African press review 17 February 2015

Cairo's response to the beheading by Islamic State armed group of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians and job losses in South Africa are among today's stories in Africa ..

Publications in Egypt not surprisingly carry stories related to the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians by the Islamic State armed group in Libya.

The Egypt Independent says that Egypt's armed forces will be deployed nationwide to protect public and private properties, secure roads and contribute to the capture of criminals and outlaws.

It quotes the Armed Forces Spokesman Mohamed Samir as saying that the deployment was being carried out following the decision of Egypt's National Defence Council, which was convened by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi shortly after the release of the video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.

The other related report is on the second round of airstrikes conducted by the Egyptian air force in the Libyan city of Derna on Monday afternoon targeting the Islamic State militants.

It also says that Libya’s army will carry out more raids against the Islamic State militants in coordination with Egypt.

The publication also runs a story on the signing of the 5.2 billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal between France and Egypt. The contract was signed yesterday in the presence of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The Daily News carries a report on how Egyptians in Libya are preferring to stay put in the country despite the chaos.

A group of Egyptians the publication interviewed say they prefer to stay in Libya despite the escalating violence, rather than returning to Egypt and starving to death.

The publication quotes an Egyptian woman as saying that she feared the militants might knock on her door anytime and threaten her.

The woman said the security situation had worsened in Libya since the 2011 revolution.

The Daily News also runs a story on the indefinite extension of the detention of photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zied by the Cairo Criminal Court.

Zied was arrested in August 2013 while covering the forced dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The South African publication Business Day carries a report on telecommunications giant Telkom’s plans to outsource some of its functions.

According to the daily, since 2013, Telkom has already shed 3,000 jobs, mainly through voluntary redundancies and early retirements.

The report mentions a statement made by a trade union which states that Telkom was intent on implementing a large-scale process of restructuring and that as many as 10,000 out of the company’s 18,000 employees could get affected.

The Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation carries a report which states that the European Union will give 84 million Kenyan Shillings to the 12 counties worst hit by malnutrition in Kenya.

It says that the counties will receive the funding in the next two to four years in a bid to help minimise cases of stunted growth and other problems caused by poor nutrition.

According to a report by the organisation Grace Africa, the malnutrition rate stands at 35 per cent, meaning three in every 10 children suffer from it.