Egypt’s antiquities authority has closed the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza following rumours that groups would try to hold spiritual ceremonies at the site at 11.11 a.m. on November 11, 2011.
The authority’s head, Mustafa Amin, said in a statement that the pyramid of Khufu, also known as Cheops, would be closed until this morning for “necessary maintenance”.
The closure follows a string of unconfirmed reports in local media that unknown groups would try to hold “Jewish” or “Masonic” rites on the site.(AP)
A date to remember
Little Megan Louise Campsey had a birth to remember yesterday – as she was born at precisely 11.11 a.m. on November 11, 2011.
Luckily for her mother Gill, her daughter did not also weigh 11lb 11oz, but a less notable 7lbs 9oz when she was born at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex.
The birth was especially poignant for human resources officer Mrs Campsey, whose grandfather Lionel Netherton was a World War II veteran and yesterday was Remembrance Day. (PA)
Riding giant waves
A record-breaking big wave surfer has taken on what is believed to be one of the biggest waves ever surfed.
Al Mennie from Portrush, Northern Ireland, was part of a three-man team that surfed Atlantic swells as they built from 60 to 90 feet at Nazare off the coast of Portugal on Tuesday.
The men surfed for three hours off the headland at Praia do Norte as part of a study with the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute. (PA)
Kidnapper dies
Arnol Rodriguez Camps, a member of a guerilla cell that kidnapped Formula One world champion Juan Manuel Fangio in Havana in 1958, has died at the age of 80, Cuban media reported yesterday.
Fangio raced in the first Cuba Grand Prix in 1957, and was in Havana for the 1958 edition of the race when he was kidnapped by the guerilla cell whose aim was to draw world attention to Fidel Castro’s rebel movement.
Mr Rodriguez later met Fangio in Argentina in 1992, and the official website Cubadebate.com carried a photograph of the two together along with a digital book about the kidnapping called Operation Fangio. (AFP)