IGIHE

Author: IGIHE

  • Rwanda saddened by terror attacks in UK, Afghanistan

    {The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo has condoled with the United Kingdom following a terror attack carried out in London taking lives of 8, injuring 48. }

    Mushikiwabo who also condoled with Afghanistan over recent explosion which took many lives near the diplomatic area of Kabul and has via twitter account said that Rwanda is saddened with such acts.

    “We are saddened and perplexed by London attacks following Kabul explosion and others,our hearts go out to you,” she tweeted.

    Londonattacktook place on Saturday when terrorists drove their van to hit pedestrians on London Bridge.

    12 suspects including seven women in connection with the attack have been arrested.

    Isis have claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack, although this has not been verified.

    The attack follows the previous one in Manchester city two weeks ago which took lives of 22 people.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo

  • China plan raises hope for East African SGR project

    {China has said it is ready to finance the construction of the standard gauge railway from Kisumu in Kenya to Uganda and Rwanda as long as the three countries agree to handle the project jointly.}

    According to Beijing, such an agreement among the three countries would minimise political risks and plug missing links.

    There have been fears that the viability of the SGR within Kenya and beyond could be undermined by failing to link landlocked countries to the Mombasa port because of financial or other considerations.

    Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang told Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the China Africa Summit in Beijing two weeks ago to discuss the extension of the railway line from Kisumu to Kampala and then Kigali with Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame.

    Kenya State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said Mr Li was clear that China would fund those sections as a regional project.

    “The president already spoke with the leaders of Uganda and Rwanda on the possibility of sending a joint team to negotiate for financing of the remaining portion,” said Mr Esipisu. He said Kenya was now waiting for Kampala and Kigali’s response before planning an SGR beyond Kisumu.

    “The viability of the (Nairobi to Kisumu) the line is okay. One feature of the SGR investment to Kisumu is the building of a modern port there. Kisumu to Malaba is viable with Uganda and Rwanda on board,” Mr Esipisu said.

    {{Difficult terrain
    }}

    On May 31, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the operations of the first phase of the railway from Mombasa to Nairobi that cost $3.27 billion. He also announced a feasibility study for Phase 2B of the 350km line from Naivasha to Kisumu, for which China has committed a $3.6 billion loan. China is also funding the section from Nairobi to Naivasha at $1.5 billion.

    Kenya Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the terrain in the Rift Valley is the reason it costs more from Nairobi to Kisumu (350km) than Mombasa-Nairobi (472km).

    “We have to dig tunnels and construct more bridges across the landscape. That will obviously cost more,” he said in a briefing to journalists.

    Sources said a joint project was appealing to the three countries. Uganda has been negotiating a $2.9 billion loan deal for the 293km section from Malaba to Kampala.

    “We have to wait for our neighbours to decide on the plans for the last phase of this project before we can get the funds. China really doesn’t want to fund a white elephant project,” Uganda Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said in an interview with Bloomberg.

    He said the China Export-Import Bank was only willing to fund the project if it was linked to the Kenya line at Malaba.

    A Uganda government report released in April concluded that the Kenya SGR had the most potential to spur growth in the landlocked country. It said an SGR linked to Mombasa was shorter and more dependable because of the ongoing expansion of the Kenya port. Rwanda said last year it would link its SGR to the one proposed in Tanzania.

    China has said it is ready to finance the construction of the standard gauge railway from Kisumu in Kenya to Uganda and Rwanda as long as the three countries agree to handle the project jointly.

    Source:The East African

  • PSD, PL back Kagame in upcoming presidential polls

    {The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Liberal Party have declared their support for president Paul Kagame in the upcoming presidential polls slated for 4th August 2017.}

    The RPF of which Paul Kagame is chairman has not yet nominated a presidential candidate.

    The political parties made decisions over the weekend on separate days as PSD unveiled its Kagame support on Saturday and PL on Sunday during their congress in Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village.

    PSD congress on Saturday celebrated 25 years of existence.

    The decision was announced following PSD political bureau meeting which shared outcomes with members who didn’t hesitate to accept to back President Kagame given his good leadership.

    The congress was attended by the party’s president Dr Vincent Biruta, Premier Anastase Murekezi among others.

    Supporting Kagame’s candidacy among PSD members was also based on their contribution to amending the constitution especially article 101 to allow president Paul Kagame extend tenure.

