Category World News

El-Enany, a professor of Egyptology at Cairo’s Helwan University, would become the first Arab director-general of the organization, which oversees international cooperation efforts in science and education in addition to the UN’s handling of cultural heritage.

Firmin Edouard Matoko of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabriela Ramos of Mexico, who both withdrew earlier this year, both campaigned heavily for the position.

The board’s decision, which includes 58 of the organization’s 194 member states, is scheduled to be finalized at UNESCO’s general assembly meeting in Uzbekistan next month.

Audrey Azoulay, France’s former minister of culture, will be the organization’s new leader, who has been in the position since 2017.

In particular, Azoulay was instrumental in initiating a significant effort to rebuild Mosul, a former city of Iraq, after it was ravaged by fighting between the ISIL (ISIS)-linked US and Iraqi forces.

El-Enany’s nomination comes as the Paris-based UN body struggles with choosing which cultural heritage sites to protect from threats like wars, pollution, and climate change.

At the end of 2026, the organization will also be subject to an 8% funding cut, with the United States once more formally resigning along with its funding.

The Trump administration will pull the US out of the UN cultural organization for the second time in protest of its members’ decision to accept the State of Palestine as a member in 2011.

More than 80% of member states now support the State of Palestine as a full member of the UN General Assembly, making it a Permanent Observer State.

US State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce argued that the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization had been a result of allowing Palestine to remain a member of UNESCO.

Israel dissolved UNESCO at the end of 2018.

Since October 7, 2023, the organization has verified damage to a total of 110 sites, including 13 religious sites, 77 historic or artistic buildings, three depositories of movable cultural property, nine monuments, one museum, and seven archeological sites.

El-Enani, 54, started out as a tour guide for ancient Egyptian sites before becoming a well-known Egyptianologist.

From 2016 to 2022, he served as Egypt’s president under the auspices of antiquities and, later, tourism.

El-Sisi applauded the nomination of El-Enani, calling it a “historical achievement that shall be added to Egypt’s diplomatic and cultural record as well as the achievements of the Arab and African people.”

El-Enani was in charge of launching numerous mega-tourism initiatives, including those involving the Cairo National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, the Jewish Temple, and numerous ancient discoveries that helped revive the nation’s sluggish tourism industry.

Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro claimed that a “false flag operation” to plant explosives at the US Embassy in Caracas, which was being conducted in response to US military expansion off the coast of the Latin American nation, was prevented by his security forces.

In a late on Monday televised interview, Maduro claimed that two trustworthy sources, both domestic and international, had informed the government about the potential attack by “extremist groups of the local Venezuelan right” and that security personnel had been dispatched to reinforce the embassy.

According to Maduro, the sources “concluded on the possibility that a local terrorist group may have improvised something at the US Embassy in Caracas.”

He continued, “This was supported by a person who will be known soon, and requested by a person who will be known soon, but this is all going on.”

The intention was to blame Venezuela’s government for the attack, which would “start a new conflict” with the US, he continued.

The US Embassy is closed, and only staff members are in charge of the building’s security and upkeep now that Caracas and Washington have strained diplomatic relations.

The alleged plan to attack the embassy comes as US President Donald Trump is rumored to have stopped negotiations with Venezuela’s government and instructed his special envoy Richard Grenell to halt all communication with Caracas.

Trump spoke with senior military leaders at a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday, according to an unnamed senior US official, who told Reuters news agency on Monday.

Trump’s military strategy, according to the official, has not yet been decided whether to launch a second phase of his military strategy, which will reportedly involve attacks on Venezuelan sites. The official also told Reuters.

Venezuelan and US tensions grow

In a failed attempt to remove Maduro, Trump broke ties with Caracas and recognized an opposition leader as Venezuela’s leader during his first term in office.

While US Navy ships and a submarine were deployed off the country’s coast in August, Trump claimed Maduro was one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers and announced that a reward for his capture would be doubled to $ 50 million. The military is expanding, and F-35 fighter jets from the US have also been added.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that four people had died as a result of the most recent attack on a small Caribbean vessel that the White House claimed had been a target of “narco-terrorists” and was carrying “narco-terrorists”

The US Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel produced a secret and extensive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to a US media outlet CNN. In addition, the president is permitted to use deadly force against a wide range of suspects because of an imminent threat to US citizens from drug gangs.

The Trump administration’s aggressive campaign against Latin American drug cartels, which also includes increased authority for the CIA to carry out covert operations and lethal targeting, is said to be a significant component of the Justice Department’s opinion.

Prior to this, those responsible for interdicting drug-trafficking vessels and making arrests smugglers were viewed as criminal suspects with due process rights by the US Coast Guard.

Officials in Venezuela have criticized the Trump administration’s shipping targeting, claiming that it is part of an extrajudicial killing plot.

A cryptic video shared by LeBron James has set the internet abuzz, with fans wondering if the NBA superstar was preparing to announce his retirement or simply another commercial venture.

The 10-second video posted on James’s social media channels on Monday teased that the Los Angeles Lakers star would reveal the “decision of all decisions” at 16:00 GMT on Tuesday, dubbing the event “The Second Decision”.

The video was a clear reference to James’s first famous, choreographed “Decision” in 2010, when he kept the basketball world on tenterhooks before announcing he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat in free agency.

Monday’s video comes as James, 40, prepares to make history later this month by becoming the first NBA player to begin a 23rd season in the league.

The decision of all decisions. October 7th. 12pm EST. 🫡👑 #TheSecondDecision pic.twitter.com/1uop8sIU25

At a Lakers media day last week, James said he had not decided about when he plans to retire from basketball, acknowledging only that he expected it to come “sooner than later”.

“I’m excited about today, I’m excited about the opportunity to be able to play the game that I love for another season,” James told reporters.

“Whatever the journey lays out this year, I’m super-invested because I don’t know when the end is. It’s a lot sooner than later.”

While one US media outlet’s report about Monday’s video wondered in a headline, “Could retirement be next?”, reports also noted that James has an array of commercial partnerships, including Amazon, which could explain the cryptic post. Amazon is staging a sales event on Tuesday.

Yet whether Monday’s video teases something momentous, such as his retirement, or simply a new business venture, ticket prices for the Lakers’ final home game of the season reportedly skyrocketed.

Reports citing TickPick, the online marketplace for buying and selling tickets to sports and cultural events, said the cheapest ticket for the Lakers’ game against the Utah Jazz on April 12 jumped from $85 to $445 in the hours after the video went online.

The cheapest price for a ticket on the SeatGeek online secondary market was an eye-watering $821, while the lowest price on Ticketmaster was advertised at more than $955.