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  • British Court Clears Way for Life Sentences in Soldier Murder

    British Court Clears Way for Life Sentences in Soldier Murder

    A British court has ruled that UK laws on whole-life prison sentences are compatible with European human rights laws, opening the way for two British Muslim converts who hacked a soldier to death on a London street to be sentenced on Wednesday.

    The judge in charge of the trial of Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who were convicted on Dec.19 of the murder of Private Lee Rigby in May 2013, had delayed announcing his verdict to wait for Britain’s Court of Appeal to clarify its position on whole-life sentences.

    The verdict follows a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights last July that British courts had violated three murderers’ rights by jailing them for life with no prospect of release.

    Britain’s Court of Appeal instructed judges to keep imposing whole-life sentences when appropriate on Tuesday.

    “In our judgment, the law of England and Wales … does provide to an offender ‘hope’ or the ‘possibility’ of release in exceptional circumstances,” the court said.

    There are about 50 people serving whole-life sentences in Britain. Judges can only impose such sentences in exceptionally serious crimes such as child murders involving sadistic or sexual motives, or multiple murders with premeditation.

    So-called “lifers” can be released from prison at the discretion of the justice secretary or on compassionate grounds.

    The court dismissed challenges from two convicted murderers, and ordered that one of them, triple killer Ian McLoughlin, have his 40-year sentence increased to life.

    “The UK courts have definitively rejected the ludicrous ruling from Strasbourg demanding the most dangerous criminals are given the chance to be freed,” said Dominic Raab, a Conservative legislator, in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling.

    Tough line on crime

    The European court’s decision in July was one of a series that have angered the ruling Conservatives, who adopt a tough line on crime and see the court based in the eastern French city of Strasbourg as a threat to British sovereignty.

    Others have ranged from support for prisoners’ voting rights, which Conservatives strongly oppose, to a decision that delayed the deportation to Jordan of radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada for years.

    A spokeswoman for the European court declined to comment.

    Although the Strasbourg court is not an institution of the European Union, it has become wrapped in a wider debate about how much power EU bodies should have over British affairs.

    Theresa May, the Home Secretary or interior minister, has suggested that the Conservatives could pledge that if they win the 2015 election, Britain will pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights which the Strasbourg court enforces.

    {wirestory}

  • US Plans Full Afghanistan Pullout

    US Plans Full Afghanistan Pullout

    {{President Barack Obama has warned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai that the US may pull all of its troops out of his country by the year’s end.}}

    Mr Obama conveyed the message in a phone call to Mr Karzai, who has refused to sign a security agreement.

    The US insists this agreement must be in place before it commits to leaving some troops behind for counter-insurgent operations and training.

    The US has had troops in Afghanistan since 2001 when it toppled the Taliban.

    Its forces went into the country following the 9/11 attacks on the US. With Afghan and Western allies, they quickly overthrew the Taliban authorities, but have faced insurgent attacks since then.

    Correspondents say the disagreement over the bilateral security agreement (BSA) is the latest step in the long and deteriorating relationship between Washington and Mr Karzai, who was once seen as a key US ally.

    The BSA, which offers legal protection for US troops and defines a post-2014 Nato training and anti-insurgent mission, was agreed by the two countries last year after months of negotiation.

    It was endorsed at a national gathering (Loya Jirga) of Afghan elders in Kabul in November.

    wirestory

  • Venezuelan ex-Boxing Champion Killed

    Venezuelan ex-Boxing Champion Killed

    {{A former boxing world champion from Venezuela has been killed after being kidnapped earlier this week, Venezuelan officials confirm.}}

    The body of Antonio Cermeno, 44, was discovered on Tuesday with gunshot wounds on a roadside in the state of Miranda, police said.

    He had been abducted from the capital, Caracas, on Monday evening.

    The murder comes as the nation is gripped by a wave of anti-government protests over its high crime rates.

    Venezuela has the fifth highest murder rate in the world, and insecurity and crime are rife in many urban centres.

    Police said Mr Cermeno had been kidnapped with a number of relatives near the La Urbina neighbourhood in the east of the capital.

    His family members managed to escape while the abductors were refuelling their car, police spokesman Eliseo Guzman said.

    Mr Cermeno, nicknamed El Coloso (The Colossus), won bantamweight and featherweight world titles in the 1990s. He retired from the sport in 2006.

    His death is the latest in a series of high-profile killings.

    In January, gunmen shot the former Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and her British husband in their car as they were travelling from the city of Merida to Caracas.