    Following the decision of supporting Kagame, Dr Vincent Biruta called on members to campaign for him saying it is easy because Rwandans witness positive transformations he brought to the country.

    Dr Biruta told media that declaring support for Kagame is beneficial to both the party and Rwanda interests in general.

    “We have declared support for a candidate with abilities to lead the country in the next seven years. We have considered national interests and wishes from our political party members,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the president of PL, Donatille Mukabalisa which has also declared backing Paul Kagame for presidential candidacy yesterday said; “PL members also petitioned for amendment of the constitution to allow president Kagame extend leadership.”

    The National Electoral Commission will receive presidential candidacies between 12th and 23rd June 2017 while the final list of approved candidates will be produced on 7th July 2017.

    So far, Rwanda has three independent candidates who have expressed presidential ambitions including; Philippe Mpayimana, Diane Rwigara and Mwenedata Gilbert.

    Green Party nominated its president Dr Frank Habineza as the flag bearer in the upcoming presidential elections.

    PSD president , Dr Vincent Biruta called on members to campaign for president Paul Kagame saying it is easy because Rwandans witness positive transformations he brought to the country.
    PL president Mukabalisa with members dancing as a gesture of delight for the decision to support president Paul Kagame.
    Mukabalisa Donatille announcing that PL members vowed to support president Paul Kagame yesterday

  • Gasabo prison closes

    {Gasabo prison located in Gasabo district, Kimironko was closed yesterday as inmates were relocated to the Mageragere prison built in Nyarugenge district. }

    The Spokesperson of Rwanda Correctional service, CIP Hillary Sengabo has said the closure is part of the program of taking inmates out of the city.

    “It is part of the plans to relocate the prison from Kigali city to another newly completed prison with all requirements,” he said.

    CIP Sengabo explained that relocating inmates from Gasabo prison is not related to previous incident where it caught fire on 31st March 2017.

    Gasabo prison was accommodating 5,440 who were relocated to various prisons countrywide in different periods.

    The remaining 82 inmates were relocated to Mageragere prison yesterday.

    Gasabo prison was built after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

    The remaining 82 inmates were relocated to Mageragere prison yesterday.

  • Babies born to mothers with sleep apnea have higher risk of adverse neonatal outcomes

    {Babies from mothers with sleep apnea more likely to need resuscitation at birth}

    A new study is the first to demonstrate a higher risk of congenital anomalies and resuscitation at birth in newborns of mothers who have obstructive sleep apnea.

    Preliminary results show that newborns of mothers with sleep apnea were more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (25.3% vs. 8.1%) or special care nursery (34.9% vs. 13.6%), and they were 2.76 times more likely to have resuscitation at birth and 2.25 times more likely to have a longer hospital stay. The risk for congenital anomalies also was 26 percent higher in babies of women with sleep apnea.

    “Our results have shown that babies born to mothers with a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to require resuscitative efforts at birth, be born preterm, and to require a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit compared to babies who were not exposed to maternal sleep apnea,” said principal investigator and lead author Dr. Ghada Bourjeily, associate professor of medicine at Brown University and the Women’s Medicine Collaborative at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.

    Using data collected by the National Perinatal Information Center, the research team led by Bourjeily analyzed more than 1.4 million linked maternal and newborn records with a delivery hospitalization from 2010-2014. Less than 1 percent of the mothers had a diagnosis code of obstructive sleep apnea; however mothers with sleep apnea had a higher likelihood of having obesity, pre-gestational hypertension and diabetes.

    “These findings add to our understanding of the extent of morbidities of maternal sleep apnea for the mother as well as the baby,” said Bourjeily. “The results further highlight the importance of identifying this condition in pregnancy and testing the impact of therapy on these complications.”

    The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented Sunday, June 4, in Boston at SLEEP 2017, the 31st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS), which is a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

    Source:Science Daily

  • 5 key things you must do when faced with so much negativity

    {We live in times where negativity seems to be more than positivity; you look around you, and there are just so many negatives. On social media, news and stories happening around, a great majority of them tend to be negative news.}

    What can one when faced with so much negativity?

    {{1. Never lose focus }}

    Maintaining your focus is very important, and you shouldn’t let the negativity happening around you to steal your focus. When you lose focus, you’ll lose your sense of direction.

    {{2. Focus on the positives }}

    There’s always a positive side of things, it’s just that people tend to focus more on the negative and pay no attention to the positive. Focusing on the negatives will add no benefits to you, but focusing on the positives has so many benefits.

