Police in Egypt say a man admitted to killing a South Valley University colleague's lab mice to stop her from achieving a degree. AP
Police in Egypt say a man admitted to killing a South Valley University colleague's lab mice to stop her from achieving a degree. AP
Police in Egypt say a man admitted to killing a South Valley University colleague's lab mice to stop her from achieving a degree. AP
Police in Egypt say a man admitted to killing a South Valley University colleague's lab mice to stop her from achieving a degree. AP

Egyptian teaching assistant given six months in jail for killing 60 lab mice


Kamal Tabikha
  • English
  • Arabic

An Egyptian court has sentenced a university teaching assistant to six months in prison for killing 60 laboratory mice to sabotage a colleague's research project and damage her chances of earning a master’s degree.

Armian M, whose full name was not released by the court, killed the animals by poisoning their drinking water. He was also fined 50 pounds ($2.67) by a misdemeanours court in the Upper Egyptian province of Qena.

The man’s colleague, a veterinary pathology fellow at Qena’s South Valley University, told police that she arrived at her lab to find all her mice dead.

She found traces of formaldehyde on the floor of the lab and in the water containers inside the mice’s cages.

Ms Barbary said she suspected her colleague killed her mice. She told police that he did it intentionally, knowing that he would ruin her research and destroy her hope of a degree.

Armian M admitted to killing the animals, a police custody report said.

South Valley University, established in 1995, is one of Upper Egypt's prominent private universities. It has a reputation for a more modern approach to its programmes compared to other higher education institutions in Egypt.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Midnights'
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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go

Flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.

The stay

Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.

Honeymoonish
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  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Players Selected for La Liga Trials

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Updated: June 27, 2022, 2:34 PM`