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page 30 EGYPT Red carpet for President Sisi’s convoy criticised in Egypt The use of a red carpet for the motorcade of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has provoked criticism in Egypt. Cars carrying President Sisi and other officials drove down the red carpet on Saturday as they were visiting projects in 6th of October City, […]

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EGYPT

Red carpet for President Sisi’s convoy criticised in Egypt

The use of a red carpet for the motorcade of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has provoked criticism in Egypt.

Cars carrying President Sisi and other officials drove down the red carpet on Saturday as they were visiting projects in 6th of October City, south of the Egypt’s capital Cairo.

Several commentators questioned the apparent extravagance, just as the president was making a speech about the need to cut government subsidies.

The military said the carpet was meant to give joy to the Egyptian people.

Criticism of Mr Sisi, a former military chief who led the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, is rare in mainstream Egyptian media.

But media personalities and activists mocked the fact that pictures of the presidential motorcade driving down a road covered in red carpet were broadcast shortly before Mr Sisi gave a speech in which he warned the state could not continue subsidising water and electricity bills for low-income families.

BURUNDI

AU official defends Burundi force decision

The deputy chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission said the commission, contrary to Burundi opposition claims, did not abandon the people of Burundi at last week’s AU summit by its failure to send peacekeepers to the country.

The exiled leader of the opposition Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU) accused the African Union and the international community of turning their backs on the people of Burundi while people were being killed by the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Unrest in the country began when President Nkurunziza said he wanted a third term in office which is contrary to the two term limit in the country’s constitution.

AU deputy chairman Erastus Mwencha said the African leaders discussed Burundi in detail and decided to first give the dialogue process a chance before sending the peacekeepers.

TURKEY

Refugee crisis: 27 die off Turkish coast

At least 27 people have died after a boat carrying refugees sank off Turkey’s coast near the Greek island of Lesbos, according to the Turkish coastguard.

A search operation was under way for nine remaining passengers. One person was rescued by a fisherman and three more were rescued by the coastguard, which said it had deployed boats and helicopters to look for survivors in the Bay of Edremit.

More than 900,000 people fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other wartorn or impoverished countries arrived in Greece from Turkey last year, often risking their lives to cross the Aegean Sea in overloaded boats. Hundreds have died in the attempt.

Meanwhile, Turkey and Germany have agreed on a set of measures to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis, including a joint diplomatic initiative aiming to halt attacks against Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was in the Turkish capital for talks on how to reduce the influx of refugees into Europe, said after discussions with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that she was “not just appalled but horrified” by the suffering caused by Russian bombing in Syria.

AUSTRALIANS

Australians rally against removal of asylum seekers

Dozens of rallies have taken place across Australia as protesters called on the government to stop the deportation of scores of asylum seekers after a failed legal challenge in the High Court last week.

Monday’s demonstrations came as five state and territory ministers urged Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to let the 267 refugees stay in the country.

The group of asylum seekers, including 37 babies who were born in Australia, were brought to the country from Manus Island and Nauru for medical treatment. They now face deportation to offshore centres on the islands with only 72 hours’ notice after the High Court ruled that they could not stay in Australia.

“The High Court decision was disappointing but the public response has been truly incredible,” said Daniel Webb, director of Legal Advocacy from the Human Rights Law Centre, who had brought the legal challenge to the High Court.

SOMALIA

Somalia drought leaves 50,000 children ‘facing death’

More than 50,000 children in Somalia “face death” because of the ongoing drought there, the UN says.

A stark warning issued by the UN’s humanitarian office, Ocha, said the malnutrition situation is “alarming”.

It added that nearly one million Somalis, one in 12 of the population, “struggle to meet their food needs”.

The drought in Somalia has been partly caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon which has affected east and southern Africa.

The worst-affected areas of the country are parts of Puntland and the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

Many of those in need of help are people who have been displaced by years of conflict in the country.

As the drought is intensifying there “many more people risk relapsing into crisis,” said the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia Peter de Clercq.

Highlighting the condition of the children, he said that 58,300 will die “if they are not treated”. Mr de Clercq appealed for more funds so they can be helped quickly.

SYRIA

Syria ‘exterminating detainees’ – UN report

The Syrian government has carried out a state policy of extermination against thousands of detainees, UN human rights investigators say.

They accuse President Bashar al-Assad’s regime of crimes against humanity, in a report for the UN Human Rights Council.

The study says both loyalist and anti-government forces have committed possible war crimes.

Many detainees were tortured, some were beaten to death, and others died from lack of food, water, or medical care.

The findings come from interviews with hundreds of witnesses and cover the period since the start of anti-government protests in March 2011.

The report says thousands of detainees have been killed while in the custody of warring parties in the past four and a half years. It describes the situation of detainees as an “urgent and large-scale crisis of human rights protection”.

CAR

CAR peacekeeping force ‘needs to improve’

The United Nations has acknowledged that its peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic needs to improve, after an Amnesty International report said the troops were not up to the job.

The rights group says weaknesses in personnel and equipment are putting civilians at risk of further deadly violence.

Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the head of the UN mission, said it had been taken by surprise by an outbreak of violence in the capital, Bangui, last September, which left more than 75 people dead.

But he said the mission had responded quickly, putting a new protection strategy in place. He said he was confident the mission would now be able to put down any future violence.

TAIWAN

Taiwan earthquake: Eight-year-old rescued after 60 hours

An eight-year-old girl has been pulled alive from the rubble of a building in Taiwan more than 60 hours after it was destroyed by an earthquake.

Rescuers in Tainan City freed three others on Monday, including the girl’s aunt, as they raced to find more than 100 residents buried in the ruins.

At least 38 people died in the magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Saturday.

One of those rescued was a woman found lying underneath her husband’s body. The woman, Tsao Wei-ling, was conscious and was taken to hospital.

Rescuers said it appeared her husband’s body had protected her from a falling beam. Five of the couple’s family members remain missing, Taiwan’s government-run Central News Agency reported.

UNITED STATES

White House seeks $1.8 billion to combat Zika

President Obama is asking Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding to help fight the Zika virus in the United States and other countries.

In a statement Monday, the White House says the funding would “support essential strategies to combat the virus” such as rapidly expanding mosquito control programs, accelerating vaccine research and diagnostic development and providing health care services and support for low income pregnant women.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the top federal public health agency, has reported 50 laboratory-confirmed cases among U.S. travelers from December 2015 – February 2016.

S/AFRICA

Newly-wed Mandela grandson ‘converts to Islam’

A Muslim cleric in South Africa has called on Muslims to pray that God gives Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, a “great understanding” of Islam following his conversion to the faith.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for us to give the message of Islam in South Africa as people have different cultures. So it’s much better for a person like the calibre and the status of Mandla to deliver the message of Islam,” Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels said.

The imam performed the 42-year-old Mandela’s wedding ceremony to a Muslim woman, Rabia Clarke, at a mosque in South Africa’s Cape Town city on Saturday.

It was reported that Mandla Mandela’s mother, nephew and a few other relatives attended the ceremony. Mr Mandela has not yet commented on media reports of his conversion to Islam.