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Egyptian, Djiboutian Presidents Discuss Bilateral Ties, Regional Issues

Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, and his visiting Djiboutian counterpart, Ismail Omar Guelleh, discussed yesterday, bilateral relations and regional issues of common interest.

During a joint press conference in Cairo, Sisi said, the visit of Guelleh is a continuation of communication and coordination between the two countries, at various bilateral and regional levels, and a follow-up to the results of their consultations during Sisi’s visit to Djibouti last May.

“This outreach underscores the long-standing strategic relations that unite our two countries across all levels,” said Sisi, noting, the bilateral ties over the past period have witnessed significant steps in all political and economic fields.

The talks have been characterised by openness and transparency, that reflected the two countries’ consensus on many bilateral and regional issues, the Egyptian president added.

“We discussed all aspects of the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, notably at the economic, trade and investment levels, as well as, means to further advance them in a manner that befits the distinguished political relations between our two countries,” he said.

The two sides agreed on the importance of necessary support to boost mutual investments, the contribution of Egyptian companies to economic development efforts in Djibouti, and efforts to inaugurate a branch of Bank Misr there.

“We stressed the need to strengthen our efforts, to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries and establish an Egyptian logistic zone in Djibouti,” Sisi said, noting, they also discussed efforts to foster closer cooperation in the fields of transport and ports connectivity, as well as, efforts to establish direct flights between Cairo and Djibouti City.

The two presidents also exchanged views on joint cooperation in the areas of education and health.

Sisi reiterated Egypt’s commitment to the persistent support for Djibouti, and providing training and building capacities in various fields.

Sisi said, they also discussed the developments in the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), underscoring Egypt’s political will to reach a legally-binding agreement, on the filling and operation of the dam within an appropriate timeframe.

Source: Nam News Network

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UN: 13 Million People Face Severe Hunger in Horn of Africa

Drought conditions have left an estimated 13 million people facing severe hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the United Nations World Food Program.

People in a region including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya face the driest conditions recorded since 1981, the agency reported Tuesday, calling for immediate assistance to forestall a major humanitarian crisis.

Drought conditions are affecting pastoral and farming communities across southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya, and south-central Somalia. Malnutrition rates are high in the region

WFP said it needs $327 million to look after the urgent needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months and help communities become more resilient to extreme climate shocks.

“Three consecutive failed rainy seasons have decimated crops and caused abnormally high livestock deaths,” it said in a statement. “Shortages of water and pasture are forcing families from their homes and leading to increased conflict between communities.”

More forecasts of below-average rainfall threaten to worsen conditions in the coming months, it said.

Others have raised alarm over a fragile region that also faces sporadic armed violence.

The U.N. children’s agency said earlier in February that more than 6 million people in Ethiopia are expected to need urgent humanitarian aid by mid-March. In neighboring Somalia, more than 7 million people need urgent help, according to the Somali NGO Consortium.

Source: Voice of America

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UN Warns of More Ethnic Violence in Eastern DRC

The U.N. human rights office says it fears heightened tension between Hema herders and Lendu farmers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo may erupt into more violence following last week’s deadly attacks.

At least 62 internally displaced members of the Hema ethnic community were killed and 38 injured when their camp was attacked by an armed group last week. Fighters from CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of Congo, staged a night-time raid on the Plaine Savo IDP camp in DR Congo’s Ituri province.

The attack, which took place February 1, is only the latest in a string of devastating assaults on IDP sites by CODECO, which is mainly composed of Lendu farmers.

U.N. human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssel says all the victims in the camp of 24,000 people were either shot or attacked with machetes and knives.

“It is already on vulnerable people. It is IDPs. It is people who are in camps. So, of course it is creating fears, tension. It is leading to people fleeing from the violence. Following deadly attacks last week and further attempts over the weekend, there is significant risk that other IDP sites could be attacked as well,” Throssel said.

U.N. officials note ethnic tensions between the Hema and Lendu communities have existed for years. Last year, the U.N. agency documented 10 attacks on IDP sites in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces. In all, it says at least 106 people were killed, 16 injured and some seven women subjected to sexual violence.

The human rights agency is calling on DRC authorities to immediately strengthen the protection of civilians in the troubled areas. It says they must ensure the safety and security of people who have sought refuge from violent inter-ethnic attacks in IDP camps.

Military authorities in the region have launched a preliminary investigation into the recent onslaughts. U.N. officials say the investigation must be independent, effective, and transparent, and perpetrators must be brought to justice.

Source: Voice of America

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What to Watch for When Oscar Nominations Are Announced Tuesday

It’s time again to celebrate Hollywood’s grandest ambitions and most daring risk takers.

No, I’m not talking about Jackass Forever.

On Tuesday morning, nominations for the 94th annual Academy Awards will be announced. Nominations are occurring a little later than usual. To make way for the Olympics, the Oscars are to be held March 27.

And for the second straight year, the Oscars will unfold during the pandemic. The industrial complex of parties, galas and little gold statuettes known as “awards season” has again gone largely virtual, sapping the season of some of its usual buzz. The Oscars’ typical opening act — the Golden Globes — were much reduced and untelevised this year.

But the Oscar nominations, which will be announced Tuesday beginning at 8:18 a.m. EST by presenters Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan, will try to again seize the spotlight after a year of profound change for the industry and a still-unfolding recovery for movie theaters. Nominations will be broadcast live on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the academy’s social media accounts and on ABC’s Good Morning America.