    {{3. Focus on solutions }}

    A major difference between a successful and unsuccessful man is what they focus on. Everyone has challenges, but while a successful man has the mentality of focusing on the solutions, an unsuccessful man will focus on the problem. Focus your attention on the solution and there will always be a way out.

    {{4. Surround yourself with positive people }}

    Who you surround yourself with will always have an effect on you. Surround yourself with positive people and you’ll see positive results, surround yourself with negative people and you’ll get negative results. Let the energy around you be positive, and this can only happen when the people around you are positive.

    {{5. Learn to let things go }}

    I am yet to see the first benefit of worry; worrying has so many dangers and no benefit. Learn to let things go, accept responsibilities for your actions, learn from them and let them go. Worrying over them will only compound the problem.

    Negativity is everywhere around you, but never let them become a part of you.

    Source:Elcrema

  • Emotions expressed by the dying are unexpectedly positive

    {Fear of death is a fundamental part of the human experience — we dread the possibility of pain and suffering and we worry that we’ll face the end alone. Although thinking about dying can cause considerable angst, new research suggests that the actual emotional experiences of the dying are both more positive and less negative than people expect.}

    The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

    “When we imagine our emotions as we approach death, we think mostly of sadness and terror,” says psychological scientist Kurt Gray of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “But it turns out, dying is less sad and terrifying — and happier — than you think.”

    The research, which examined the writings of terminally ill patients and inmates on death row, suggests that we focus disproportionately on the negative emotions caused by dying, without considering the broader context of everyday life.

    “Humans are incredibly adaptive — both physically and emotionally — and we go about our daily lives whether we’re dying or not,” Gray explains. “In our imagination, dying is lonely and meaningless, but the final blog posts of terminally ill patients and the last words of death row inmates are filled with love, social connection, and meaning.”

    The positive emotions that come with this kind of meaning-making were exquisitely displayed in a recent Modern Love column, written by beloved children’s author Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Rosenthal, who died of ovarian cancer 10 days after her column was published in The New York Times, wrote with profound love and humor about finding someone to marry her husband after she died.

    “The column was so touching because it was so positive, so filled with love and hope,” says Gray. “While such positivity seems strange in someone so near death, our work shows that it is actually fairly typical.”

    Gray, his graduate student Amelia Goranson, and their co-authors Ryan Ritter, Adam Waytz, and Michael Norton started thinking about the emotional experience of dying when they came across the last words of death-row inmates in Texas, collected by the state’s Department of Justice. They were surprised by how upbeat the statements were, and wondered whether our feelings about death and dying might be clouded by our tendency to zero in on negative experiences.

    In their first study, Gray and colleagues analyzed the emotional content of blog posts from terminally ill patients who were dying of either cancer or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To be included in the study, the blogs had to have at least 10 posts over at least 3 months and the author had to have died in the course of writing the blog. For comparison, the researchers asked a group of online participants to imagine that they had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and to write a blog post, keeping in mind that they only a few months to live.

    Using a computer-based algorithm, trained research assistant coders, and online participant coders, the researchers analyzed the actual and imagined blog posts for words that described negative and positive emotions, such as “fear,” “terror,” “anxiety,” “happiness,” and “love.”

    The results revealed that blog posts from individuals who were terminally ill included considerably more positive emotion words and fewer negative emotion words than did those written by participants who simply imagined they were dying.

    Looking at the patients’ blog posts over time, the researchers also found that their use of positive emotion words actually increased as they neared death, while their use of negative emotion words did not. These patterns held even after Gray and colleagues took the overall word count and number of blog posts into account, suggesting that the increase in positive emotion words was not simply due to the effects of writing over time.

    In a second study, the researchers conducted similar analyses comparing the last words of inmates on death row with the poetry of death-row inmates and the imagined last words of another group of online participants.

    Again, they found that the words of those who were actually close to death were less negative and more positive in emotional tone than the words of those who were not close to death.

    Both the terminally ill patients and the inmates facing execution seemed to focus on things that help us make meaning of life, including religion and family, suggesting that such things may help to quell anxiety about death as it approaches.

    Gray and his co-authors acknowledge that the findings may not apply to all people who are approaching death — it’s unclear whether individuals facing a great deal of uncertainty or those who die of old age express similarly positive emotions near the end of life.

