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  • Sudan Could Lift Fuel Subsidies at ‘any mMoment’: official

    Sudan Could Lift Fuel Subsidies at ‘any mMoment’: official

    {{The Sudanese government is poised to lift fuel subsidies for the second time since last year as the fiscal situation for the country continues to be leak, a senior official said.}}

    The governor of Sudan Central Bank Mohamed Khair al-Zubeir was quoted by pro-government Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper on Sunday as saying that they will target diesel first as it would affect fewer economic sectors as compared to gasoline.

    Al-Zubeir noted that Sudan imports petroleum worth $1.4 billion which he said never happened in the history of the country.

    He warned that the economic picture is unlikely to change before three years and will be contingent upon boosting oil production.

    Sudan lost 75% of its oil reserves after the southern part of the country became an independent nation in July 2011 denying the north billions of dollars in revenues.

    Prior to the country’s breakup, Sudan produced close to 500,000 barrels but now its output is limited to 140,000 barrels per day. Oil revenue constituted more than half of the Sudan’s revenue and 90% of its exports.

    Per cooperation deals signed between Khartoum and Juba the latter pays a fee to the Sudanese government for the use of its pipelines and oil installations in exporting its crude.

    The Central Bank governor stressed that the balance of payment reached a critical stage with imports at $8 billion which is twice export figures of $4.

    He also disclosed that Sudan’s gold exports so far stood at $650 million compared to last year which reached $2 billion.

    In separate statements, the finance and national economy minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool revealed that Sudan sells oil for $49 a barrel while buying it for at least $100 adding that part of the subsidy goes to undeserving people which requires restructuring of the subsidy system.

    Following the independence of South Sudan in July 2011, Khartoum was forced to introduce a contractionary budget that saw the partial lifting of fuel and food subsidies which triggered rare but small demonstrations across the country.

    The government defended the measures saying that the country can no longer afford to pay for these subsidies.

    The World Economic Outlook (WEO) released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last April Sudan’s economy shrinking by -4.4% last year.

    In 2013, Sudan is expected to achieve a 1.2% growth which is higher than the -0.6% projected by the IMF last year. Next year’s GDP is also forecasted to stand at 2.6% which is slightly better than the 2.1% predicted in the IMF last assessment of Sudan’s economy.

    (ST)

  • November 30 is EAC Public Holiday

    November 30 is EAC Public Holiday

    {{Citizens of East African Community (EAC) member states will always observe November 30 as a public holiday marking the establishment of the regional bloc.}}

    On Friday, legislators at the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) passed the the East African Community Holidays Bill 2013 that establishes a public holiday for official festivities in the East African Community (EAC) states.

    The treaty establishing the EAC was signed on November 30, 1999 and came into force on July 7, 2000 following its ratification by the three original partner states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

    Rwanda and Burundi acceded to the treaty on June 18, 2007 and became full members of the community from July 1, 2007.

    Bobi Odiko, the EALA spokesperson, said; “If the EAC heads of state give a nod to the Bill, then the day shall be an opportunity to reflect on the vision of integration and to celebrate the progress made and ongoing programmes to further the objects of the EAC Treaty.”

    He said the official celebrations would be held in rotational order in the partner states, celebrating African renaissance and honouring citizens who have championed the cause of integration.

  • Senegal’s new Prime Minister Names Cabinet

    Senegal’s new Prime Minister Names Cabinet

    {{Senegal’s new Prime Minister Aminata Toure has named a cabinet, putting a veteran human rights campaigner in the key post of justice minister, suggesting high-profile corruption and rights cases are likely to remain a priority.}}

    Toure, who was herself justice minister in the previous cabinet, named Sidiki Kaba, the former head of the International Federation of Human Rights, to her old ministerial position on Monday.

    Under President Macky Sall, who won power in March 2012, the government has fast-tracked the prosecution of the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade on embezzlement charges.

    Kaba will oversee the long-delayed trial of former Chadian leader Hissene Habre, accused of crimes against humanity during his 1982-1990 rule.

    Earlier this year, Senegal inaugurated a special tribunal to judge Habre, who has lived in Dakar since being toppled in a coup.

    Amid criticism that Sall’s government has not done enough to improve the lives of ordinary Senegalese, most of whom live beneath the poverty line, Toure pledged to speed up economic reforms.

    “We will speed up the pace of our public development programs and reforms to enable every person in Senegal to feel the change in their daily livelihood,” Toure, Senegal’s second female prime minister, told reporters.

    Amadou Ba, former head of the Senegalese tax office, was appointed finance minister, as the government strives to increase its revenues.

    Grammy-winning singer Youssou Ndour is no longer the country’s tourism minister, according to the cabinet list.

    Sall fired former Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye on Sunday a little more than a year after naming the former banker to head the government.

