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Egypt plans expansion of new capital as first residents trickle in

Egypt plans expansion of new capital as first residents trickle in

EGYPT is preparing to spend billions doubling the size of a lavish new capital it is building in the desert 45 km (28 miles) east of Cairo, where the first residents are trickling in, the head of the company overseeing the project said. The city is the biggest of a series of mega-projects that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says are needed for economic development and to accommodate a growing population of 105 million, but critics say diverts resources and increases Egypt's debt burden. Government employees transferred in July to ministries and offices built in the new city's first phase, eight…
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Egyptians greeted by hefty price rises in new year

Egyptians greeted by hefty price rises in new year

EGYPTIANS entered the new year facing a series of price hikes as the government battles to keep up with rampant inflation. Telecom companies raised the prices of their internet services, with state-controlled operator Telecom Egypt (TE) increasing the prices of its internet services by about 33%, effective Jan. 5, according to a TE company official who asked not to be named. Private providers Orange and Vodafone also raised their internet fees, apparently after approval by the National Telecoms Regulatory Authority. Headline inflation in Egypt was 34.6% in the year to November. Electricity prices are also soon set to rise by around 15% on…
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Oscar Pistorius, track star turned convicted murderer, set to leave jail

Oscar Pistorius, track star turned convicted murderer, set to leave jail

OSCAR Pistorius' life story from before and after Valentine's Day 2013 reads like the script to two markedly different films – the first an inspirational sporting biopic and the second a grim tale of murder. In the first, he was the "Blade Runner", the multiple Paralympic gold medallist with carbon-fibre prosthetic legs who became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics when he represented South Africa at the 2012 London Games. In the second he was the man convicted of murdering his 29-year-old girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp - a model and promising law graduate - by shooting her through…
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Moroccan police seizes 1.4 tonnes of cocaine

Moroccan police seizes 1.4 tonnes of cocaine

MOROCCAN police said it seized 1.488 tonnes (3,280 lb) of cocaine concealed in banana boxes in the northern Tanger Med port. The drug was found in a container on a Turkey-bound ship with a European flag departing from South America, the police said in a statement. The operation was conducted in coordination with Spanish security services, the Moroccan police said, noting that investigations are ongoing. In October, Moroccan police found 1.37 tonnes of cocaine in Casablanca.
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South Africa to lead new military force in the DRC: an expert on what it’s up against

South Africa to lead new military force in the DRC: an expert on what it’s up against

THE United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Monusco, is ending after 20 years. It will be replaced by troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), led by the South African military. Thomas Mandrup, an expert in African security governance and South African military and foreign policy, recently wrote a paper on the subject. We asked him about the new mission and what awaits it. THOMAS MANDRUP, Associate Professor, Security Institute for Governance and Leadership In Africa (SIGLA), Stellenbosch University What prompted the deployment? The security situation in the eastern DRC has deteriorated in recent…
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Explainer: What will happen to Oscar Pistorius when he is released from jail?

Explainer: What will happen to Oscar Pistorius when he is released from jail?

FORMER Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison on Friday after he was granted parole nearly 11 years after killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Here is a look at what will happen to Pistorius after his release under South Africa's so-called restorative justice programme. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO PISTORIUS AFTER HIS RELEASE? Pistorius - known as the "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs - became eligible for parole in March 2023 after he had served half of his 13 years and five months sentence for murder. He was granted parole on November 24, to take effect on January 5.…
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Somalia rejects port deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland

Somalia rejects port deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland

SOMALIA rejected a pact its breakaway region of Somaliland signed with Ethiopia allowing it to use a major port with access to the Red Sea in return for recognition as an independent state, saying the agreement had no legal force. Somalia, which views Somaliland as part of its territory, also summoned its ambassador to Ethiopia for deliberations over the agreement signed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi on Monday. The agreement would allow landlocked Ethiopia, which relies on neighbouring Djibouti for most of its maritime trade, to lease 20 km around the port of…
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Two more Congo presidential candidates do not plan court challenge

Two more Congo presidential candidates do not plan court challenge

TWO more candidates who contested last month's presidential election in Democratic Republic of Congo made clear they will not take the matter to court, making it more likely President Felix Tshisekedi's provisional win will be confirmed. Congo's election commission said on Sunday that Tshisekedi had secured more than 73% of the vote in the December 20 election, versus roughly 18% for his nearest challenger, businessman Moise Katumbi. A large group of opposition candidates says the election was fraudulent and has urged people to protest. However, the government has rejected calls for a rerun of the vote and the deadline to challenge the outcome of…
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Sudanese paramilitary leader Hemedti meets civilian leaders on tour

Sudanese paramilitary leader Hemedti meets civilian leaders on tour

THE leader of Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo met with civilian pro-democracy politicians in Addis Ababa, the latest stop in a foreign tour as his troops take the upper hand in a devastating nine-month war. The meeting comes as General Dagalo, known as Hemedti, has appeared to present himself as a possible leader of a country now home to the world's largest displacement crisis, with little aid reaching millions in need amid threats of famine. He has also been received by leaders in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, which army head and Sudan's head of state Abdel…
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Burundi’s president says gay people should be stoned

Burundi’s president says gay people should be stoned

BURUNDI'S President Evariste Ndayishimiye has called on citizens to stone gay people, escalating a crackdown on sexual minorities in a country where LGBT people already face social ostracism and jail terms of up to two years if convicted of same-sex offences. "If you want to attract a curse to the country, accept homosexuality," Ndayishimiye said in a question and answer session with journalists and the public held in Burundi's east on Friday. "I even think that these people, if we find them in Burundi, it is better to lead them to a stadium and stone them. And that cannot be…
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