Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Luxembourg visits Guardian Glass plant
]
On Tuesday 24 August, Ambassador Fleur Thomas visited Guardian Glass in Bascharage. Accompanied by the Trade & Investment Advisor Stefan van Look, the ambassador met with Messrs Boekhoudt, Ries and Gheysen for a guided tour of the plant and to discuss their latest investments in the UK, their production line in Luxembourg and future sustainable investments.
With its international headquarters in Luxembourg, the American company recently invested in a new state-of-the-art furnace in Goole, securing jobs for years to come. This UK plant produces flat, coated and laminated glass products mainly for customers in the UK and Ireland.
With COP26 drawing closer, the ambassador was especially interested in Guardian Glass’ commitments to the environment. The Guardian Glass delegation was proud to explain that they are increasingly using recycled glass for the production of brand-new glass sheets. The company is also expanding its green initiatives by optimising the design of its new furnaces to become more energy efficient and improve environmental performance.
Wife of Greek ambassador to Brazil convicted of his murder
]
A Brazilian court has sentenced Francoise de Souza Oliveira to 31 years in prison for murdering her husband, Greek ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis, authorities said Sunday.
Amiridis, 59 at the time of his death in 2016, lived in Brasilia and was on vacation for the Christmas holidays with his wife and his daughter in Rio de Janeiro.
Days after Christmas, the remains of the diplomat were found inside his charred rental car and ripped out under a bridge, in the municipality of Nova Iguacu, near the state capital.
A police investigation found numerous clues, including blood on a sofa and security camera footage, that implicated Sergio Gomes Moreira Filho, military policeman and lover of Francoise.
The two were sentenced to 22 years in prison, initially without parole.
“The circumstances of the crime are atypical, since (the ambassador) was executed during the Christmas holidays … in this case, this family was torn apart,” said the Judge Anna Christina da Silveira Fernandes, of the 4th Criminal Court of Nova Iguacu.
Also read | Infiltration bid foiled at LoC in J&K’s Poonch, terrorist killed
In her sentence, she also indicated that “the crime was carefully thought out, premeditated,” by De Souza Oliveira.
“According to the testimony collected, the defendant planned and designed, being the mastermind behind the entire macabre plot,” she added.
The trial had a third defendant: Eduardo Moreira Tedeschi de Melo, a relative of the policeman, who was acquitted of the murder charge but sentenced to one year probation, already served, for helping to hide the body.
In the trial, which lasted for three days, until Friday, the judge heard 18 witnesses.
In her decision, the magistrate also referred to the accused in their capacity as public servants.
“He swore to defend society and not rebel against it, dishonouring the Military Police and all the trust placed in him by the State,” she said, referring to Sergio Gomes Moreira Filho.
And she pointed out that De Souza Oliveira, “who calls herself an ambassador, tarnished the name of Brazil and embarrassed the nation with her conduct, given the negative international repercussions of the events.”
De Souza Oliveira and Amiridis had married in 2004, when he was consul in Rio de Janeiro.
U.S. Ambassador Meets Sohag Governor, Visits Abydos, the Red and White Monasteries
]
U.S. Ambassador Jonathan R. Cohen met Sohag Governor Major General Tarek Mohamed El Fiqi and visited the Seti I Temple at Abydos and Sohag’s Red and White Monasteries on August 28. The Ambassador affirmed continued support for U.S.-Egypt partnerships that advance cultural preservation, tourism, and broad-based economic development.
On arrival at the Red Monastery, Ambassador Cohen was greeted by church leadership and then visited the site, viewing the church’s walled murals, which were cleaned and conserved by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) with $3.6 million in U.S. government funding, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). These murals are the only complete pre-medieval paintings remaining in Egypt in their original form.
Ambassador Cohen also visited the White Monastery, another fifth century monastic site founded by St. Shenouda, which was excavated and conserved by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, ARCE and multiple prominent American universities, including Yale University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, and others. This conservation and site management work is ongoing. Since 2008, ARCE’s Antiquities Endowment Fund, established in 1996 with $27.5 million in U.S. government funding, has provided over $1 million for projects at the monasteries in Sohag.
At Abydos, Ambassador Cohen visited the Osiris Chapel, where a recent $88,500 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) project stabilized and repaired the structure and preserved the chapel’s original scenes and inscriptions. Since 2004, the U.S. government has invested almost $800,000 in the site, ensuring access for current and future generations to Abydos.
Ambassador Cohen remarked, “I am delighted to visit these world-renowned sites and to see first-hand the positive impact of our longstanding U.S.-Egypt partnership in cultural preservation, tourism, and economic development. Over the past 25 years, the U.S. government has provided more than $102 million to preserve, restore, and protect over 85 cultural heritage sites across Egypt.”
Since 1978, the American people have invested over $30 billion to support Egypt’s economic development.
APO