Of sea urchins and sarcophagi

Red Sea environmental damage and ancient Egyptian artifacts feature in what is otherwise a slow morning for Egypt in the international press:Reuters on the findings of two new research papers (here and here) that suggest an epidemic has wiped out an entire species of sea urchins in the Gulf of Aqaba. Meanwhile, Arab News says that an official at Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities has denied media reports that Pharaonic artifacts had been sent to Israel for CT scanning.