    Observers say Mr Cermeno’s murder is likely to antagonise anti-government protesters further.

    The demonstrations began early this month, when students in the western states of Tachira and Merida took to the streets demanding increased security.

    They also complained about record inflation and shortages of basic food items.

    The rallies, which turned violent after the arrests of several protest leaders, have since spread to Caracas.

  • Airbus to Step up A320 Plane Production

    Airbus to Step up A320 Plane Production

    Europe’s largest aerospace group, Airbus, has announced a rise in full-year profits and says it will increase output of its A320 jets.

    Net income rose 21% to 3.6bn euros ($5bn; £3bn) in 2013, a year when Airbus delivered a record 626 planes. Revenues rose 5% to 59.3bn euros.

    Airbus said it expected to deliver a similar number of planes this year.

    It also announced it would increase production of its A320 jets to 46 planes a month from 42 by 2016.

    “Based on the healthy market outlook for our best-selling A320 family and following a comprehensive assessment of our supply chain’s readiness to ramp-up, we are ready to go to rate 46 by Q2 2016,” said Tom Williams of Airbus.

    “With a record backlog of over 4,200 A320 family aircraft… we have a solid case to increase our monthly output to satisfy our customers’ requirement for more of our fuel efficient aircraft.”

    Airbus also said it would deliver its first A350 jet to Qatar Airways before the end of the year.

    It predicted that commercial aircraft orders would remain above delivery levels, and said it expected group revenues to remain stable.

    Last month, Airbus’s main rival Boeing said that it expected to deliver 715-725 aircraft this year, which would be an increase of at least 10% from 2013.

    But at the same time, the US aerospace giant warned that future revenues and profits would be lower than analysts had forecast.

    wirestory

  • BRD donates Rwf 15 million to Maranyundo Girls School

    BRD donates Rwf 15 million to Maranyundo Girls School

    {Through its Corporate Social Responsibility, the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) has donated Rwf 15 Million to Maranyundo Girls School as the later plans to expand its buildings.}

    In an interview with the CEO of BRD, Alex Kanyankore said that after realizing the school has the project to upgrade its premises, BRD has decided to be a partner in this initiative which prompted the financial institution to donate Rwf 15 million as a support.

    He said that BRD will continue to make follow up on the construction of new buildings as “BRD is not a passerby who donates and go.”

    The Headmistress of Maranyundo Girls School, Sister Mukamana Juvenal commended BRD for its significant support adding that if things go well next year the school will start the upper secondary Level.

    Currently the school has about 192 students enrolled in O’Level class. The school was inaugurated in 2008 in the presence of the first Lady of Rwanda Mrs. Jeannette Kagame.

    angedelavictoire@igihe.com

  • Liberian Officials Visit Rwanda to Learn from Success of USAID Akazi Kanoze Youth Program

    Liberian Officials Visit Rwanda to Learn from Success of USAID Akazi Kanoze Youth Program

    {{This week, officials from the Government of Liberia and the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Liberia Mission are in Rwanda to visit and learn from the successes of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Program – an initiative supported by the USAID Mission in Rwanda. }}

    The study tour will take place from February 25-28.

    The six-member delegation includes: Hon. Hawa Goll-Kotchi, Liberian Deputy Minister of Instructions; Hon. Saah Charles N’Tow, Liberian Deputy Minister of Youth Services; Hon. Charles Gaye, Liberian Assistant Minister of TVET; Owen Dunbar, Institutional Capacity Development Team Lead, USAID/Liberia Advancing Youth Project; Denise Clarke, Deputy Chief of Party, USAID/Liberia Advancing Youth Project; and Mardea Nyumah, Education Specialist, USAID/Liberia.

    Like Rwanda, the Liberian Government with support from USAID, has been actively promoting youth workforce development efforts and their link to basic education.

    USAID’s Akazi Kanoze project, is part of these efforts in Rwanda, and has had remarkable success training young people with hands-on vocational skills as well as the intangible, but incredibly important, work-readiness skills such as time management and leadership. Thus far, nearly 12,500 youth have graduated from the Akazi Kanoze program.

    Among the completers, over 7,500 youth pursued further education and nearly 6,300 youth have accessed a new economic opportunity (paid internship, employment or self-employment).

    The delegation has come to Rwanda to see the Akazi Kanoze program first-hand, with the objectives of understanding successful strategies for linking vocational education with workforce development for youth; identifying effective systems to deliver quality youth-centered development services; discover strategies for building private sector partnerships for youth programming; and identifying necessary factors for building sustainability and scale for youth projects.

