Israel announced a ban Wednesday on the sale of fur in the fashion trade, earning praise from the International Anti-Fur Coalition as the "first entire nation" to impose such a ban.

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"Commerce in animal fur, imports, and exports will be banned except for the needs of research, study, or certain religious traditions," the Environmental Protection Ministry said in a statement.

Fur is used for hats called "shtreimels" worn by some ultra-Orthodox Jews.

IT'S OFFICIAL: Israel has become the first country in the world to ban the sale of fur!

This historic victory will protect countless foxes, minks, rabbits, and other animals from being violently killed for their skin. https://t.co/S9T5I5jfIP pic.twitter.com/K6HBWq4NSC

— PETA (@peta) June 9, 2021

"On this historic day, Israel has set an ethical precedent, and hopefully other nations shall join them and ban the sale of barbaric and cruel blood fashion fur," the Anti-Fur coalition wrote on its Facebook page.

"Israel became the first entire nation to be FUR FREE," it said, against a backdrop of bans in some international cities and the US state of California.

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The ban is set to take effect in six months.

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called for other countries to follow suit on health grounds.

"Cramming sick and stressed animals together in unsanitary conditions on fur farms creates the perfect breeding ground for deadly diseases," PETA said.

"The novel coronavirus has been found on mink fur farms in a dozen countries," it noted.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Researchers on Monday said they digitally "unwrapped" and "dissected" the three mummies using X-ray micro CT scanning, which generates three-dimensional images with a resolution 100 times greater than a medical CT scan. Actual unwrapping can damage and dislodge structures within a mummy.

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Ancient Egyptians mummified not only human corpses but millions of animals including cats, dogs, birds, snakes, and crocodiles, particularly during a period of more than 1,000 years starting around 700 BCE.

The three mummies apparently were made as "votive offerings" to gods at temples to act as a go-between between deities and living people, according to study co-author Carolyn Graves-Brown, curator of the Egypt Centre at Swansea University in Britain. They were long held in Swansea's collection and their precise age and origin in ancient Egypt are unclear.

'Like us, the ancient Egyptians used and abused animals'

The researchers found evidence that the snake, a juvenile Egyptian Cobra, had been denied water while alive, based on its calcified kidneys, and apparently was killed by spinal fracture after being lifted by the tail and whipped in the air.

The coiled snake's mouth contained a substance called natron and its jaw was placed in a wide-open position, consistent with the animal possibly having undergone the "opening of the mouth" ceremony, said Swansea engineering professor Richard Johnston, lead author of the study published in Scientific Reports.

This ritual was conducted so mummified subjects could regain their senses in the afterlife.

"This would be additional information supporting other evidence that the 'opening of the mouth' was done on mummified animals. We know it was carried out on humans," Graves-Brown said.

The domestic cat also was a juvenile: a five-month-old kitten, based on unerupted teeth within the lower jaw. Its neck was broken at the time of death or during the mummification process.

The bird appears to be a Eurasian kestrel, of the falcon family.

Snakes were associated with numerous ancient Egyptian gods. Cats were often associated with the fertility goddess Bastet. Raptors were associated with sky gods such as Re and Horus.

"Like us, the ancient Egyptians used and abused animals," Graves-Brown said. "There is evidence from the mummified remains of maltreatment."

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