{{Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is awake and “responding sporadically in writing to questions … about other cell members and other unexploded bombs, ” law enforcement sources said.}}
Authorities had been waiting to question the 19-year-old, who is accused of helping to carry out the attack, which killed three people and wounded 180 others, many of them critically, near the finish line of Monday’s race.
Earlier Sunday, the FBI said Tsarnaev remains in serious condition at the heavily-guarded Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.Tsarnaev was sedated and unable to speak.
Tsarnaev was brought by ambulance to the facility after he was captured in Watertown, Mass., on Friday, following an intense manhunt that included at least two shootouts with police and ended with the bloodied suspect taken into custody from a tarp-covered boat he had been hiding in. He apparently suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and leg.
Tsarnaev’s 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, the other suspect wanted by the FBI, was killed during a late-night firefight with police in Watertown.
Tsarnaev managed to escape on foot, prompting a citywide lockdown as police conducted a house-by-house search for the alleged killer.
Under U.S. law, authorities have 72 hours after Tsarnaev’s arrest to file a criminal complaint against him. When they do, Tsarnaev is expected to face terror charges that could bring the death penalty.
{{In the lead up to Kenya’s March 4 general election, Kenyans on Twitter (KoT) were increasingly vocal about the stories surrounding the polls, that ‘Western’ media chose to cover.}}
One international correspondent in particular attracted a barrage of criticism from KoT for allegedly stage-managing a report showing some Rift Valley residents planning retribution attacks for the 2007/8 post election violence and the government was not far behind in its criticism of the story.
It is in light of these recent events that a Kenyan student studying at the Washington and Lee University in the American state of Virginia sought to establish from her fellow students whether the apprehension that ‘Western’ media deliberately portrays Africa in a negative light goes beyond KoT.
In a documentary titled Africa in Western Media, Waringa Kamau speaks to both African students at the campus as well as students from the ‘West’ and the consensus, it appears, is the same; a lot of the ‘Western’ media reports on Africa are not flattering to the continent.
“They portray Africa as a place where there are starving children, and they always will need help,” one student from the ‘West’ told Kamau with another concurring, “I guess the first thing that I think of are those commercials that have the starving children with the bones sticking out.”
It is these images which helped the Live Aid concert of 1985 raise billions of pounds to help fight famine in Ethiopia; close to 30 years on however, Kamau feels these depiction of Africa is outdated.
“When I first came here, I had a really hard time adjusting to Lexington because it’s a very tiny town. I shared this with a friend and he looked at me and dismissed what I had said because in his mind I should be used to rural environments,” Kamau narrates in her documentary.
Emmanuel Abrebrese, another Washington and Lee student, from Ghana has also had to deal with the negative impressions created by biased broadcasts on Africa, “Sometimes when I’m speaking English people ask how I do so fluently and assume I must have lived here for some time implying that in order to speak good English you must have lived in the states for a long time but there are good schools in Ghana and that’s where I learnt most of my English.”
“Imagine if African media only told Africans of the shootings in New Town Chicago and Virginia Tech and that became the only story that Africans ever heard about America?” Kamau reasons, “Africa just like the rest of the world has its own set of challenges, but these are not the only story (to be told).”
Another student, Johanna Cho, however believes it will be an uphill battle before stories told by the ‘Western’ media on Africa gain more balance, “People already have an attitude and mindset about Africa and to have the media stray from that storyline is going to be disconcerting to people or they won’t believe it… I think it’s hard to break the mould.”
Blaise Buma, a Washington and Lee student from Cameroon agrees with Cho, “Everyone knows of Somalia, everyone knows of the Boko Haram in Nigeria. Those are the kinds of stories that people always want to read about and that makes it difficult for journalists to go into Africa and provide a balanced report.”
In her documentary, Kamau still insists that change will come, one tweet at a time, “Africans, especially young people are using social media to challenge stereotypical images that make headlines in the West… I believe young Africans can contribute by being more vocal about their experiences and the great things they are doing on the continent.”
{New and modern structures emerging in Kigali city/photo: Kakwerere James}
{{Rwandan People are third poorest people in East Africa, according to the Global Monitoring Report 2013 released by the World Bank and the International Monetary.}}
Statistics from the report indicate that Rwanda’s head count stands at 63.17% subject to the new poverty cut-off point of US$1.25 per person.
The poverty scoring is based on the number of people living below US$ 1.25 per day. However, previous studies have used US$1 per day but that has since been replaced by a much higher figure (US$1.25).
The report ranks Ugandans as the richest in the region with a score of poverty head count at 38.01% .
