IGIHE

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  • UK to Probe Huawei Staff’s role at Cybersecurity Centre

    {{The UK government has confirmed it is to review Huawei’s involvement in a cybersecurity centre.}}

    The news follows a report by parliament’s intelligence committee which raised concerns that staff working at the base in Oxfordshire were employed by the Chinese firm.

    Part of their job is to test Huawei’s own equipment for vulnerabilities.

    US politicians have claimed that the company posed a threat because of links to China’s government and military.

    The allegations are based, in part, on the fact that the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was a former member of the People’s Liberation Army.

    But Huawei has strongly denied having close ties to the Chinese state and has stressed that it is 98.6%-per-cent-owned by its employees.

    Although the firm has been prevented from bidding for many US infrastructure contracts, it has been active in the UK after striking a multi-billion pound deal to provide networking equipment to BT in 2005.

    A spokeswoman for Huawei highlighted the fact that the government has said it is confident that UK networks using the firm’s equipment “operated to a high standard of security and integrity”.

    She added that her company supported the decision to carry out a review.

    BBC

  • French hostage killed in Mali was ‘shot in the head’

    French hostage Philippe Verdon, who was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali in 2011 and found dead several weeks ago, was executed with a shot to the head, prosecutors said Thursday.

    “After the return of the body to France, the autopsy… was able to establish that Philippe Verdon was murdered by being shot in the head,” the Paris prosecutors’ office said.

    The body of Verdon, who suffered from an ulcer and tachycardia, an abnormally fast heartbeat, was flown back to Paris on Wednesday.The possibility had previously been raised that he had died from his ailments and that his killing had been staged.

    The 53-year-old was taken from a hotel in northeastern Mali in November 2011 by AQIM while on business, as was Serge Lazarevic, another French national.

    His captors announced in March they had killed him in revenge for France’s military intervention in the country.

    But Paris had never confirmed this until his body was discovered in the country’s north and identified this month.

    French forces intervened in Mali in January to help the weak Malian military drive out Islamist rebels who had seized control of the country’s north, angering extremists.

    At least seven French citizens remain captive in Africa, with another two in Syria.

    (AFP)

  • Tsvangirai in shocking July 31 U-turn

    {{MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday made an incredible somersault that will shock even}}

    his handlers from Western countries when he said that his party wants elections to be held on July 31, but Zanu-PF wants them to be postponed. This is despite Mr Tsvangirai’s recent various public attempts to have the polls postponed.

    Addressing about 1 000 supporters at Gokwe Centre, some of whom had come from as far away as Zhombe, Kwekwe and Redcliff, Mr Tsvangirai brewed a shocker when he said he would fight hard to stop Zanu-PF from postponing the elections.

    “I heard that now they want elections postponed from July 31, but we are saying no,” said Mr Tsvangirai.

    “That will not happen. We want them to be held on July 31.”

    Mr Tsvangirai seemed to have forgotten that he filed an application at the Constitutional Court recently attempting to postpone the elections indefinitely, saying he wanted reforms to be carried out first.

    The elections were saved from being postponed after the court dismissed his application.

    President Mugabe this week said Mr Tsvangirai, together with the leader of the other MDC faction, Professor Welshman Ncube, recently petitioned the African Union calling on the continental body to defer the polls. This is despite the fact that all the electoral processes starting with the special vote have already been conducted.

    Their latest action followed similar attempts to have Sadc influence poll postponement remarkably failed after the Constitutional Court dismissed calls for postponement of the polls.

  • Two ICC Witnesses Withdraw From Uhuru Kenyatta’s Case

    {{Two witnesses have withdrawn from testifying against Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court ( ICC) due to security concerns.}}

    ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda informed Trial Chamber V (B) that they had also dropped a third witness whose evidence was no longer necessary.

    “The Prosecution hereby notifies the Chamber of the withdrawal of three witnesses from its list of witnesses to be relied on at trial. This notification is designated “confidential, ex parte” because it contains security-related information about former Prosecution witnesses that, if disclosed to the parties or the public, may place the witnesses and/or their family members at risk,” Bensouda stated.

    She said Witness 5 has informed the Prosecution that he is no longer willing to testify at trial due to security risks.