But those are far from the only headwinds facing the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Last year’s Oscars, held in late April at an audience-less Union Station rather than the Oscars’ usual home, the Dolby Theatre, plummeted to an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers.

Can Tuesday’s slate of nominees stem the tide? Among the films expected to do well are Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune, Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical coming-of-age tale Belfast and Jane Campion’s gothic western The Power of the Dog. Alas, Jackass Forever, the current no. 1 movie at the box office, will have to wait until next year.

Here are five questions heading into nominations.

Just how much will streamers dominate?

Streaming services have for years made inroads into the Oscars, but they may overwhelm this year’s best-picture field. After academy rule changes, 10 films will be nominated for best picture, and it’s possible that only a few of them will have opened traditionally in theaters. Netflix, which is still pursuing its first best-picture trophy, has three contenders in The Power of the Dog, Adam McKay’s apocalyptic comedy Don’t Look Up and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical adaptation Tick, Tick … Boom!

Apple has the deaf family drama CODA and Joel Coen’s Shakespeare adaptation The Tragedy of Macbeth. Amazon is represented with Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos.

Two films that premiered simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max — Dune and the Will Smith-led King Richard — are in the hunt. That has made contenders like Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza (MGM, Focus Features) and Belfast (Focus) stand out as theater-first throwbacks.

Will the biggest box-office hits crash the party?

Given the waning audience for the Oscars and a tumultuous year for theaters, some would like to see as many crowd-pleasers represented Tuesday as possible. Could Spider-Man: No Way Home, the biggest hit of the pandemic with $749 million in domestic ticket sales and $1.77 billion globally, or Daniel Craig’s 007 swan song No Time to Die ($774 million worldwide) score a best picture nomination?

As much as the Oscars’ populism could use some pop, don’t count on either to join the 10 nominees. The segment of the academy most supportive of big-budget box-office success — producers — passed up the chance to do so in their highly predictive guild nominations. That

would likely leave Dune ($399 million worldwide) as the category’s biggest ticket seller. But there are also other metrics to measure today’s most popular movies. Don’t Look Up is Netflix’s second-most popular movie ever with some 359,790,000 hours watched, according to the company.

How international will the nominees be?

Two years after Bong Joon Ho’s Korean thriller Parasite won best picture, a group of acclaimed international films could vie in several top categories. While no film has the broad support that made Parasite the first non-English language film to win Hollywood’s top honor, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s masterful three-hour Japanese drama Drive My Car could squeeze into best picture, best director or best screenplay.

Other films with strong support outside of the academy’s best international film category including Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers (look for Penélope Cruz in the uber-competitive best actress category), Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God and Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated Flee.

In expanding and diversifying its membership in recent years, the academy has grown more international — and enlarged the sway of overseas voters.

Will Kristen Stewart get in?

Kristen Stewart had once been widely expected to land her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Princess Diana in Pablo Larrain’s Spencer. But that film has proved divisive among critics and moviegoers, and Stewart’s once sturdy Oscar bid now appears far from certain.

The 31-year-old actor was looked over by the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAs. She could mount a comeback with the academy, but best actress is brutal this year. Among the favorites: Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Lady Gaga (House of Gucci), Jennifer Hudson (Respect), Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos), Cruz, Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza).

If Stewart isn’t snubbed, someone — several someones — will be.

Will enough people watch?

This is probably the biggest question facing the Oscars this year, and it hovers over everything. Ratings for award shows all around have been declining for years, but the pandemic and the growth of streaming has accelerated the dismantling of Hollywood tradition.

This year, the academy has signaled that everything is on the table. Should Spider-Man star Tom Holland be called upon to emcee?

No details have yet been announced about the show, but the academy has said there will be a host for the first time since 2018.

Maybe Johnny Knoxville has a few tricks up his sleeve?

Source: Voice of America

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Take a Sad Song and Make It Better: ‘Hey Jude’ NFT Fetches $77,000

A virtual version of the handwritten notes for the song “Hey Jude” has been sold at auction in California for almost $77,000, the latest hammer price success for NFTs.

Originally entitled “Hey Jules,” the Fab Four’s hit was written in 1968 by Paul McCartney to comfort a young Julian Lennon during father John’s separation from his mother, Cynthia.

The NFT version of the notes was presented as an animation in which the words are progressively inscribed on the page and was accompanied by an audio commentary from Lennon junior.

“For me, just looking at a picture is not enough if I was a buyer,” Lennon earlier told AFP in Los Angeles. “So I wanted to add something a little more personal. And for me, that was writing and narrating a little bit of story that would be behind the images.”

The sale, by Julien’s Auctions, also included an NFT of the Afghan coat worn by his father on the set of “Magical Mystery Tour,” which fetched $22,400

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital objects that confer ownership.

While their content may be copyable, the NFT is “the original,” in much the same way that there are innumerable prints of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” but only the Louvre Museum has the original.

Investors and wealthy collectors have clamored in recent months to get involved in the latest digital craze, which relies on the same blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies and cannot be forged or otherwise manipulated.

Recent auctions have seen eye-watering sums paid for NFTs, including a staggering $69.3 million for a digital work by artist Beeple at a sale at Christie’s.

Source: Voice of America