The Boston Globe Egypt opening $8.2 billion Suez Canal expansion An $8.2 billion expansion of the Suez Canal opens Thursday, with dignitaries including President Francois Hollande of France expected to attend a lavish party marking an occasion that's been promoted by Egypt's government for months. Cairo's streets are adorned with billboards and flags praising Egypt's leader, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, and the people who dug its "new Suez Canal." The celebrations have an estimated price tag of $30 million. The canal expansion is the first of a series of megaprojects announced by El-Sisi to transform the country, starting with a promise for the new Suez to redraw the "map of the world" just as the 146-year-old original did. Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/08/05/egypt-opens-billion-new-suez-canal-seen-boosting-sisi/3g2VbAxS3z5z8oyXkOnRnM/story.html Radio New Zealand 'New Suez Canal' makes history for Egypt Egypt is preparing to open a major expansion of one of the world's greatest man-made sea routes - the Suez Canal. A new canal 35 kilometers long has been dug parallel to the existing waterway, allowing two-way traffic on the canal for the first time, while the original canal has been deepened. It took a year to build, and has cost $US8.5 billion, financed by state-issued bonds bought by Egyptian members of the public. Read more: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/280681/%27new-suez-canal%27-makes-history-for-egypt Reuters IS Egypt affiliate threatens to kill Croatian hostage in 48 hours An online video purportedly from Islamic State's Egypt affiliate showed a Croatian hostage working for a French company who said the group would kill him in 48 hours if Muslim women in Egyptian jails were not freed. Ardiseis Egypt, a unit of French firm CGG, which specializes in oil and gas geology, said on Wednesday one of its staff had been kidnapped on July 22 while traveling to Cairo. "Ardiseis Egypt acknowledges that he is the hostage appearing on the video released today by the Sinai Province of Islamic State," the company said in a statement. Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/us-egypt-islamic-state-hostage-idUSKCN0QA20U20150805 Sputnik Russian, Egyptian Companies Prepare Contracts for NPP Project - Medvedev Russia and Egypt plan to sign a second bilateral agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Egypt in the coming months, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, adding that relevant contracts are already being prepared. According to the Russian prime minister, the joint project will create thousands of jobs for Egyptians, who will also have the opportunity to get "academic and hands-on training" at Russian nuclear facilities. "Russian and Egyptian companies are already busy preparing a package of contracts for the NPP construction," Medvedev said in an interview with the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram ahead of his visit to Egypt, adding that the contracts "are expected to be signed this autumn." Read more: http://sputniknews.com/business/20150806/1025447027.html#ixzz3i0pLEfA5