    She said the witness believed that recent events in his life indicated efforts to discover his location and that there have been public speculation about his cooperation with the ICC.

    “In sum, it appears that Witness 5’s concerns for his security [REDACTED] have become too great for him to bear, and he has decided to withdraw as a consequence,” Bensouda stated.

    The ICC Chief Prosecutor said Witness 426 has informed the Prosecution that he is no longer willing to testify against President Uhuru despite discussions to meet his concerns about the case.

    “These talks were unsuccessful and Witness 426 maintained that he was not willing to testify,” said the ICC prosecutor.

    Bensouda said upon review, the prosecution decided to withdraw the evidence of Witness 334 as it was no longer necessary.

    President Uhuru, his Deputy William Ruto and former radio journalist Joshua Sang are facing crimes against humanity charges at The Hague based ICC.

    Some witnesses who were to testify against Ruto have already withdrawn.

  • Canada Denies Rwandan Genocide Fugitive Refugee Status

    {{Jean Berchmans Habinshuti a genocide fugitve in Canada might be extradited to Rwanda after failing to successfully seek refugee status through the Canadian Immigration Appeal Division.}}

    Habinshuti, 58, served as the private secretary to the prime minister around August 1993, a time when the Genocide against the Tutsi was building up.

    Habinshuti is alleged to have attended and helped plan an April 2, 1994, meeting that was “a turning point in the history of Rwanda as it led to the assassination of Prime Minister Agathe Uwiringiyimana and the Genocide.”

    Under Canada’s war crimes law, senior officials in the Rwandan government between 1990 and 1994 are not permitted to enter the Oceanian nation’s territory.

  • Transparency International Staff Strangled to Death

    {{A staff member of Transparency International Rwanda has been found dead and his body found at the shores of Lake Kivu.}}

    The diceased has been identified as Makonene Gustave in his early 30s. Sources say his body was found tied with a rope around the neck. It alleged he was attakced while leaving office on wednesday evening.

    Ingabire Marie Immaculée the Chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda confirmed to IGIHE that one of their staff in Rubavu district had been murdered saying they were saddened by this gruesome murder.

    When Contacted, Jamvier Ntalindwa the elder brother of the diceased, said his brother had not expressed any signs that his life had been in danger.

    Makonene was still single. His body is currently at Gisenyi Hospital as investigations into his murder are ongoing.

    Makonene Gustave

  • Letter from Taliban to Malala: Why we Shot You

    {{In a letter to a Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head on her way home from school, a senior Taliban commander purportedly tells her that she was targeted not because she advocated education for all girls, but rather for her criticism of the militant group.}}

    The letter attributed to Adnan Rashid was released just days after 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai took the stage at the United Nations, where she delivered an emotional plea for the right to go to school on behalf of all children.

    Malala was 15 when gunmen jumped on her school bus and shouted her name, scaring other girls into identifying her, in the Swat Valley on October 9, 2012. The attack sparked massive protests in Pakistan and condemnation worldwide.

    “The Taliban believe you were intentionally writing against them and running a smear campaign to malign their effort to establish an Islamic system in (the) Swat Valley, and your writings were provocative,” according to the letter, which was dated Monday by a Pakistan intelligence source.

    “You have said in your speech … that the pen is mightier than the sword. So they attacked you for your sword not your books or school.”

    However, media could not confirm the authenticity of the letter, but its validity has been generally accepted by Pakistan intelligence officials.

    Rashid made headlines last year after the Taliban broke him out of a Bannu prison, where he was serving a life sentence following his 2003 conviction for his role in the attempted murder of former President Pervez Musharraf.

    Nearly 400 prisoners were freed in the jailbreak, which authorities believe was staged to get Rashid out, a former Pakistani Air Force officer.

    In the letter, Rashid said he was writing — not as a Taliban leader — to say he was shocked by the shooting, and to express his regret that he did not warn Malala ahead of time of the attack.

    The letter went on to say that the Taliban supports the education of women, as long as it adheres to Islamic law.

    He urged her, according to the letter, to return to Pakistan and “use your pen for Islam and the plight of the Muslim community.”

    Gordon Brown, the U.N. special envoy on global education, blasted Rashid’s letter.