    During their stay, the delegation will meet with the Ministry of Youth and ICT, the project’s other public sector partners including the Rwanda Development Board and the Workforce Development Agency, private companies, technical and vocational schools, local youth-serving organizations, and program graduates themselves.

    “We’re very pleased and proud to continue our collaboration with the Government of Liberia to increase the capability of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports and other key stakeholders to support and manage youth-centered Alternative Basic Education programs in Liberia with efficiency, effectiveness and equity” said Melanie Sany, Chief of Party of the Akazi Kanoze program.

    “We believe that the lessons learned from the Rwandan experience will help inform Liberian efforts to provide education and livelihoods opportunities for youth.”

    Launched in 2009, the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Program, is a five-year USAID-funded project implemented by Education Development Center. It provides Rwandan youth with the necessary tools and resources to enter into a positive development pathway that will lead to increased lifelong livelihood opportunities. The Program expects to train 16,000 youth by the program’s end.

  • Rwanda Has Lowest Child Death Rates in Region: Report

    Rwanda Has Lowest Child Death Rates in Region: Report

    {{Most children in the eastern Africa region are likely to survive if they are born in Rwanda, a new report has revealed.}}

    Nearly 70% of women in the country give birth with a skilled healthcare worker present, the report says.

    Ethiopia is ranked with the lowest rate in East Africa with just 10% of mothers having access to such care.

    Kenya is at 43.8%, Tanzania 48.9 % while Uganda and Burundi both at 60%.

    The first day of a child’s life is the most dangerous and too many mothers give birth alone on the floor of their home or in the bush without any life-saving help,” said Janti Soeripto, Interim Regional

    Director for Save the Children’s East Africa Regional Office.

    According to the report titled Ending Newborn Deaths, high inequalities in access between rural and urban areas, as well as between the richest and poorest families is the main cause of infant mortality.

    In Kenya, poor women are four times less likely to have a skilled worker present when giving birth than women from richer households, the survey adds.

    The situation is worse in Ethiopia where poor women are twenty times less likely to have this vital support.

    Some countries like Uganda have taken measures to make access to healthcare more equitable such as ensuring a minimum package of health services for everyone.

    However, the survey notes that “over a quarter of families still do not have a health facility within 5km radius, and attendance rates remain low due to poor infrastructure, inadequate supplies, and health worker shortages.”

    “We hear horror stories of mothers walking for hours during labour to find trained help, all too often ending in tragedy,” Mr Soeripto said.

    The Children’s Agency says urgent action needs to be taken to reduce newborn mortality rates that account for deaths of more than half of all children under five years.

    “The solutions are well-known but need greater political will to give babies a fighting chance of reaching their second day of life,” the director said.

    {Africareview}

  • UK High Commissioner Visits RNP

    UK High Commissioner Visits RNP

    {{The United Kingdom High Commissioner to Rwanda, Mr. William Gelling this Tuesday visited Rwanda National Police Headquarters in Kacyiru where he was received and briefed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Emmanuel K. Gasana.}}

    In his welcome remarks, IGP Gasana commended the existing partnership between Rwanda National Police and the United Kingdom.

    He pointed out to capacity building of the force, as a fundamental and a necessary tool, and which RNP has embarked on in order to further ensure peace and security in the country and beyond its borders.

    The United Kingdom supports RNP mainly in capacity building in areas such as, Forensic and crime investigation.

    The partnership between UK and RNP has seen some of the force’ personnel persue masters degree in discipline such as criminology and Forensic sciences, which were obtained in UK based universities of Teesside and Bram hill.

    Both the UK and RNP will partner in other areas like fire and rescue training.
    Mr. William Gelling said his government is committed to working with RNP in potential areas of capacity building and training.

    While commenting on the security in the country, the UK newly appointed high commissioner to Rwanda said he is impressed on how streets in Kigali are kept safe.

    “I am very impressed; the officers are very smart, very good, and very polite. Every police officer I met on way as I was driving was excellent, genuinely impressed,” said Gelling.

  • Motorcyclists Recover Colleague’s Stolen Mmotorcycle

    Motorcyclists Recover Colleague’s Stolen Mmotorcycle

    {{Motorcycle taxi operators in Kicukiro district have recovered their colleague’s motorcycle which was stolen on Sunday and apprehended a man said to be behind the theft.}}

    The suspect is identified as Claude Twizeyimana, 24, a resident of Karambo cell in Gatenga sector also in Kicukiro.

