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  • Malala wins EU’s Sakharov Human Rights Prize

    Malala wins EU’s Sakharov Human Rights Prize

    {{Pakistan’s teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, shot by the Taliban for fighting for girls’ rights to education, on Thursday was awarded the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.}}

    “Today, we decided to let the world know that our hope for a better future stands in young people like Malala Yousafzai,” said the chairman of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), Joseph Daul.

    The 16-year-old who has become an emblem of the fight against the most radical forms of Islamism has also been nominated for the Nobel peace prize.

    She was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban on October 9 last year for speaking out against them and has gone on to become a global ambassador for the right of all children to go to school.

    Three jailed Belarussian dissidents and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden had also been short-listed for the parliament’s Sakharov prize.

    The three Belarussians, Ales Belyatsky, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich, were jailed after mass protests in Minsk in December 2010 against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.

    Snowden, the US contractor who revealed widespread spying by the United states on friends and foes alike, has sought asylum in Russia.

    Last year’s award went to detained Iranians, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film-maker Jafar Panahi, to honour those “standing up for a better Iran.”

    Past winners of the 50,000-euro ($65,000) prize include South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

    (AFP)

  • IFC to Sell Rupee-linked Bonds to Fund India Investment

    IFC to Sell Rupee-linked Bonds to Fund India Investment

    {{The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s investment arm, plans to raise $1bn by selling Indian rupee-linked bonds.}}

    IFC will use the proceeds to finance “private sector investment in India”.

    It said the bonds, which will be sold outside India, will strengthen the country’s capital markets and attract greater foreign investment.

    Foreign investors have been sceptical of entering India amid uncertainty over policies and a slowdown in growth.

    Analysts said the IFC bonds were likely to help attract investors who have been looking to enter India but needed assurance.

    “This lends the weight of the credit rating of the World Bank to the potential investment,” Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist with Mizuho bank told the BBC.

    “By co-working with the World Bank you get some of the credit risks involved with India off the table.”

    agencies

  • Gunmen Free Libyan Prime Minister

    Gunmen Free Libyan Prime Minister

    {{Former rebel gunmen freed Libya’s prime minister on Thursday after holding him for several hours in reprisal for the capture by U.S. forces at the weekend of a Libyan al Qaeda suspect in Tripoli.}}

    “I am fine, thank God,” Ali Zeidan tweeted after his release. “If the aim of the kidnapping operation was for me to present my resignation, then I won’t resign.

    “We are taking small steps, but in the right direction.”

    “The prime minister has been released,” a government official confirmed. A security source also said Zeidan was free.

    Journalists outside the Interior Ministry building where the prime minister was held by militiamen linked to the government said people demanding his release had opened fire at one point. Zeidan was seized at dawn from a luxury hotel where he lives under tight security and was held for about six hours.

    Two years after a revolution ended Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, Libya is in turmoil, with its vulnerable central government and nascent armed forces struggling to contain rival tribal militias and Islamist militants who control parts of the country.

    The militia, which had been hired by the government to provide security in Tripoli, said it “arrested” Zeidan after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Libya had a role in the weekend capture in the city of Abu Anas al-Liby.

    “His arrest comes after … (Kerry) said the Libyan government was aware of the operation,” a spokesman for the group, known as the Operations Room of Libya’s Revolutionaries, told media.

    Before his release, an official in the Interior Ministry anti-crime department told the state news agency that Zeidan, a former diplomat and exile opposition activist against Gaddafi, was being held there and was being treated well.

    The Libyan government in a statement confirmed the premier was taken at dawn to “an unknown place for unknown reasons.”

    The prime minister, who is in his early 60s, was taken from the Corinthia Hotel, where many diplomats and top government officials live. It is regarded as one of the most secure places in Tripoli.

    The kidnapping, however brief, raised the stakes in the unruly OPEC nation, where the regional factions are also seeking control over its oil wealth, which provides Libya with the vast bulk of government revenues.

    {wirestory}

  • Tanzania to be left out of latest ‘coalition of the willing’ EAC meeting

    Tanzania to be left out of latest ‘coalition of the willing’ EAC meeting

    {{The East African Community heads of state of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are scheduled to meet later this month in Kigali amid growing concerns about Tanzania’s apparent isolation by the “coalition of the willing”.}}

    Rwandan President Paul Kagame will host his Kenyan and Ugandan counterparts, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Yoweri Museveni, respectively, on October 28 and 29 to discuss joint infrastructure projects, Tanzania media reported.

    On the agenda will be the planned Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali standard-gauge railway, an oil pipeline connecting the three countries, an oil refinery and construction of a modern port in Lamu, Kenya.

    It was reported last weekend that divisions within the EAC had deepened after Burundi said it was not party to the “coalition of the willing” that has left Tanzania out.

    Some prominent government and business leaders have said Tanzania has been increasingly isolated by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, whose leaders have met on a number of occasions in recent months.

