UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury said that the process is progressing in a coordinated and orderly manner, with the safety and protection of residents remaining a central priority.
“UNMISS is working closely with Upper Nile State and national authorities as well as humanitarian partners to facilitate the transition of the Malakal UN Protection of Civilians site into a settlement area, for which the government will take full responsibility under its sovereign obligations to protect civilians,” Chowdhury told Xinhua in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
In 2020, the POCs in Bor, Bentiu, Wau, and Juba were redesignated as internally displaced persons camps under government authority.
The Malakal POC site, which hosts approximately 40,000 residents, remains the only safe shelter for civilians fleeing violence amid intermittent clashes between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO).
Tensions between the two forces escalated after an attack on the SSPDF base in Nasir, Upper Nile State, in March 2025 by the White Army, a militia which the government claimed to be linked to the SPLA-IO.
The two-day Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) public-private dialogue on mobilizing the private sector for sustainable trade and investment in Africa’s agrifood sector brought together over 100 delegates, including government officials, industry executives, and representatives from regional economic blocs.
Themba Khumalo, director of the private sector unit at the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, said that the continent’s rising food import bill continues to strain fiscal balances and expose millions of Africans to external shocks.
“These realities underscore the urgency of the private sector to support governments in enhancing agricultural output and incomes for farmers, processors, traders, and consumers,” Khumalo said.
He added that the AfCFTA will catalyze private investments because it provides a platform to unlock Africa’s vast agricultural potential through trade.
Florian-Emil Dumitru, secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania, added that private companies often invest in innovations, such as climate-smart technologies and mechanization.
Yemi Osinbajo, former vice president of Nigeria, revealed that private investors can support African governments to enable small-holding farmers to overcome challenges such as access to affordable credit and agricultural extension services.
The week-long surgical program began on Monday, February 9, 2026, with the successful operation of a 39-year-old woman who had lived with epilepsy for 15 years despite ongoing medication.
The procedure was conducted by a team of CHUK specialists working alongside visiting international experts who are supporting the introduction of epilepsy surgery services in Rwanda.
Until now, epilepsy in Rwanda has been treated primarily with medication, as surgical capacity was not available. However, some patients do not respond to drug therapy and previously had to seek treatment abroad, often in India.
Epilepsy occurs when brain signals become excessive or disorganized, triggering physical and behavioral symptoms.
These may include loss of consciousness, repeated falls, tongue biting, muscle stiffness, and involuntary urination or defecation, depending on the part of the brain affected.
During the procedure, surgeons accessed the brain by temporarily removing a section of skull bone before treating the affected area.
Other surgical techniques for epilepsy may also be used depending on the patient’s condition.
Dr. Inyange Musoni Sylvie, a Rwandan neurosurgeon involved in the operation, said the patient’s seizures originated from the left side of the brain.
“The treatment involved removing a small portion of brain tissue identified by MRI scans as the source of the seizures,” she explained.
Despite long-term treatment, the patient had continued to experience seizures about twice a week, significantly affecting her quality of life and overall health.
According to Dr. Inyange, the procedure offers an estimated 85 percent chance of recovery, with the possibility that medication can be gradually reduced or discontinued entirely.
She described the development as a major milestone for epilepsy care in Rwanda, noting that patients who did not respond to medication previously had limited options, while seeking treatment abroad was often difficult and costly.
“This is an important breakthrough because many Rwandans living with epilepsy could not access this treatment. When patients came to us, our only option was to adjust medication. It placed a heavy burden on families, the health system, and the country as a whole,” she said.
Alivera Mukarugwiza, a caretaker, said her daughter first developed epilepsy while in primary school. For years, the family pursued different treatments without success. Medication later reduced the frequency of seizures, but recovery remained incomplete, and traveling regularly from Rwamagana to Kigali for care was challenging.
She expressed gratitude for the treatment her daughter received, thanking both God and the country for making the surgery possible.
MoKash is regulated by the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) and offered on the MTN Mobile Money menu in partnership with NCBA Bank Rwanda.