    The motorcycle, registration number RB 009R belonging to one Claude Nshizirungu, was recovered in Kagunga cell, Gikondo sector later the same day.

    It had been stolen from the parking yard at Ziniya market in Kicukiro sector at about 11:00 am, where the owner, who had gone shopping, had parked it.

    Nshizirungu was welcomed with shock on coming out of the market as he couldn’t locate his motorcycle in the parking lot.

    He then informed his colleagues who were there, who in turn informed others in different parts of Kigali.

    Motorcycle taxi operators in Kagunga cell of Gikondo sector, who had been informed of the alleged theft, saw the suspect fleeing with the reported stolen motorcycle at about 3:00pm and pursued and apprehended him.

    The brave motorists produced the suspect and the recovered motorcycle to Gikondo Police Station, where he is currently detained.

    “The role of motorcyclists in crime prevention and apprehending wrongdoers including thieves is noticeable,” Chief Supt. Johnson Ntaganda, the District Police Commander, commended the motorists for the brave act, said.

    He called for continued cooperation against crimes such as theft, drug abuse and domestic violence.

    RNP

  • Even Generals Don’t know What US Army Exists For – Expert

    Even Generals Don’t know What US Army Exists For – Expert

    {US commando}

    {{US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel reduced the US Army to its smallest number since before the World War Two. It’s also planned to eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets.}}

    The new spending proposal is described by officials as the first Pentagon budget to push the military off the war footing adopted after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Andrew Bacevic, Professor of International Relations at Boston University, discussed the issue in an interview with the VoR.

    {{Do you think the US Army reduction is a justified measure?}}

    It is not a surprising action. I think the mood in the US is one that would not favor a large scale commitment of US land forces and any kind of a war. The memories of Iraq are still alive and they are not happy memories the perception of the Afghanistan war isn’t very popular.

    The American people are not in the mood for another land war. I think Pentagon planners recognize that and looking at their crystal ball, they think that the most likely contingencies in the near future are more likely to require air and naval forces.

    There is not enough money to give to everybody, so what you do is you make your cuts in the service that seems to be least needed in order to preserve capability where it is needed.

    {{Do you think we might see an increase of the budget put towards drones or, in other words, a decrease as well?}}

    Hagel wants to retire 810 attack aircraft, but he is doing that in order to preserve the much more modern and in the eyes of its proponents much more capable F35s.

    This budget may to some degree look austerity budget but it is intended to enhance certain capabilities in the realm of air and naval power. The budget also for example maintains all 11 current aircraft carriers.

    So, I think it is important not to overstate the downsizing. I mean if you are in the Army, it looks like a bad news budget, if you are in the Air Force or in the Navy, it doesn’t look so.

    {{How will the budget reduction affect the army? Will it become more capable and modern or will it become weaker?}}

    It’s got to become smaller and of course the rhetoric was already cited about becoming more agile and deployable and all that.

    I have to say that at the end of the day the Army remains a fairly heavy force and therefore one that is not particularly agile.

    If you’ve got a bunch of great big Abram tanks and you need to move them over a long distance, it is going to take a long time to get there. So, I take the agility rhetoric with a grain of salt.

    I think that we are going to have an Army that is probably going to stay at home more than has been in the end of the Cold war.

    {{Will the reduced Army be able to protect the country’s national interests and defend the US territory?}}

    I don’t think we are expecting any major invasion from Canada or Mexico. So, yes, the threats to the US are not the ones for which we need a large Army.

    The real treats are terrorism, where law enforcement agencies are far more important than the army, and cyber warfare, but again a large army is not particularly relevant to that.

    And to some degree we are threatened by the prospect of air attacks particularly by missiles, and again, the Army’s role in defending the country in that arena is also quite limited.

    The problem with the Army for its proponents is to find an answer to the question what does the Army exists to do and I am sure there are plenty of generals who are squirming around about that question but there is no obvious answer.

    It is much easier to find an answer for what the Navy and the Air Force are required to do particularly if you credit this notion of the 21st century as an Asian century in which the competition for power will tend to be occurring in the Asia Pacific region.

    It is far easier to conjure up contingencies that would require the commitment of US naval power and air power than land power. Now that said, there is always that important caveat about the Korean peninsula, which continues to be divided as it’s been divided since the Korean War.


    {Voice of Russia}