    Ultimately, the findings suggest that our expectations may not match the reality of dying, which has important implications for how we treat people who are dying.

    “Currently, the medical system is geared toward avoiding death — an avoidance that is often motivated by views of death as terrible and tragic,” the researchers write in their paper. “This focus is understandable given cultural narratives of death’s negativity, but our results suggest that death is more positive than people expect: Meeting the grim reaper may not be as grim as it seems.”

    These findings suggest that our expectations may not match the reality of dying, which has important implications for how we treat people who are dying.

    Source:Science Daily

  • Police Handball Club are ‘Genocide Memorial’ champions again

    {The Rwanda National Police (RNP) handball club has won this year’s Genocide Memorial tournament after overcoming APR in the finals played at Kimisagara Youth Centre.}

    Police successfully defended the Genocide Memorial Cup after beating APR 36-21 to win it for the fourth time in a row. They had won the annual tournament in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

    Talisman Zachary Tuyishime scored the match high ten goals to guide police to their first trophy of the season, and to start the defence of the seven trophies they claimed last season.

    Both Police and APR set their final encounter after eliminating Nyakabanda and Uganda Police, respectively.

    The champions eliminated Nyakabanda with 36-18 goals with Gilbert Mutuyimana and Zachary Tuyishime scoring 9 and 7 each, respectively.

    “I want to thank the players for the determination and hard work. They played very well as champions and it’s that spirit coupled with team work that has continued to make us a successful team,” coach AIP Antoine Nzahabwanimana said.

    “This season, we signed new good players. The leadership is also supportive in many ways, and this is why we continue to perform better and better,” he added.

    About ten clubs, seven of them in men’s category from Uganda and Rwanda took part in the annual tournament dedicated to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

    Police was in pool A alongside their counterparts of Uganda and GS De la Salle of Gicumbi.

    Other teams, all placed in Group B, were APR, Nyakabanda, Makerere University (Uganda), and Ngome (Tanzania).

    The champions started their title defence against GS De la Salle, whom they beat 46-10.

    Their second 23-21 win over their counterparts of Uganda was perhaps the highly contested and entertaining match of the day as both sides were neck-on-neck to the dying minutes of the game.

    Source:Police

  • France ‘corrects’ White House video on Paris accord

    {Foreign ministry releases edited version of White House video that said Paris climate deal was bad for American jobs.}

    A day after Donald Trump decided to pull the United States out of the Paris climate deal, the French government has cheekily hit back by releasing a pointed fact-check of the US president’s claims about the landmark agreement.

    France’s finance ministry posted a tweet with an embedded link to a video that amounted to a wry but very public rebuttal of Trump’s assertions.

    On Thursday, the White House had tweeted, “The Paris Accord is a bad deal for Americans,” and linked to a video which said the agreement “undermines” US competitiveness and jobs, was “badly negotiated” by former president Barack Obama and “accomplishes little.”

    In its surprise response on Friday, France’s foreign ministry tweeted, “We’ve seen the @WhiteHouse video about the #ParisAccord. We disagree – so we’ve changed it.”

    Its own edited video uses the same format – background, font, images and music – as the White House but includes what French officials believe are the facts to debunk the White House claims.

    In the new video, statements such as “The Paris Accord is a bad deal for America” are changed to “Leaving the Paris Accord is a bad deal for America – and the world.”

    The video also refers to major companies such as ExxonMobil and Microsoft which “disagree” that the accord will “undermine” US jobs. It also quotes the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions.

    The tweet includes a now-popular hashtag “Make Our Planet Great Again” – a cheeky adaptation of the nationalist slogan used by Trump on his election campaign trail, “Make America Great Again”.

    The video is also notable for being in English. France is famous for championing the use of the French language, and its leaders are always under pressure to speak only in French, even if they are fluent in English, when they are in the public arena.

    But newly-elected president Emmanuel Macron has made a point of speaking in English, apparently seeking to make direct contact with a wider audience.

    On Thursday, he released a video in English as well as French in which he criticised Trump for pulling out of the Paris accord and coined the “Make Our Planet Great Again” slogan.

    He also invited American scientists, businesspeople and citizens who are frustrated by the White House’s stance to “come and work here with us” on finding a solution to the climate crisis.

    “They will find in France a second homeland,” Macron said.

    Macron, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, also released a statement saying that the agreement cannot be renegotiated, as Trump had demanded.

