Ancient tomb discovered in Luxor, Egypt

LUXOR, Egypt — Egypt has announced the discovery in the southern city of Luxor of a pharaonic tomb belonging to a royal goldsmith who lived more than 3,500 years ago during the reign of the 18th dynasty.

The tomb is located on the west bank of the river Nile in a cemetery where noblemen and top government officials are buried.

Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany said the tomb is not in good condition, but it contains a statue of the goldsmith and his wife as well as a funerary mask. He said a shaft in the tomb contained mummies belonging to ancient Egyptian people who lived during the 21st and 22nd dynasties.

Tanzania seizes diamonds

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Tanzanian authorities seized a shipment of nearly 70 pounds of diamonds worth about $33.7 million at the country’s largest airport last week.

The rough diamonds from the Mwadui mine were to be sent to Belgium for processing, but the mining company responsible, Petra Diamonds, had registered a shipment of only 31 kilograms, government officials said Saturday.

“They have been stealing from us for long time. We have reached the point at which we should say enough is enough,” said Phillip Mpango, Tanzania’s minister of finance.

Tajik dress urged

If you have a phone in Tajikistan, odds are you’ve received a text message reminding you what not to wear.

In: “national” Tajik dress, now required by law at all “traditional” gatherings. Out: the hijab, and other kinds of Muslim dress.

“Observe Tajik traditional clothes,” one message read. Another advised citizens to “respect traditional clothes.”

“Let’s make it a tradition to wear traditional clothes,” demanded a third.

The messages were sent as part of a national effort to publicize a new law. The measure, signed last month, requires people to “stick to traditional and national clothes and culture” at events like weddings and funerals. It also bans “nontraditional dress” and “alien garments.” Activists say those are euphemisms for the hijab, which officials have labeled part of “alien culture and traditions” in the past. The country’s legislators are still figuring out how they might punish those who don’t oblige.

The government says the new rule, passed by legislators in August, will help combat Islamist radicalism. But some see a more nefarious aim: an effort to regulate their faith. Ninety percent of Tajiks are Muslim, but the government has worked to stamp out most markers of the faith.

Police accused of rape

ROME — The Italian authorities are investigating accusations by two American women studying in Florence that they were raped Thursday by two uniformed members of Italy’s Carabinieri police force, and Italy’s defense minister said there appeared to be “some basis” to the allegations.

The accusations have generated considerable coverage in the country’s news media and have shaken Florence’s large community of people involved in studyabroad programs.

The two women, 19 and 21, have accused the two police officers of raping them in the entrance and elevator of their apartment building in the center of Florence before dawn Thursday. The officers, who are reportedly in their 30s, have denied the allegations, and they have not been charged.