IGIHE

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  • Iran Nuclear Talks to Open in Vienna

    Iran Nuclear Talks to Open in Vienna

    {{Iran and six world powers are starting the first round of talks on a long-term agreement on Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme.}}

    The talks in Vienna aim to build on November’s interim deal, in which Iran agreed to curb uranium enrichment in return for partial sanctions relief.

    Ahead of the meeting, both Iran and the US downplayed hopes of a quick breakthrough.

    The West suspects Iran of trying to build nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.

    {{‘No opposition’}}

    The talks between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US are due to open at 11:00 (10:00 GMT) in the Austrian capital.

    The West wants Iran to sharply scale back its sensitive nuclear activities to ensure that it cannot quickly assemble an atomic bomb.

    But Tehran says its nuclear work is purely peaceful and will continue. It also wants an end to the sanctions that have battered its economy.

    It took months of very hard bargaining for the two sides to agree to negotiate a final deal.

    She adds that the talk will be a first test of that resolve.

    On Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Vienna talks “will not lead anywhere”, in a statement posted on his website.

    But he added: “What our officials started will continue. We will not renege. I have no opposition.”

    Meanwhile, a senior US administration official also acknowledged that it would be a “complicated, difficult and lengthy process”, Reuters reports.

    The two sides have until 19 July to find a comprehensive solution.

    BBC

  • Tanzania Defends Serengeti National Park Highway

    Tanzania Defends Serengeti National Park Highway

    {{Tanzanian government has defended the proposed highway across the Serengeti National Park, saying constructing it will neither violate the East African Community (EAC) Treaty nor harm the ecosystem.}}

    Government Counsel Gabriel Malata told the East African Court of Justice that the highway would ease the movement of tourists to and from the area.

    When the case was filed in December 2010, he explained, the government had not decided on whether to build a tarmac or gravel road. After a feasibility study, Mr Malata said, the gravel road came out on top–essentially because it would have no effect on the Serengeti eco-system.

    Mr Malata, the principal state attorney, asked the court to dismiss the case filed by the Nairobi-based Africa Network of Animal Welfare (ANAW) with costs. He argued that supporting ANAW would frustrate the tourism sector in the entire region “because the road is there to facilitate the movement of tourists”.

    The EAC partner states were yet to ratify the Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources, he added, making the case premature.

    ANAW argues that construction of the road will be hazardous to the environment and animals in particular. The group’s lawyer, Saitabao Kanchory Mbalelo told the court that construction of the road across the national park infringes Articles 5 and 3 of the EAC Treaty.

    NMG

  • UN Group Reveals How Al-Shabaab Gets Arms

    UN Group Reveals How Al-Shabaab Gets Arms

    {{UN monitors have found evidence that arm shipments to the Somali Government have been diverted to clan militias and in one case were destined for an Al-Shabaab rebel commander.}}

    A confidential report by the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group, seen by reporters on Friday, found “high level and systematic abuses in weapons management and distribution” by Somali authorities.

    In February 2013 the United Nations Security Council voted to partially lift an arms embargo against Somalia, seeking to help the beleaguered government in its battle against Islamist guerrillas.

    But the council imposed restrictions requiring notification of shipments, banned certain heavy weapons and mandated the Monitoring Group to watch how matters proceeded.

  • Kampala to Host Regional Infrastructure Summit

    Kampala to Host Regional Infrastructure Summit

    {{Uganda will this week host the fourth Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit with particular focus set towards the sharing of knowledge on the projects being pursued by the East African Community member states.}}

    During the summit, the East African tourist visa and the use of national identity cards, voter/student cards as travel documents, which started on January 1, will be launched.

    Its also indicated that regional presidents will consider entering into a security pact.

    Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan- all members of the Northern Corridor, will participate while Tanzania will attend as a member of the East African Community.

    Rwanda will present on the progress of a single customs territory, the East African tourism visa, travel documents, security cooperation and airspace management .

    Uganda will present on railway development, oil refinery development, ICT, and political federation.

    Kenya will also produce a report on energy generation, pipeline construction, and human resource capacity building in specialised skills for railway, energy, oil refinery and ICT development.

