something that just doesn’t seem right in that neighborhood, please let us know. We can come and download all your digital evidence and take a look at it ourselves.”
Entertainment
Did Lewis Hamilton have eyes for Kendall Jenner before Kim came along?
Lewis Hamilton’s love life is back in the headlines as new details have resurfaced about his past connections with the Kardashians.
The F1 star, 41, reportedly sparked romance rumors with model Kendall Jenner years before his reported love speculations with Kim Kardashian.
Lewis and Kim reportedly had a very romantic stay at the 85-acre estate which is known for hosting the rich and famous.
The mother of four reportedly flew in from Los Angeles on her private jet, meanwhile Lewis arrived by helicopter.

However, back in the time when Kendall and Lewis’ romance rumours all over the internet, the 30-year-old star was seen wearing his gold chain during the Monaco Grand Prix but the F1 star denied anything romantic, saying they were just friends.
Though the racing driver has always said that his friendship with the super model was good and they were just friends, but fans continued to wonder if they were more than friends before Kim entered.
With Lewis now reportedly dating Kim, the focus has shifted now but the old rumors remain a talking point for celebrity watchers around the world.
Entertainment
Palace releases video as Princess Kate steps out in Wales after Edward’s brave stand
The Princess of Wales arrived in west Wales to tour the family-run business as part of her ongoing efforts to champion British textile producers and independent enterprises.
The Princess, 44, put on a stylish display as she visited Melin Tregwynt, a woollen mill weaving traditional Welsh designs in a remote wooded valley on the Pembrokeshire coast.
During her trip to the far west of the country on Tuesday, February 3, Catherine saw a woollen mill, which creates unique blankets and other products using longstanding practices.
Kensington Palace released Princess Kate’s video from the site, sharing details of the future queen’s engagements.
The visits are part of Princess Kate’s ongoing immersion in the textile and fashion industry as she highlights the heritage skills and modern work techniques that go into creating beautiful, original garments.
Her day out also includes visiting a brand once backed by sister-in-law Meghan Markle. Hiut Denim, a premium jeans manufacturer based in Cardigan that was propelled to international attention after being worn by the Duchess of Sussex.
The Welsh brand holds a notable place in recent royal fashion history, having been thrust into the global spotlight in 2018 when Harry’s wife chose Hiut’s high-waisted Dina skinny jeans for an official visit to Cardiff alongside Prince Harry.
She kicked off the day at Melin Tregwynt, about 260 miles west of London, which dates from 1841 and is still employing over 40 local people who create woollen blankets, scarves and cushions that are sold across the world.
She was taken around by the mill’s director, Louise Clarke, and shown how the mill is preserving traditional craft skills by drawing on generations of expertise among its staff to mentor and inspire the latest young apprentices.
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