Cairo campus torched amid Egypt protests

Supporters of Egypt's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood have set fireto university buildings in Cairo, state TV says. One protester was shot dead as students fought police at al-Azhar University, health ministry officials said.

Students denied starting blazes in the business faculty, where exams had to be postponed, and the agriculture faculty. Authorities have cracked down on the Brotherhood since July, when Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who belongs to the group, was deposed by the army.

The campus fires had been brought under control by Saturday afternoon, and some 60 people had been arrested, reports said. The Brotherhood, which had been banned since September from all activity, was declared a terrorist group on Wednesday following a suicide bombing of a police headquarters in the Nile Delta.

The government said the Brotherhood was behind the attack - a charge it strongly denied. It is the latest measure taken against the group, which is being targeted by the military-backed interim government. Thousands of Brotherhood members, including its leadership, have been arrested and many put on trial.

Members were rounded up on Thursday after abomb hit a bus in Cairo, injuring five people.

Three people died on Friday as police fought Brotherhood supporters in Cairo, southern Minya and the Nile Delta.

US Secretary of State John Kerry called his Egyptian counterpart to "express concern" about the recent waves of arrests and called for an "inclusive political process", state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Al-Azhar, one of the main centres of Sunni Muslim learning, has been the scene of repeated clashes between Islamist students and police in recent months.

Mr Morsi's government - the first to be democratically elected in Egypt - was toppled on 3 July following widespread anti-Brotherhood demonstrations.

The ousted president was arrested and faces several criminal charges relating to his time in office.

His trial opened in November but has been adjourned until 8 January.

Earlier this week, Egyptian police arrested Hisham Qandil, who became Egypt's youngest prime minister since 1954 in August 2012.

He was caught in a mountainous area with smugglers trying to flee to Sudan, officials said.

Al-Azhar, one of the main centres of Sunni Muslim learning, has seen repeated clashes between students and police

At least three people died as Muslim Brotherhood supporters clashed with police across Egypt on Friday

Riot police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the protesters

Supporters of the police also clashed with pro-Brotherhood students

Mr Qandil was sentenced to a year in prison while in office for not carrying out a court ruling to renationalise a company that was privatised in 1996.

Although not a member of the Brotherhood or any other Islamist political organisation, he represented an alliance of pro-Morsi Islamist groups in meetings with European Union mediators, who tried to persuade the military-installed interim government to launch a fully inclusive transition process that included the Muslim Brotherhood.

The 85-year-old Islamist movement was banned by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered an NGO called the Muslim Brotherhood Association in March this year in response to a court case bought by opponents who contested its legal status.

The Brotherhood also has a political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which was set up in 2011 as a "non-theocratic" group after the uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power.

Following Mr Morsi's overthrow and the suspension of the Islamist-friendly 2012 constitution, the Cairo administrative court and the social solidarity ministry were tasked with reviewing the Brotherhood's legal status.

In September, a ruling by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters banned the Brotherhood itself, the NGO, as well as "any institution derived from or belonging to the Brotherhood" or "receiving financial support from it".

East Africa leaders to hold emergency talks

Addis Ababa, December 27 (WIC) - East Africa's leaders meet in Kenya to discuss growing violence in South Sudan, where more than 1,000 people are believed to have died. The talks come a day after South Sudan's President Salva Kiir met the prime ministers of Kenya and Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, the UN said the first peacekeeping reinforcements were expected to arrive in 48 hours. Violence erupted 12 days ago between forces loyal to Mr Kiir and those backing his ex-deputy Riek Machar. More than 50,000 civilians have sought refuge at UN compounds in South Sudan. '

Give peace chance' East African regional leaders from the eight-member bloc, known as Igad, will meet in Kenya's capital Nairobi to follow up on issues raised during Thursday's talks with President Kiir in South Sudan's capital Juba. However, South Sudan Information Minister Makuei Lueth told the Associated Press news agency that no contact with Mr Machar had yet been established. The head of the UN mission in South Sudan, Hilde Johnson, earlier urgently called on the country's political leaders "to give peace a chance".

"The nation that [was] painstakingly built over decades of conflict and strife is at stake," she said, speaking via a video link from Juba. Ms Johnson said "well over 1,000" people had been killed since the start of the violence on 15 December and the casualty figures were likely to rise. She said she expected some UN military reinforcements and critically needed equipment within 48 hours.

This came after the UN Security Council voted to almost double the number of peacekeepers to 12,500 in the world's newest state. 'Oil wells seized' Ms Johnson said there had been heavy fighting in Malakal and Bor, while the town of Bentiu had become calmer.

The Bishop of Malakal, Hilary Garang, said the situation in the main town in Upper Nile state was one of lawlessness. "There is no government functioning, there is no light, there is no water and people are fleeing, are going away. The town is divided in two," he told the BBC's Newshour programme. "The two sides are taking positions and fighting can erupt any time they choose.

Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom: ''Any solution to this crisis should be through political dialogue'' The fighting is also affecting oil production, which accounts for 98% of government revenue. "Some oil wells are in the hands of rebel soldiers loyal to... Machar and we fear they may cause damage to the facilities and the environment," Petroleum Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau told Reuters news agency.

He said the Thar Jath oil field in Unity state had been captured by the rebels. 'Political conflict' Ms Johnson said there had been internal tension within the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) before the outbreak of violence. But, she said, no-one had expected "the unravelling of [South Sudan's] stability so quickly".

She insisted that while the rival leaders came from different ethnic groups - Mr Kiir is a Dinka and Mr Machar is from the Nuer tribe - the conflict was political. The violence first erupted after a meeting of the SPLM's high council, when President Kiir accused the former vice-president, who had been sacked in July, of plotting a coup. Mr Machar denied any involvement and said the accusations were an attempt by Mr Kiir to get rid of his political rivals.

The fighting quickly spread to half of Sudan's 10 states. South Sudan has struggled to achieve a stable government since becoming independent from Sudan in 2011. (BBC)

First commercial food laboratory to be operational soon

Addis Ababa, 24 December 2013 (WIC) - The first commercial food laboratory which is ISO 17025 certified is being built at Legetafo area, 20 Kilometers outside Addis Ababa.

The laboratory which is owned by a joint venture between an Ethiopian and a French investors aims to provide its service to the growing Ethiopian export market which mainly focuses on agricultural and food products.

The laboratory will also test and certify food, water and medicines that are being delivered to the Ethiopian market. Four million USD have been spent till now on the construction of the laboratory’s six story building. (Capital)

Bole International Airport to see expansion

Addis Ababa, 24 December 2013 (WIC) - The Ethiopian Airports Enterprise is planning an expansion project of the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport passengers’ terminal at a cost of US$250 million, according to The Reporter.

Tewodros Dawit, CEO of the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise, told The Reporter that the expansion project is part of the Airlines' Vision 2025 development strategy.

According to Tewodros, the expansion project includes the construction of a new passenger terminal as an extensions of the existing Terminal 1 (domestic and regional terminal) and terminal 2 (international terminal) and the construction of a new VIP passengers’ terminal.

A US$250-million loan for the project has been obtained from the government of China, and the agreement is signed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Chinese government, The Reporter reported citing Tewodros. The Chinese construction company, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), will be the contractor for the expansion project.

The design work of the expansion project is being undertaken by a Singapore company, CPG.

The project is expected to launch next March and the project is scheduled to be completed within three years, according to The Reporter.