Tower of David Museum said Monday, A box of artifacts was rediscovered during a major conservation project to restore the stones of the “Phasael” tower of the Jerusalem citadel’s $40 million renewal project.

Additionally, the team discovered a box of artifacts, originally excavated in the 1980s. Within it, they uncovered a rare silver coin from the Second Temple period  — a “Tyre shekel.”

Two images are imprinted on either side of the coin: On one face is Melqart, the chief god of the Phoenician city of Tyre, and on the other, an eagle.

The coins were struck at some point between 125 BCE and the outbreak of the Great Revolt in 66 CE, when they were used to pay a half-shekel tax. Talmudic sources suggest that the Tyrian shekel was likely the only means of paying the head tax at the Temple for its upkeep.

Although well-known in ancient and biblical sources, these coins are rare — only a few have been found. The coin will be displayed as part of the museum’s new permanent exhibition next year.

During the planning stages of the project, conservationists discovered a large, structural crack running from the top to the bottom of the tower, which soon became the project’s central focus, according to the museum.

As part of the team’s renewal project, conservationists cleaned and treated the stones of the tower — dating back more than 2,000 years — with temporary glue to maintain stability.

A pipe system was then threaded within the tower, and liquid lime-based mortar injected into the cracks. This process helps the team ascertain how large the cracks are, by examining how far up the mortar rises.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says France and the European Union are close to a deal on a bailout for Air France, which like other carriers has been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, French newspaper said the French government and the European Union’s executive were close to an agreement on the terms of a bailout for Air France.

The expected deal would see Air France give up fewer airport flight slots at its Paris base than initially sought by the European Commission, notably at Orly airport.

The Air France-KLM group recorded a 7.1 billion euro net loss for last year.

It received 10.4 billion euros in loans and guarantees from France and the Netherlands and has been negotiating a state-backed recapitalisation, with EU regulators seeking airport slot concessions at Paris-Orly and Amsterdam-Schiphol.

Amid a global race to beat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigerian government is placing priority on funding a wasteful petrol subsidy scheme worth about $ 315 million monthly, an amount capable of vaccinating at least half of its adult population (53m people).

After a year of dilly-dallying on the removal of petrol subsidy, it is now official that the burden that has shortchanged Nigerians the most is real and active as the state oil firm has confirmed spending up to $315 million (N120bn/ exchange rate N380) a month on fuel subsidies.

The expenditure on subsidy for PMS also dwarfs the government’s proposed 2021 spending of N45.19 billion allocated for immunisation against measles, whooping cough, and tetanus to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, despite a UNICEF report showing 4.3 million children in Nigeria still miss out on regular vaccinations every year.

In a period Nigeria has one of the world’s highest numbers of out-of-school children, 13.2 million, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the amount spent on subsidy in one month is also larger than the entire 2021 budget of N94.4 billion meant for the provision of Universal Basic Education (UBEC).

Canal authority says shipping traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal resumed Monday after a giant container ship which had been blocking the busy waterway for almost a week was refloated.

The 400-metre long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Live footage on a local television station showed the ship surrounded by tug boats moving slowly in the centre of the canal on Monday afternoon.

After dredging and excavation work over the weekend, rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage had succeeded in partially refloating the ship earlier on Monday using tug boats.