Egypt

Experts say ‘queen’s’ skeleton really male

A mummy displayed on the Discovery Channel as the probable remains of Queen Nefertiti is actually a male skeleton, according to Egyptian state archaeologists.

“Examinations show that it was that of a male, between the ages of 16 and 19,” the spokesman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Hassan Nasrallah, said Monday.

The Discovery Channel broadcast pictures of the mummy in June, quoting archaeologist Joann Fletcher of Britain’s York University as saying there was a “strong possibility” the mummy was that of Nefertiti.

A queen famed for her beauty — her name meant “the beautiful woman has come” — Nefertiti was married to the Pharaoh Akhenaton, who ruled 1379-1362 B.C. Two statues of Nefertiti, now in the Egyptian museums in Cairo and Berlin, depict her with high cheekbones, full lips, almond-shaped eyes and a long neck.

Liberia

U.S. diplomats seek missing American

The U.S. Embassy is trying to determine the fate of an American citizen of Lebanese descent missing since July in former rebel territory, officials said Tuesday.

Nabil Hage, a businessman, disappeared from the area around Monrovia’s then-rebel-held port during fighting. Rebels had Monrovia under siege for two months before signing an Aug. 18 peace deal.

Americans were making “some attempts to follow some leads” on Hage, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials say they believe Hage is a U.S. Army veteran, and journalists during the siege saw a rebel wearing a green U.S. Army uniform with the name-tag “Hage.”

Mexico City

President fires officials amid voter complaints

President Vicente Fox ousted two Cabinet secretaries Tuesday, a day after admitting that many Mexicans were disappointed with his government.

In his third state-of-the-nation speech, Fox referred to a sluggish economy, rising unemployment and political deadlock.

Fox aides portrayed the Cabinet changes as an effort to answer voter complaints — though the changes were noticeably partisan.

Out went Energy Secretary Ernesto Martens and Environment Secretary Victor Lichtinger, two nonpartisan experts appointed when Fox became president.

Former party president and Congressman Felipe Calderon took over at Energy while Alberto Cardenas — who was the first National Action governor of Jalisco state — will head the Environment Department.