    {Monitor}

  • Zimbabwe Cost Mbeki His Presidency – Zanu-PF MP

    Zimbabwe Cost Mbeki His Presidency – Zanu-PF MP

    Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party legislators are reportedly pushing for a street to be named after former president Thabo Mbeki for “bringing stability to the country” following the disputed 2008 polls.

    Mbeki helped broker a now defunct power sharing agreement between the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Zanu-PF following a disputed election in 2008 which left at least 200 people dead.

    According to the Daily News, a Zanu-PF legislator Reuben Marumahoko urged Zimbabweans to appreciate the work done by the “African icon” who “made Zimbabwe to be what it is today after the difficulties we went through during the 2008 elections where the regime change agenda was at play”.

    He said Mbeki was the “son of the soil” and “a principled man” who helped the country when “the enemies of Africa and Zimbabwe were ready to pounce on Zimbabwe”.

    MDC against the proposal

    Mbeki was criticised for his quiet diplomacy in dealing with the Zimbabwean issue and this, Marumahoko said was the reason why he (Mbeki) lost his presidency.

    Marumahoko said Mbeki was recalled “not [because] people of SA did not want him” but because “the enemies of Africa did not want him”.

    He said Mbeki lost his presidency for helping Zimbabweans.

    Marumahoko urged all MPs to support his motion to name one of “our roads after him like we did to Nelson Mandela and other African leaders”.

    MDC legislators were, however, opposed to the proposal, accusing Mbeki of having propped up Zanu-PF, the report said.

    – News24

  • Over 100 Killed in Islamist Attack in North Nigeria

    Over 100 Killed in Islamist Attack in North Nigeria

    {{Suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed more than 100 people in an attack on a village in Nigeria, a local senator said on Sunday.}}

    The attackers stormed the village in Nigeria’s restive north-eastern Borno state on Saturday, slaughtering scores of civilians and sending many others fleeing.

    “A hundred and six people, including an old woman, have been killed by the attackers, suspected to be Boko Haram gunmen,” senator Ali Ndume told media.

    “Sixty of the dead have been buried while the rest are awaiting burial,” he said, adding the attacks in the area were becoming “deadlier and more frequent by the day.”

    The raid took place on Saturday in the mostly Christian village of Izghe in Borno, which has been under emergency rule since May 2013 in a bid to stop an Islamist rebellion that has claimed thousands of lives since 2009.

    A local farmer who escaped by scaling the fence of his house and crawling on his belly for 40 minutes said the attackers had gone door-to-door looking for those hiding in their houses.

    “The attackers came around 9:30 pm (20.30 GMT) in six trucks and some motorcycles.

    They were dressed in military uniform,” Barnabas Idi said.

    “They asked men to assemble at a place, and began hacking and slaughtering them.”

    There were no security forces in the town at the time of the attack, he said.

    The head of the local government in the area, Maina Ularamu, earlier told reporters: “From the latest information I have gathered, more than 60 people have been killed.”

    “We suspect that the gunmen were members of Boko Haram. They have taken over the village,” said Ularamu.

    “They looted businesses and food stores and loaded all their spoils into vehicles owned by residents and fled into the bush,” he added.

    The official was speaking from Abuja and said he was preparing to return to Maiduguri, the state capital, to deal with the fallout of the attack.

    Hundreds of villagers in Borno had already fled to Maiduguri after Boko Haram militants last week killed 43 people in two separate attacks.

    The militant sect has said it is fighting to create a strict Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north.

    The southern half of the oil-rich country, Africa’s most populous, is mainly Christian.

    Gunmen also attacked a fishing village on Lake Chad on Saturday, killing an unspecified number of residents.

    A survivor said several people had drowned in the lake while trying to escape the gunmen.

    Military spokesman Mohammed Dole confirmed the attack but declined to comment further saying the area fell under the jurisdiction of a multinational task force comprising troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad.

    Boko Haram militants have carried out frequent attacks in both cities and remote areas of the northeast, despite a military operation launched when emergency rule was declared.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, who has voiced frustration with the progress of the operation, replaced his top military brass on January 16, 2014.

    Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and the continent’s largest oil producer, is scheduled to hold presidential elections in February 2015.

    {wirestory}

  • UN Faults Kenya’s Marriage Property Bill

    UN Faults Kenya’s Marriage Property Bill

    {{A group of United Nations human rights advocates have urged Kenya to repeal parts of a recently enacted law that they say discriminates against women.}}

    The Marriage and Property Act bars women from taking up land title deeds in the names of their deceased or divorced husbands unless they can prove they contributed to acquisition of the property during marriage.

    {{EQUAL TREATMENT}}

    “Such provisions are serious retrogressive steps in the protection of women’s equal access to land and property, and are in violation of Kenya’s international and regional human rights obligations,” said Frances Raday, head of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women.

    These sections of the law that took effect last month are also squarely at odds with the constitutional guarantees of equal treatment, Ms Raday added.

    She warned that very few women will meet the law’s requirement because it is rare for wives to have land title deeds in their own names or hold them jointly with men.

    {{VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN}}

    “Women will effectively have no security of tenure or place to live with their children if their husband leaves them or dies, which will also increase their risk of experiencing violence,” the UN representative said.

    She added that the new Act will have “a detrimental impact on women and children’s right to food, adequate housing and standards of living.

    The call for a repeal of the “discriminatory” sections of the law was joined by four UN special rapporteurs who include investigators on topics of extreme poverty, violence against women as well as rights to food and adequate housing.

    {nation}

  • Zambia Railways on ‘Path to Recovery’

    Zambia Railways on ‘Path to Recovery’

    {{Zambia Railways (ZR) has signed a US$51 million contract for a state-of-the-art signalling and telecommunication project}}

    The project will be jointly undertaken by a leading international firm Bombardier and Huawei, as well as local company GMC Technologies.

    According to ZR chief executive officer Muyenga Atanga, the signing ceremony represented a big leap towards bringing back the lost glory of the railway firm whose fortunes have tumbled in recent years.

    The US$51 million is a component of the US$120 million allocation to ZR from the debut Zambian Eurobond issued in 2012.

    “When we started, people doubted us, but now we are out of intensive care unit and on a growth path,” Atanga said during the signing ceremony held in Lusaka recently.
    The signalling and telecommunication project will be rolled out in a two-year period and will enhance safety on the railway line on which trains will move at a speed of between 70-80km per hour.

    Bombardier head of Sub-Saharan Africa Rail Control Solutions, Valentine Paramasivam, said railway systems were fundamental to the economic development of any nation.

    The technology, which is a computer radio-based communication system, will be the first in the region and the company will set up a base in Zambia, Paramasivam pointed out. The radio equipment will be for the transmission of data, voice and video.

    Huawei managing director Spawn Wen said the project was a milestone in railway transport and the company was up to the task of delivering its part of the project, while GMC Technologies managing director Rocky Chiyunyi said that his company would employ more than 100 people during the implementation of the project.

  • Kwibuka Launch: Germany Joins Rwandans in Remembering Genocide Against Tutsis

    Kwibuka Launch: Germany Joins Rwandans in Remembering Genocide Against Tutsis

    {{On 13 February 2014, Berlin marked the launch of the 20th Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Germany’s capital city, Berlin. }}

    The event that officially opened the 20th commemorative year of the Genocide was hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in cooperation with the German Africa Foundation (DAS e.V.).

    Taking place in the premises of the Federal Parliament, the event was attended by more than 200 guests.

    Among them were dignitaries from German politics, including members of the federal Parliament, representatives of the federal and local government as well as members of the diplomatic corps.

    Further, members of the Rwandan community, friends of Rwanda and the German-Jewish community participated actively in the function.

    The event, moderated by ZDF (German public broadcaster)’s Andreas Huppert, was opened with the short film “Remember, unite, renew”. A musical performance throughout the evening by three professional singers of the rabbinical school, Abraham Geiger College, framed the event grandly.

    The Rwandan Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Ambassador Christine Nkulikiyinka, started her welcoming remarks by calling for a minute of silence for the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi.

