The project is aimed at expanding Russia’s trade with Egypt, and Africa as a whole
Russia is aiming to complete an industrial zone in Egypt, near the Suez Canal – one of the world’s busiest transport hubs – in the near future, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
“I spoke with my colleague yesterday, with President [Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi… I expect that construction will begin there already this year, the first production facilities, and in the future, goods produced there will be exported throughout Africa,” Putin told a plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg.
Putin stressed the importance of closer industrial cooperation between Moscow and African states. “Our industrial products, including cars, construction equipment, etc., are widely known on the continent and are in great demand. They are distinguished by good quality, reliability and ease of operation.”
The president noted that there are specialised service centers in Africa for servicing Russian equipment, and that “new tools are being developed lending to African purchases of our industrial products, their transportation to the continent and after-sales service.”
Plans for a Russian industrial zone in Egypt were approved in 2014. It will consist of two sites – one on the Red Sea coast, in the Ain Sokhna area, and the second at Port Said, at the northern end of the Suez Canal. The two sites will cover 525 hectares, and include transport and port infrastructure......more below
https://www.rt.com/business/580389-russian-industrial-zone-suez-canal-putin/
Nvidia would be barred from shipping advanced artificial intelligence chips to China under bipartisan legislation unveiled Thursday, Bloomberg reported. A Chinese expert said the move is shortsighted, noting that tightening restrictions despite domestic industry opposition will only accelerate China’s tech innovation and further diminish Nvidia’s chances of reentering the Chinese market.
Known as the Secure and Feasible Exports Act, the bill would order the US Commerce Department to halt export licenses for sales of chips to adversaries, including China and Russia for at least 30 months. Any processors more powerful than those already approved for export to those nations would be subject to the measure, the Bloomberg report said.
The legislation comes as the White House weighs whether to allow Nvidia to export the....more below
A high-ranking ICC official, Nicolas Herrera, secretly financed the sanctioned UPC armed group in the Central African Republic, according to court materials obtained by Sputnik.
Nicolas Herrera, a high-ranking official in the Registry Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC), secretly recruited and financed the Union for Peace (UPC) in the Central African Republic (CAR) armed group, led by local warlord Ali Darassa, to capture ICC target Joseph Kony, by using US-based NGO employee Joseph Martin Figueira as a covert intermediary, thereby violating the ICC’s financial accountability standards by funding an armed group, according to a Sputnik correspondent's analysis of public court records.
The conviction of Joseph Martin Figueira, a Belgian-Portuguese anthropologist found guilty of espionage and collaborating with militants in the Central African Republic (CAR) in November, has uncovered a complex financial trail linking ICC staff to the country’s armed militants, evidence ...
Hundreds of retired Israeli police officers have urged the regime’s president, Isaac Herzog, to reject Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon in corruption cases.
On November 30, Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of public trust in three separate cases, submitted a formal pardon request to the office of Herzog, claiming the long-running corruption cases were tearing the regime apart.
In a letter to Herzog, about 400 former officers, including ex-commissioners and deputy commissioners, said Netanyahu’s request contains “not even a hint of admission of guilt,” making it unacceptable.
They warned that “such a step without [Netanyahu’s] confession and remorse is liable to ignite severe violence in Israeli society.”.....more below