    “Nobody will believe a word the Taliban say about the right of girls like Malala to go to school until they stop burning down schools and stop massacring pupils,” he said in a statement released Wednesday.

    This summer in Pakistan, a teacher was gunned down in front of her son as she drove into her all-girl school. A school principal was killed and his students severely injured when a bomb was tossed onto a school playground at an all-girl school in Karachi in March.

    In January, five teachers were killed near the town of Swabi in the volatile northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the United Nations says.

    And, in June, a suicide bomber blew up a bus carrying 40 schoolgirls as it made its way to an all-girl campus in Quetta. Fourteen female students were killed.

    CNN

  • Portugese Firm to invest US$36M in Zambia

    {{Portuguese construction firm Mota-Engil has outlined plans to invest US$36mn in Zambia in an attempt to expand its footprint into the southern African nation
    Mota-Engil Africa CEO Gilberto Rodrigues said that Zambia more than qualified as a conducive investment destination for the company, which was established in 1946.}}

    Rodrigues said, “With operations in more than 20 countries, Mota-Engil is confident it will grow and contribute to Zambia’s infrastructure sector.

    “The company will be involved in the construction of the 240km T-4 Great East Road to connect Zambia and Malawi as its first project in Zambia. We just signed this project with the government and we are commencing works in September this year.”

    Rodrigues also said that the company was seeking other investment avenues in the energy and mining sectors. He added that there were more expansion plans in the Africa lined up for later this year.

    The company, which reported a 22% increase in first-quarter net income, had said in March that it planned to enter new markets in Africa, including Zambia, Ghana, Uganda and Kenya.

    The firm said that it was seeking a total of US$5bn of contracts in Africa.

    Mota-Engil corporate affairs consultant Wynegood Malunga said that the company believed that Africa, which has been a hub to fast-growing economies in the world, will be its priority for future investments.

    {agencies}

  • Chinese Firm to Build Tallest Trade Tower in Kenya

    {{Chinese construction firm Jiangxi International has won a bid for constructing the tallest trade building in Kenya, the National Social Security Fund’s (NSSF) Trade Centre.}}

    Kenyan Cementers had also bid for the project, but the Chinese firm won the project.

    According to media reports, the Kenyan firm had earlier won the tender to build the 39-storey building following a US$68Million bid, which was later disqualified by the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board.

    This led to the NSSF inviting new bids for the Hazina-owned trade centre in January this year.

    Kenyan Labour Cabinet secretary Kazungu Kambi said, “This project has previously been dogged by a number of false starts due to legal hurdles, which have now been overcome.”

    The skyscraper will be an extension of the building Nakumatt Lifestyle, which currently has eight floors, four basement levels, a ground floor, two mezzanines and one podium.

    The high-rise, which will be completed in 18 months, will feature a vegetated roof terrace, a ventilated atrium, helipad and city’s viewing gallery.

    It will also constitute a high-end hotel that will be expected to increase competition in the hospitality industry.

    The project, amongst others, will attract US$1.15mn in lease collection income after completion, while it will also sell off some floor space, which will see it retain its real estate investment below the regulatory maximum of 30%.

    {{agencies}}

  • Namibia suffers worst drought in 30 years

    {{Namibia, sub-Saharan Africa’s driest country, is suffering its worst drought in a generation, with more than 100,000 children at risk of malnutrition, the United Nations said on Thursday.}}

    President Hifkepunye Pohamba declared a national emergency in the sparsely populated southern African nation after the failure of crops in May, and earmarked $20 million of relief for the worst-hit households.

    Many farmers are now being forced to sell cattle for which there is no grazing, while cow-herds from Angola are reported to have crossed the border in search of food, fuelling tribal tensions as competition for scarce pastures intensifies.

    “The shortages of food and water are increasing the immediate threat of disease and malnutrition,” said Micaela Marques De Sousa, the Namibia representative of UNICEF, the U.N.’s children’s agency.

    “But anecdotal reports already indicate children are dropping out of school, a clear sign of stress and vulnerability in families.”

    Namibia, which won independence from neighboring South Africa in 1990, classifies as a middle-income country although a quarter of its 2 million people live in poverty.

    While agriculture accounts for 5 percent of the economy, a third of Namibians are dependent on some form of subsistence farming.

    {agencies}