    But EAC Secretary-General Richard Sezibera said in Nairobi Monday that he was not aware that Tanzania had been sidelined or isolated from the regional integration process.

    The Rwandan national said alliances among some EAC partner states that excluded Tanzania were not proof that the largest country in the bloc was being systematically isolated by its partners.

    “From the secretariat point of view, we are not aware. I can’t say if Tanzania has been sidelined or is a reluctant partner in the bloc,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the EAC Secretary-General’s Forum.

    citizen

  • Charles Taylor to Serve Jail Term in UK

    Charles Taylor to Serve Jail Term in UK

    {{Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is to serve his 50-year war crimes sentence in the UK, Justice Minister Jeremy Wright has confirmed.}}

    Sweden and Rwanda had also offered to imprison him following the rejection of his appeal last month by a UN-backed special court in The Hague.

    It ruled that his convictions had been proved beyond doubt.

    He was sentenced in May 2012 for aiding rebels who committed atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war.

    Mr Wright made the announcement in a written statement to Liberia’s Parliament.

    The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) found Taylor, 65, guilty of 11 crimes including terrorism, rape, murder and the use of child soldiers by rebel groups in neighbouring Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 conflict.

    He was found to have supplied weapons to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in exchange for a constant flow of so-called blood diamonds.

    Taylor has always insisted he is innocent and his only contact with the rebels was to urge them to stop fighting.

    He is the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II.

    agencies

  • President Uhuru Unlikely to Attend ICC Trial

    President Uhuru Unlikely to Attend ICC Trial

    {{Kenya on Wednesday signalled that President Uhuru Kenyatta was unlikely to travel to The Hague to attend his trial at the International Criminal Court where he is charged with crimes against humanity.}}

    Foreign minister Amina Mohammed said President Kenyatta had fully cooperated with the court when he was the country’s deputy prime minister, but his new status as head of state completely changes the circumstances.

    “Are the circumstances different? Absolutely, totally, completely different. Before, he wasn’t the head of state of the republic. It is going to be the first time that a sitting head is brought before any court of any time, not just here but anywhere in the world,” Ms Mohammed told a news conference at the steps of the president’s office in Nairobi.

    On Saturday, African leaders are expected to hold a special sitting of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss their future relationship with the ICC.

    The Kenyan parliament last month passed a motion to pull out of the Rome Statute, but Ms Mohammed has denied reports that the country was lobbying the 34 African members of the ICC to withdraw from the statute en masse.

    “I think it’s actually quite naïve to think that 34 countries can come together with the sole aim of moving out of the Rome Statute.

    “We have not supported anybody to support a walk out…whether it was a mass walkout, we have never asked for that,” the Foreign minister said.

    She added that the countries did not join the statute together and she could not see any reason why they would come together to discuss a possible walk out.

    There have been calls within the AU for the continent’s ICC members to pull out in protest against the court’s alleged bias against African leaders.

    source:capitalFM

  • Police Destroys Drugs worth Frw19M

    Police Destroys Drugs worth Frw19M

    {{Police in Busasamana in Nyaza district has destroyed narcotic drugs valued at over Frw19 million.}}

    The drugs include illegal local gin, Kanyanga and marijuana.

    Busasamana residents witnessed the Inspector General of Police Emmanuel K Gasana, who was in the area; together with South Province Governor Alphonse Munyentwari, destroy the drugs.

    The activity was part of the Rwanda National Police’s campaigns to fight and prevent drug dealing in the country.

    Governor Munyentwari hailed the good partnership his province enjoys with the National Police in crime prevention. He urged citizens, particularly the youth to desist from drugs and instead opt to development activities.

    The governor said parents need to play a great role in protecting their children from drugs and alcohol abuse.

    Meanwhile Police in Gasabo district yesterday conducted a special operation and seized 12500 liters of illegal local brews. Consumption of these brews is on the rise, but Police says culprits will not be spared.

    source:RNP

  • EU Head of Delegation Concludes Rwanda Tour

    EU Head of Delegation Concludes Rwanda Tour

    {{President Paul Kagame on October 7, received Ambassador Michel Arrion, the outgoing head of delegation of the European Union. He has a long career at the European Commission since 1982 where he served in different positions. }}

    Before his posting to Rwanda in 2010, Michel Arrion served from 2005 to 2009, as Head of EU Delegation in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.

    After meeting President Kagame, Ambassador Michel Arrion said:

    “We believe that Rwanda’s development strategy is so good and all we have is to support it. It is important to note that the EDPRS strategy is quite good and we and indeed other development partners are willing to respond positively. Within two weeks we will be announcing another long term development package, of a magnitude above the previous ones.

    Ownership is taken very seriously and it’s the people who are developing their country – its action and practice and development partners really want to develop itself by stating their priorities where they need support.”