    The three leaders said they took note “with regret” the US decision, but added that they regard the accord as “a cornerstone in the cooperation between our countries, for effectively and timely tackling climate change”.

    The accord is “irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated”, they said.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • ‘484 civilians killed’ in US-led strikes against ISIL

    {US military reports 484 civilian deaths by US-led coalition strikes, but outside monitors put the number much higher.}

    The US military said that coalition attacks on ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq have killed more than 480 civilians since mid-2014 – a tally that is far below those of outside monitors.

    US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Friday that it added an additional 132 civilians deaths to its April report, a sharp increase from 352 it previously reported in late April.

    However, that total, which only includes civilian deaths through April, was still far short of what non-governmental organisations and monitors have estimated.

    Airwars, a London-based collective of journalists and researchers that tracks civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq, estimated more than 3,800 non-combatants have been killed since the US-led coalition’s operations began in August 2014.

    {{Mosul offensive}}

    CENTCOM’s estimate includes 105 civilians killed in a US-led air raid in March against a building in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the single deadliest incident for civilians arising from a coalition strike since anti-ISIL operations began in Iraq and Syria nearly three years ago.

    Separately, Al Jazeera’s sources recently said more than 120 civilians were killed in less than a week as Iraqi forces – backed by coalition air power – move to take the remaining pockets of territory held by ISIL in Mosul.

    In a statement emailed to Al Jazeera earlier on Friday by the Operation Inherent Resolve press office, the coalition said it “is aware of allegations of civilian casualties”.

    It added that the “coalition and Iraqi security forces are making every attempt to safeguard civilians as they liberate the city from ISIS terrorists who are using snipers to target civilians trying to flee the city … The coalition takes all allegations of civilian casualties serious and will assess the allegations”.

    The battle to recapture the last stronghold of ISIL in Iraq has now entered its eighth month.

    Iraqi government forces, backed by US advisers, artillery and air support, have cleared the east and most of western Mosul and are now focused on controlling the Old City with Iraqi civilians paying a heavy price.

    “We moved out and got frightened by heavy air strikes,” one civilian who escaped the fighting in western Mosul told Al Jazeera. “We fled after our house was destroyed by mortar shelling.”

    The close-quarter fighting has intensified with reports that ISIL fighters have gathered at the historic al-Nuri Mosque – a centuries-old structure famous for its leaning minaret – to make a last stand as Iraqi forces encircle the armed group in its de facto capital after capturing the city in 2014.

    Nearly 200,000 civilians are caught in an area of about eight-square kilometres.

    Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javaid, reporting from Erbil, just east of Mosul, said observers are pushing the Iraqi military and the US-led coalition to take care of civilians, despite the intensity of combat against ISIL.

    “Saving people is proving to be easier said than done,” Javaid said. “Aid workers and rights groups have been repeating their concerns that in the process to push ISIL out, Iraqi forces must make sure that civilians are not caught in the crossfire.”

    {{Raqqa offensive}}

    Meanwhile in Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that in the month from April 23 to May 23, 225 civilians, including dozens of children, were killed, the heaviest monthly toll since 2014.

    Last week, the Observatory said at least 13 people were killed in suspected US-led coalition air raids on the ISIL-held city of Raqqa and suspected rocket attacks by a Kurdish group fighting ISIL.

    The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG armed group, said in May it plans to launch the final assault on Raqqa in early summer.

    It has been encircling the city, ISIL’s de facto capital in Syria, since November.

    The US began sending the YPG weapons last week. In May, SDF fighters captured Tabqa, a previously ISIL-held town some 50km west of Raqqa, and a strategic dam nearby.

    The UN said in a report that on May 14, at least 23 farm workers, including 17 women, were reportedly killed when air raids hit al-Akershi village in a rural area of eastern Raqqa province.

    Other air raids on two residential areas of the ISIL-controlled city of Abo Kamal in eastern Deir Az Zor province the following day, May 15, reportedly killed at least 59 civilians, including 16 children and 12 women, and wounded 70 others.

    UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein said in a statement last week that the “rising toll of civilian deaths and injuries already caused by air strikes in Deir Az Zor and Raqqa suggests that insufficient precautions may have been taken in the attacks,”

    He added that “just because ISIL holds an area does not mean less care can be taken. Civilians should always be protected, whether they are in areas controlled by ISIL or by any other party.”

    Source:Al Jazeera