AHMED Fouad Negm, Egypt's "poet of the people" whose sharply political verses in colloquial Arabic skewered the country's leaders and inspired protesters from the 1970s through the current uprisings, has died at the age of 84.
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JOHANNESBURG Dec 3 AP - A photographic portrait of Nelson Mandela has been bought by a private art collector in New York for $US200,000 ($A220,276), the highest price ever paid for a local portrait, organisers say.
The money will be donated to the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital, currently under construction in Johannesburg, and to the World Wildlife Fund. The portrait is part of a series of 21 portraits of South African icons.
The portrait, by 21 Icons creator and photographer Adrian Steirn, depicts Nelson Mandela's face reflected in a mirror.
"I wanted Madiba to hold a mirror so that we could see a man reflecting on his life. As he reflects on his life, we reflect on his legacy and our future," Steirn said, using Mandela's clan name.
A LAWYER representing East Timor in its spying case against Australia has accused ASIO of raiding his home and office, seizing documents and "muzzling" a key whistleblower days before the case is due to begin.
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PRINCESS Elisabeth, the 12-year-old daughter of Belgium's new king, has been threatened with kidnapping.
An anonymous letter sent to the newspaper La Derniere Heure and addressed to King Philippe contained the threat, along with racist remarks with neo-Nazi overtones, the daily reported.
"I am going to abduct Princess Elisabeth. This is not a joke," the newspaper quoted the letter as saying.
The publication said it had notified the police and the royal palace.
It said police officers had been deployed outside Elisabeth's school.
Philippe ascended the throne in July when his father abdicated.
Elisabeth is the eldest of four children Philippe has with Queen Mathilde.
AHMED Fouad Negm, Egypt's "poet of the people" whose sharply political verses in colloquial Arabic skewered the country's leaders and inspired protesters from the 1970s through the current uprisings, has died at the age of 84.
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SRI Lankan security forces executed 17 local workers in 2006 and the government has protected the killers, a French aid group says.