    She then explained the word “Kwibuka”, recalling the importance to remember by honouring the victims and the reconciliation of Rwandans over the past 20 years. The Rwandan envoy also stressed that the Genocide which occurred in Rwanda and took more than 1 Mio innocent lives ought not to be solely considered a Rwandan problem.

    She stressed the lessons learned from the tragedy were of international impact. The prevention of genocides was an international duty as was the need to invest into its prevention, she said.

    “The term “Never again” is well known in Germany. And we Rwandans also promote a very strong culture of commemoration. Genocides shall never occur again. Not in Rwanda, nor elsewhere.

    And when we undertake efforts to build a better future for new generations, we do this by honouring the memory of friends and relatives who left us too soon. We are building a Rwanda in which all citizens enjoy equal rights. However, we also take on international responsibility.”

    The Ambassador informed the audience about Rwanda’s contributions to UN-mandated peace-keeping missions and the country’s promotion of the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P), explaining that Rwanda took lessons from its recent past.

    Recalling the German experience, she called upon a united front against genocide deniers everywhere.

    The guest of honour, Vice president of the Federal Parliament Mrs Ulla Schmidt, commended Rwandans for not shying away from confronting their dark past. She encouraged the flame of remembrance to shine always and to be spread to the entire world.
    Mrs Schmidt referred to the progress Rwanda has made over the past twenty years, while at the same time facing the challenge of reconciling and re-building a broken nation.

    “Rwanda has achieved a lot, such as having the world’s highest percentage (65%) of female members in Parliament. We do not need many words to acknowledge your progress.

    And you make an impressive contribution to peace and ownership of African solutions by engaging in peace-keeping missions across the continent, such as in Mali or the Central African Republic.”

    The deputy speaker explained that coming to terms with the genocide and its aftermath was not a task for a Rwandans alone.

    She referred to Germany’s first and ongoing trial of a Rwandan genocide suspect, stating that this shows that Rwandans are not alone and that impunity was not an option wherever perpetrators of genocide may be.

    The event’s program also consisted of the testimony of a genocide survivor and her German husband. Jacqueline and Wolfgang Blam recalled and shared their memories of the tragic events in 1994.

    When asked about her family, Jacqueline Blam said that this was a difficult question to answer because the majority of her close and extended family was killed during the genocide.

    She called upon everyone to live in peace with their neighbours and asked politicians to first and foremost serve and protect those citizens whom they are responsible for.

    In her final remarks Ambassador Nkulikiyinka said that, today, Rwandans understand themselves as one nation. What unites Rwandans was stronger and more diverse than what could possibly divide them, the Rwandan envoy stressed.

    She also thanked all guests for expressing their solidarity with Rwandans by joining in the commemoration and for spreading hope.

    The event was concluded with the lightening of the remembrance flame, Urumuli rutazima, which was carried by two youths. The flame will be travelling throughout Germany until the end of March.

  • Canadian Athlete Condemned for Selfie With Putin

    Canadian Athlete Condemned for Selfie With Putin

    {{Canadian speedskater Brittany Schussler, who took advantage of her proximity to Russian President Putin to snap a selfie has come under heavy criticism – for posing with a ‘dictator’.}}

    Russian president Vladimir Putin stopped by the USA and Canada Houses in Sochi on Friday, drawing plenty of attention from smartphone-wielding athletes.

    One of them was Schussler who later tweeted the picture to her followers with the message “I should’ve asked him to be my Valentine,” but was soon met with strong criticism.

    Enough criticism that Schussler felt compelled to delete the tweet and explain herself to a Canadian newspaper.

    Schussler’s clarification did not do much for some people:

    @bschussler @WinnipegNews Is there room for humor with the loss of rights for any group? Rather like posing for a photo opp with Hitler.

    — Cowboy Counsellor (@RGMatthewsCBT) February 15, 2014

    Schussler wasn’t the only one drawing flak as plenty leveled heat at the USA and Canadian Houses for putting politics aside and welcoming Putin in the name of sport. (“Good luck, except in hockey,” Putin reportedly said during his Canadian visit.)

    She did, however, become one of the biggest targets for people who don’t approve of hobnobbing with someone with Putin’s human rights record.