Kenyans are in the the second position despite having the largest economy in the region, they are poorer than Ugandans. Kenya’s poverty head count stands at 43.37%.
Meanwhile Tanzania stands at 67.87% based on the latest available data.
Burundi falls in the last position with the highest levels of poverty in the region owing to the recent political cirisis in the largely subsistence agriculture economy.
The poverty head count for Burundi stands at 81.32% showing how war has affected the livelihoods of in the agriculture-rich nation.
Burundi and neighbouring Tanzania therefore have the largest proportion of poor people among the members of the East African Community.
According to the report, sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind in attaining the millennium development goals (MDGs), including halving poverty levels.
“In 1990, with poverty rates of about 55%, sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia were at the same starting position for MDG (and intention) to halve the number of people in extreme poverty,” the report reads.
“By 2010, East Asia made spectacular progress and reduced extreme poverty rate to 12% compared to sub-Saharan Africa which still had a poverty rate of 48%.”
The report suggested that growth of town dwellers helps to reduce poverty. In Africa urbanisation has increased from 30% of the population in 1980 to 50% in 2011.
“Urbanisation helps pull people out of poverty and advances progress towards the MDGs, but, if not managed well, it can also lead to burgeoning growth of slums, pollution, and crime,” says the report.
{{The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheik Mohamud has been named in the Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people, 2013.}}
His nomination hinges on his efforts for promoting policies that promote unity and reconciliation over clan-based politics in Somalia.
President Paul Kagame wrote a letter to President Hassan Sheik Mohamud congragulating him upon his achievements;
“Emerging from the presidential contest of September 2012, Somalia’s Hassan Sheik Mohamud is discarding destructive clan-based politics in favour of anticorruption measures and national reconciliation as well as embracing vital security-sector and economic reforms.”
Somalia has been torn apart by two decades of civil war, mainly fuelled by clan-based conflicts with several warlords as well as organised crime such as activities of pirates in the Gulf of Aden and domestic terrorists of Al Shabab who are reportedly linked to global terrorism group Al-Qaeda.
President Kagame noted that despite a 17,000-strong AU force having finally helped to restore security in Somalia, its President still has a tough task ahead to rebuild his country.
“Almost 20 years of rebuilding in Rwanda has taught us that there is no definitive manual for leading nations through and beyond debilitating conflict. President Mohamud is faced with the difficult task of balancing much needed international assistance with asserting Somalia’s right to govern itself,” Kagame says.
“There should be no illusions about the challenges that come with governing a nation torn apart by two decades of civil war.”
President Mohamud has been named in the magazine’s 100 most influential people, this year, along with several other world leaders, artists, and icons including US President Barack Obama, American artiste and entrepreneur Jay Z, and Taliban shooting victim Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl advocating for girls and women’s education.
The list also includes Malawi’s first and Africa’s second female President, Joyce Banda, and Egypt’s Bassem Youssef.
{{Genocide ophans living in Masaka sector of kicukiro disitrct have benefited from support provided by Hope Kids Academy that offered various items worth Frw 1Million.}}
Isa Gokturk Yilmaz the director of Hope Kids Academy noted that items including beddings, foods and other gifts were given to genocide ophans resident at Gihubuke village in Gako, Masaka Sector.
Yilmaz promised continued support to the orphans in masaka sector saying that every year Hope Kids Academy will provide substantial support to the genocide orphans in the sector.
“The school will also support various activities in the country but our focus will be on the genocide orphans resident at Masaka sector,” he said.
He added that from May last year to April 2013, Hope kids’ academy has also provided support to needy students at G.S Kagugu. Items provided included cloths and other scholarstic materials.
{Isa Gokturk Yilmaz the director of Hope Kids Academy}
{{Police in Ngoma District arrested Jeannette Ntakirutimana, 20, and Françoise Kabanyana, 21, in connection with selling narcotics.}}
The duo was arrested in Sake Sector on April 20 at about 5:30 pm following credible information provided by area residents.
They were found in possession of 14Kg of cannabis, at the time of their arrest. They are currently detained at Sake Police station.
Police in Ngoma said a local citizen, who knew the two girls’ illegal business, tipped them off.
It is alleged that the suspects would sneak these psychotropic substances into the country through illegal borders.
The duo also confessed to the crime. They said they used to get the illegal drugs from neighbouring countries, pass through illegal borders to evade arrests, and later transport it to other parts of the country, especially in Bugesera District, where they said they had market.
The District Police Commander, Superintendent Victor Rubamba cautioned all those involved adding that “we will keep pursuing them, give them hard time until they give up or they are arrested to face the hand of the law.”