    Rwanda-EU relations date back to the mid-1980s, but have been significantly strengthened over the years. The main activities of the Delegation are to support development programmes of both Government and Civil Society. The

    Government of Rwanda and EU worked closely together especially on the agenda of the cooperation programme in line with the national Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).

    In recent activities, on 4th October 2013, the Government of Rwanda and the European Union signed a financing agreement worth €40 million (Rwf 35.3 billion) for the rehabilitation and maintenance of 700km of feeder roads in the rural areas to strengthen the road networks and improve the country’s food security by making it easier for food producers to reach their markets.

  • Parliament Chamber of Deputies to Focus on Population Needs

    Parliament Chamber of Deputies to Focus on Population Needs

    {{Speaker of parliament chamber of deputies Donatile Mukabarisa({pictured above}) said during this 3rd session of parliament the officials would focus on working closely with the population seeking solutions to their problems and passing bills.}}

    She made the remark while officiating at the opening of the 3rd session of parliament chamber of deputies.

    After elections and swearing in of members of parliament, on Monday the chamber of deputies started work, which coincided with the the beginning of the 3rd legislature of parliament.

    The event comprised of stating the chambers agenda for the next two months. The Speaker of parliament chamber of deputies Donatile Mukabarisa said they would continue to work closely with the people offering them appropriate representation.

    She said they will do all possible to meet the populations needs since it is their duty in the parliament, offering them apporpritae repsentation, montiring government activities and fufiling the desires of the people.

    She also addressed the issue of bills that are passed and not apporved but rather amended, where she said they would continue to work with partners to pass more refined bills through thorough examination.

    The Rwandan constituion in article 77 states that the paliament will be in session every two months five times a year.

    source:RBA

  • UN Security Council visits Rwanda’s Kigali Genocide Memorial

    UN Security Council visits Rwanda’s Kigali Genocide Memorial

    {{The 15 ambassadors of the United Nations Security Council on October 7, visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda’s capital, a site where some 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide lie buried.}}

    Established in 2004 by the Aegis Trust for genocide prevention at the request of the Rwandan Government and Kigali City Council, it continues to be run by Aegis on behalf of CNLG (Rwanda’s National Commission for the Fight against Genocide) as a place both of dignified remembrance and of learning for a new generation.

    Led by UN Security Council President Agshin Mehdiyev, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador, and by US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, the ambassadors laid wreaths and roses on the mass graves which line the sloping hillside below the Memorial building. Aegis’ Deputy Director in Rwanda, Yves Kamuronsi, and Memorial guide Serge Rwigamba then showed them around the Memorial where today, young Rwandans – including children of survivors and perpetrators – come together to take part in peace-building education.

    “I can’t find the proper words to express my feelings, and my only wish is that it never happen again,” said Security Council President Agshin Mehdiyev. “The Security Council is here just to promote peace and stability to the region. We are doing our best to get all countries of the region together to put an end to hostility and to guarantee that all people of the region will live in peace and stability. That’s our message to all people of the region of the Great Lakes.”

    Ambassador Power also gave a personal message in response to the visit. Visibly moved, the author of ‘A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide’ was at times almost in tears. She stated, “We just want to express our thanks to the people of Rwanda for opening their hearts, sharing their photos, their stories of their family members. Nobody who comes to this memorial site is ever the same when they leave. People who come through this site dedicate themselves with new passion and new commitment to the Rwandan people, to the cause of reconciliation and peace in the region, and to the broader cause of preventing genocide forevermore.”

    “We are very pleased that the UN Security Council chose to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial,” says Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust. “It is a heartening sign that the international community at the highest level is engaged in learning about how mass atrocities, such as happened in Rwanda, can be prevented in the future.”

    In her own words Ambassador Power’s comments said:

    “My name is Samantha Power, I’m the US Ambassador to the United Nations. I’ve just come out of the Memorial and I honestly need time to recover. This is very soon to be talking to all of you…

    “This is my third time visiting Rwandan memorials. It is almost 20 years after the genocide and the power of not only what happened here in 1994, but the strength of the Rwandan people as they seek to move forward is immensely moving to me and to my colleagues.

    “I am here as part of a mission from the United Nations Security Council, and of course we all know what the United Nations failed to do back in 1994 for the Rwandan people, but the international community is determined to stand with the Rwandan people, in the same way that our guides today have … were themselves 13 year-old boys at the time of the genocide…. and they tell their stories so that diplomats like me, journalists, citizens, churchgoers, everyone in the world can know what happened here so that it never happens again in Rwanda and it never happens anywhere else in the World.

    “And so we just want to express our thanks to the people of Rwanda for opening their hearts, sharing their photos, their stories of their family members. Nobody who comes to this memorial site is ever the same when they leave. People who come through this site dedicate themselves with new passion and new commitment to the Rwandan people, to the cause of reconciliation and peace in the region, and to the broader cause of preventing genocide forevermore. Thank you so much.”