    Source: Agencies

  • Tunisian Rapper Sentenced Again

    Tunisian Rapper Sentenced Again

    {{A Tunisian rapper has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for insulting the police, just two months after he was freed following public protests.}}

    Ala Yaacoubi, known as Weld El 15, was given a two-year sentence in June for his song The Police Are Dogs.

    His sentence was suspended in July and he was released from prison. He and fellow rapper Klay BBJ were convicted of insulting the police at a concert.

    They were not in court and now have to hand themselves in to the authorities.

    His lawyer said the case was an attack on freedom of expression.

    “I will speak to my clients to challenge this ruling, but jail sentences demonstrate that the relentless campaign against artistic freedom, freedom of expression, continues,” said Ghazi Mrabet.

    He said neither he nor his client had been informed about the latest trial.

    The lawyer denied that Weld El 15 had sung The Police Are Dogs at the concert in the resort of Hammamet.

    Prime Minister Ali Larayedh denied that freedom of expression was being threatened in Tunisia, noting that the rapper’s original prosecution was “for inciting hatred and calling for the death of police and magistrates”.

    Although the 25-year-old was not a particularly well-known performer, his case was taken up by human rights activists, bloggers and journalists, who campaigned for him to be released.

    Tunisia elected a moderate Islamist-led government after the overthrow of long-serving ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

    There has since been an increase in the prominence of ultra-conservative Islamists known as Salafists, who campaign for greater public piety in Tunisia.

    This is being resisted by more secular and liberal Tunisians.

    {wirestory}

  • 2 French Nationals Freed by Niger Protesters

    2 French Nationals Freed by Niger Protesters

    {{Two French nationals were freed on Monday, a day after they were taken hostage by Niamey residents angered over the heightened security measures that have been in place near foreign embassies following terrorist attacks in late May in northern Niger, officials said.}}

    Televised images of the French nationals, who were being held in an undisclosed location, show them to be in “good health”, Niamey Governor Hamidou Garba told media.

    The hostages were being held in an attempt to negotiate the release of several protesters, a resident from the Goudel quarter told reporters.

    Clashes with security forces near western Niamey’s Niger River waterfront resulted in 37 wounded on Sunday, including 26 security officers and 11 protesters, Garba said.

    “They burned a checkpoint security and threw stones at the Nigerian embassy,” he said.

    {{Sixteen demonstrators were arrested.}}

    Residents have been protesting for months over the increased security measures, which they say have disrupted their way of life.

    “We are very angry, these barriers prevent us from going downtown normally,” one resident told media, adding that ambulances and hearses are forced to take long detours.

    The heightened security was introduced following a May 23 double terrorist attack targeting a military barracks in Agadez and a uranium mine operated by French firm Areva that left at least 20 people dead.

    france24

  • Ethiopia Denies Crackdown on Opposition

    Ethiopia Denies Crackdown on Opposition

    {{Some 100 members of Ethiopia’s opposition Semayawi (Blue) party were arrested and some badly beaten over the weekend, the party says.}}

    Party chairman Yilekal Getachew said equipment such as sound systems were confiscated ahead of a rally on Sunday which was banned.

    Communication Minister Shimeles Kemal denied there had been a crackdown.

    The government said the venue had already been booked by a pro-government group condemning religious extremism.

    The governing EPRDF maintains strict control over public life in Ethiopia.

    The public protest Semayawi organised in June was the first major demonstration on the streets of Addis Ababa since 2005 when hundreds of protesters were killed in violence.

    It was called to demand the release of jailed journalists and activists.

    The rally planned for Sunday was to call for political reforms.

    Mr Shimeles said that any group which wanted to organise a public protest had to seek a permit.

    He said the authorities could not refuse to grant a permit but could insist that the event be held at a different time or place to that requested.

    Hailemariam Desalegn took office as prime minister a year ago, following the death of long-time leader Meles Zenawi.

    Ethiopia is a US ally against Islamist militants in the region.

    BBC

  • Daughter of Libya’s ex-spy Chief Abducted

    Daughter of Libya’s ex-spy Chief Abducted

    {{The head of a Libyan prison says the daughter of the country’s former spy chief has been abducted after leaving prison in the Libyan capital.}}

    Mourad Zekri says that Anoud, daughter of former leader Muammar Gaddafi’s intelligence chief and top aide Abdullah el-Senoussi, was kidnapped just after she left al-Rayoumi prison in Tripoli on Monday. He says security forces are investigating.

    Anoud had been held for nearly 10 months after entering Libya. Authorities say she entered the country with a forged passport. She had come to visit her father in prison, where he has been held over his role in crimes committed during the 2011 civil war that toppled Gaddafi and left thousands dead.

    Senoussi and Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam have been charged with murder in relation to the war and will stand trial this month.

    Successive Libyan governments have largely failed to reign in powerful armed groups and bring law and order to the country since the war.