“I am urging the general public to strengthen the sharing of timely information with security organs and continue reporting all these drug dealers so as to have a society free of drugs, which fuel other criminal acts,” he said.
Rwanda National Police is trying hard to locate and cut the supply chain, and it is in this regard that the force urges the community to also own this campaign to eliminate drug related crimes, which are said to be contributors of school drop-outs, domestic violence and theft, thus being a bottleneck to the country’s development.
The pair is liable to punishment as stated in article 594 of the penal code which states that “any person who, unlawfully, makes, transforms, imports, or sells narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances within the country, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of three to five years and a fine of Rwf500, 000 to Rwf5 million.
{{Cogebanque Rwanda has marked the 19th commemoration of Genocide against ethnic Tutsis with a promise for continued support to activities that aim at transforming the lives of orphans and widows of the Genocide.}}
The event was held at the Cogebanque headquarters in Kigali on April 20.
Alain Lapatre the director of Cogebanque noted that he will ensure that other people in other parts of the world know about the 1994 genocide against Tutsis and the level of transformation Rwanda has achieved since the 1994 mayhem that claimed over a million lives.
He added that Alain Cogebanque will provide support to IBUKA (an umbrella organisation that connects the groups that aid survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide) and other activities of importance to survivors.
Gatsinzi Justin a member of staff at Cogebanque who survived the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi sain in his testimony that he lost all his parents and survived with his siblings.
He noted that his elder brother has endured a tough journey to ensure that they had a good life.
“At one time my brother had to drop out of school to take care of us,” Gatsinzi said adding that today he has graduated and also his elder brother returned to school and has since graduated and started his own family.
He also lauded Cogebanque for the continued support rendered to him ensuring that he has diginity and hope for a better future.
{Alain Lapatre the Director of Cogebanque }
{Gatinzi Justin a genocide survivor and staff at cogebanque}
{{In Zimbabwe, a daring street robber from Montgomery in Bulawayo has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for robbing a neighbour of property, including his artificial teeth, all valued US$150. Greecent Maphosa (27), of Plot 7B Hope Road, in Montgomery stabbed Mr Stephen}}
Chimutashu (34), from Plot 5 Lucy Road in the same suburb with a knife to force him into submission before stripping him naked.
Maphosa pleaded not guilty to plain robbery when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Marilyn Mutshina.
He was however, convicted due to overwhelming evidence.
Maphosa was sentenced to one year in prison while two months were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.
Maphosa will serve an effective 10 months.
On April 1 Mr Chimutashu was walking along a path between Montgomery and Woodville when he met Maphosa who was in the company of an unknown accomplice.
Maphosa grabbed Mr Chimutashu and dragged him into the bush where he drew a knife and stabbed him on the lower lip while ordering him to keep quiet.
Maphosa then stripped Mr Chimutashu naked and took his pair of trousers, a t-shirt, shoes and a Motorola mobile phone handset.
He also removed Mr Chimutashu’s artificial gold teeth and took them away.
Maphosa left the court in stitches when he said he removed Mr Chimutashu’s artificial teeth because he thought they were dirty.
One trail in the search for clues about why two ethnic Chechen brothers may have carried out the Boston Marathon bombings leads to a sleepy town in Kyrgyzstan where former neighbors recalled a quiet family that was never in trouble.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are remembered as decent and obedient boys from their time in the 1990s in the small community of Chechens in Tokmok, a leafy town under the snow-capped Tien Shan mountains outside the capital, Bishkek.
Tamerlan, the elder of the two, studied well. His father, Anzor, made a living selling used cars and was welcomed with open arms when he visited the town again two years ago, 10 years after the family left for Russia and then the U.S.
The news that Tamerlan had been shot dead by police and Dzhokhar captured after a daylong manhunt on suspicion of carrying out the April 15 bombing, in which three people were killed, was greeted with shock and disbelief.
“The Tsarnaevs were such a good family. They yearned to be well-educated. None of them were rowdy. It was a very cultured family,” said former neighbor Raisa Kaayeva, a middle-aged housewife who is also an ethnic Chechen.
“I feel it with my heart — these boys were framed. Why did they go to this America? They should have stayed in Russia to lead a quiet life. Now they have been made scapegoats. I pity these boys. I was weeping when I saw it on TV — their lives were broken, as well as the lives of their mother and father.”
Badrudi Tsokayev, a friend of the father, waved his hands repeatedly as he described his shock at hearing the news. Like others who recalled the family, he saw no signs of radicalism.
“I wouldn’t imagine seeing this even in a nightmare,” Tsokayev, 60, said on a quiet street in Tokmok, 60 kilometers from Bishkek. “As a child, Tamerlan was such a quiet boy. Today everyone is calling me with just one question — is this true?”
He said Anzor Tsarnaev, who was born in Kyrgyzstan, had been fiercely proud of Tamerlan’s prowess in the boxing ring and said his son had been looking forward to going to Sochi to watch the 2014 Winter Olympics next February.
It is in this town of 53,000 that the boys would have become aware of their Chechen roots.
They would have learned about the difficult fate suffered by their predecessors in Soviet times that has fostered a sense of injustice among some Chechens and helped fuel an independence drive in Chechnya that led to two wars with Moscow in the 1990s.
Kyrgyzstan, a mainly Muslim nation of 5.5 million which hosts U.S. and Russian military air bases, had a huge influx of ethnic Chechens in 1944. Hundreds of thousands of Chechens and ethnically close Ingush were evicted from their homes in the North Caucasus and moved to Central Asia in cattle wagons after being accused by dictator Josef Stalin of collaborating with Nazi Germany.
About 99,000 of the Chechens and Ingush ended up in what was then the Kyrgyz Soviet Republic.
In Tokmok, the Tsarnaev clan alone inhabited a whole street before most of them moved back to their native village of Chiri-Yurt in Chechnya in the 1960s, residents said. About 20 Chechen families still live in a district popularly known as the Glass Factory, after the building that dominates it.
The brothers would have become more familiar with Islamist militancy when they moved in 2001 to Dagestan, the southern Russian province that lies at the heart of an Islamist insurgency and sees daily violence, and where their parents still live.
In Tokmok, they lived in a modest brick house before moving to a more spacious, two-story house opposite School No. 1 in the town center, where Tamerlan and his two sisters studied.
A school register shows Tamerlan’s date of birth — Oct. 21, 1986 — and the date when he entered the fifth grade, Jan. 18, 1999. He studied here for a year. Dzhokhar, born in 1993, was too young to go to school at the time.
“Yes, the Tsarnaevs studied here. I wouldn’t say they were anti-social or anything like that. No, I can’t say so,” said school director Lyubov Shulzhenko.
“The Chechen community here is so closely-knit and decent. We have never had problems with their children,” said Natalya Ryabovol, a physics teacher.
In the Soviet era, Tokmok hosted a busy base which trained military pilots for pro-Soviet countries stretching from eastern Europe to Africa. A Soviet-made jet fighter is perched on a pedestal at the town’s entrance.
Many of the townspeople today make a living by growing fruit and vegetables and tending cattle. The attack in Boston seems part of another world.
Kyrgyzstan, which borders China, is politically fragile after the toppling of two presidents since 2005. It says it cannot be held responsible for the brothers’ actions.
{A house in Tokmok where the Tsarnaev brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan, lived before leaving for Dagestan.}
{Schoolchildren marching on Friday in front of a school where Tamerlan Tsarnaev studied in Tokmok.}
{{South Sudan army (SPLA) Chief of General Staff, Gen. James Hoth Mai has warned the military to stay away from politics and misuse by politicians.}}
The senior military official, while addressing the SPLA forces in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria state Saturday, told the forces not to be affected by disagreements between politicians in the capital, Juba, in direct reference to the recent contest between President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Riek Machar.
“Don’t allow yourselves to be misused by politicians in Juba. Some may come to you and say where are my people in the army…so that we can beat those Dinkas or those Nuers. No, only when they come with their ballot boxes is when we shall make choices and vote the ones we want,” he said in a statement .
Gen. Mai reminded the army of their constitutional mandate to protect the people of South Sudan from external threats, but not to be used by politicians for their personal gains.
“This army doesn’t belong to anybody,” he said, adding that politicians should play their politics without involving the army.
There has been unease in recent weeks as the ruling party (SPLM) prepares for its national convention in which to confirm President Kiir, also the current chair of the party, or elect a new chairman who will also be its flag bearer for the upcoming 2015 presidential elections.
The president also issued an order withdrawing some of unspecified delegated powers from the vice president, which caused public outcry.
There have been speculations that the recent shakeup of the army, from removal of deputies to the chief of general staff, was an attempt to maintain political loyalty in the army, which the army command refuted and described as normal.
Four candidates have emerged, in accordance with the recent party’s political bureau meeting, which also urged Kiir to step down.
Among the four senior officials who have expressed their intention to contest include Machar, who also doubles as the party’s deputy chairman, second deputy chairman, James Wani Igga, and Secretary General, Pagan Amum Okiech.
The ruling party has, however, not set the date for the said national convention, which was supposed to take place next month, according to its normal schedule in five years.