    Source: AP

  • Premier League Clubs Spend Record £630m

    Premier League Clubs Spend Record £630m

    {{Premier League clubs spent a record £630m in the summer transfer window, according to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.}}

    The previous record of £500m was set in 2008. The transfer window closed at 23:00 BST on Monday.

    Among the big signings on Monday was Mesut Ozil who is going from Real Madrid to Arsenal for £42.4m.

    Manchester United left it late in the day to sign Marouane Fellaini for £27.5m from Everton.

    “The story of this summer transfer window is of new records: a new record for Premier League spending as well as a new world transfer record fee,” said Dan Jones at Deloitte.

    The record transfer fee was for Gareth Bale, who was sold to Real Madrid by Tottenham Hotspur for £85m.

    Premier League clubs are flush with cash from their latest domestic three-year TV deal.

    BT has spent £738m over three years for the rights to 38 live matches a season, while Sky paid £2.3bn for 116 matches a season.

    “Testament to the impact this is having is in the scale of Premier League gross spending, as well as the gulf in net spending between the Premier League and other European leagues,” said Alex Thorpe at Deloitte.

    “Whereas many clubs around Europe have been reliant on selling players in order to spend, the financial advantages Premier League clubs enjoy has enabled net spending of £400m across the league.”

    Although they have not matched the Premier League, spending in other major European leagues has also been up.

    La Liga and Serie A each had gross spending of £335m, followed by Ligue 1 in France with £315m and Germany’s Bundesliga with £230m.

    BBC

  • Brazil summons US Envoy Over Spying Claim

    Brazil summons US Envoy Over Spying Claim

    {{The US ambassador to Brazil was summoned by authorities over new allegations that the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on President Dilma Rousseff, an official said.}}

    US Ambassador Thomas Shannon “was called to explain” the claims made by US journalist Glenn Greenwald, a Brazilian foreign ministry spokesman said.

    “If these facts prove to be true, it would be unacceptable and could be called an attack on our country’s sovereignty,” Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo said on Monday.

    Greenwald, a Guardian newspaper columnist who obtained secret files from NSA leaker Edward Snowden, has told Globo television that the agency snooped on the communications of Rousseff and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

    Greenwald, who lives in Rio de Janeiro, told Globo’s news programme “Fantastico” that a document dated June 2012 shows that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s emails were being read. The document is dated a month before Pena Nieto was elected.

    The document Greenwald based the report on includes communications from Pena Nieto indicating who he would like to name to some cabinet posts among other information. It’s not clear if the spying continues.

    In the case of Brazil’s leader, the June 2012 document “doesn’t include any of Dilma’s specific intercepted messages, the way it does for Nieto,” Greenwald told the Associated Press news agency in an email.

    “But it is clear in several ways that her communications were intercepted, including the use of DNI Presenter, which is a programme used by NSA to open and read emails and online chats.”

    Calls to Rousseff’s office and a spokeswoman were not answered. Messages sent to a spokesman for Pena Pieto weren’t immediately returned.

    In July, Greenwald co-wrote articles in O Globo that said documents leaked by Snowden indicate Brazil was the largest target in Latin America for the NSA programme, which collected data on billions of emails and calls flowing through Brazil.

    The Brazilian government denounced the NSA activities outlined in the earlier reports.

    Greenwald began writing stories based on material leaked by Snowden in May, mostly for the Guardian newspaper in Britain.

    Before news of the NSA programme broke, the White House announced that Rousseff would be honoured with a state dinner in October during a trip to the US, the only such full state dinner scheduled this year for a foreign leader.

    Source: Agencies

  • Assad Warns of ‘Regional War’

    Assad Warns of ‘Regional War’

    {{Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told French daily Le Figaro Monday that the use of nerve gas against targets in rebel-held parts of Syria would have been “illogical”, while warning that an attack on his country could set off a “regional war”.}}

    In excerpts of an interview to be published in full in Tuesday’s edition of the newspaper, Assad challenged French President François Hollande and US President Barack Obama to provide convincing proof that he had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people.

    “Those who make accusations must show evidence,” he told Le Figaro. “We challenge the United States and France to do this. Obama and Hollande have been incapable of doing this, including for their own people.”

    Assad, who has been waging a two-and-a-half-year civil war against a rebel coalition that has claimed more than 100,000 lives, said he would neither deny nor admit that his country possessed such weapons — but insisted it would have been tactically illogical for his forces to use them against the alleged targets.

    Military intervention against his country, he added, would “set off a powder keg” that “everyone would lose control of once ignited”.

    “Chaos and extremism would ensue,” he said. “There is a risk of regional war.”

    France, he warned, would become the enemy of the Syrian state: “Whoever contributes financial or military support to the terrorists is an enemy of the Syrian people,” he said, adding: “If the French state shows itself to be hostile to the Syrian people, that state becomes its enemy.”

    Assad also warned of consequences for France if it chooses this path. “This hostility will only end when the French state changes its policies,” he said. “There will certainly be negative repercussions for French interests.”

    France24