The enhancements mark an important step in MoKash’s evolution from a fast, accessible digital lender into a holistic financial partner that supports customers through every stage of their financial journey.
{{Loan top up}}
The new Loan Top Up feature allows customers to access additional funds on their existing loan, within their approved limit, during the first 20 days after disbursement. The feature is designed around real customer behavior and economic realities.
Many customers borrow based on anticipated needs, only to discover new opportunities shortly after receiving funds. Rather than requiring customers to wait for a full loan cycle to close before accessing additional credit, Loan Top Up provides a timely and transparent way to extend financing within the same loan window.
“Loan Top Up reflects the real rhythm of our customers’ lives and businesses,” said Chantal Kagame, CEO of Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd. “Our customers make financial decisions in real time; a market trader may restock today and quickly realize that demand has grown. With MoKash, we are standing alongside them as a trusted financial partner, offering instant and flexible support that adapts to their everyday realities. This evolution reinforces our commitment to building inclusive digital financial solutions designed around how our customers live, work, and grow.”
{{Lock savings}}
The newly introduced Lock Savings feature empowers customers to save and commit funds for defined periods ranging from one to twelve months. By choosing to lock their savings for a set tenure, customers earn competitive interest rates based on their balance levels, encouraging disciplined financial behaviour and long-term planning.
Lock Savings is fully embedded within the MoKash experience for MTN Mobile Money customers. Customers can seamlessly allocate funds from their MoKash General Savings account or mobile wallet into a locked savings account, monitor balances in real time, and earn up to 8% interest per annum while maintaining full visibility of their financial goals.
Commenting on the launch, Maurice Toroitich, Managing Director of NCBA Bank Rwanda, described Lock Savings as a powerful tool.
“Lock Savings reflects how our customers aspire to grow. A parent setting aside school fees, a trader saving to expand stock, or a young professional building a financial cushion, these are everyday ambitions,” said Toroitich.
“We want to enable customers to transform short term income into long term progress.
Since its launch, MoKash has focused on solving real, everyday financial challenges by providing instant access to credit without paperwork, collateral, or long approval timelines. With Lock Savings and Loan Top Up, the platform now goes further by enabling customers to plan more deliberately, manage liquidity more flexibly, and build stronger financial foundations in a rapidly evolving economy.”
{{About MoKash}}
Since its launch in 2017, MoKash has grown to serve over 5 million customers, with women accounting for 40 percent of the customer base and youth approximately 60 percent.
The platform currently disburses more than 10,000 loans daily, reinforcing MoKash’s leadership in digital financial inclusion.
{{About Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd}}
Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd is MTN Rwanda’s FinTech subsidiary, established on 27th April 2021 to provide and manage Mobile Money services in Rwanda. The company has over 6.2 million subscribers, more than 66,000 Mobile Money agents, and over 550,000 MoMoPay merchants nationwide.
With continuous innovations in services such as MoMoPay, MoKash Loans & Savings, Tap&Go bus payments, Bill Payments, Virtual Card by MoMo, International & Regional Remittances, and more, MoMo Rwanda is at the forefront of driving financial inclusion and powering the digital economy in Rwanda.
{{About NCBA Bank Rwanda}}
NCBA Bank Rwanda is a subsidiary of NCBA Group, a regional banking group providing a broad range of financial products and services to corporate, institutional, SME, and consumer banking customers.
NCBA Group operates 115 branches in five countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ivory Coast, serving over 60 million customers and ranking as the largest banking group in Africa by customer numbers.
In Rwanda, NCBA operates branches in Kigali, Musanze, Nyagatare, Rubavu, Kayonza, and Rusizi. Through its partnership with MTN Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd on MoKash, NCBA has attracted over 5 million customers, making it the country’s largest retail digital bank and a central catalyst for financial inclusion.
Prince Kid, the former organizer of the Miss Rwanda beauty pageant, was convicted in Rwandan courts of rape and soliciting or engaging in sexual acts in exchange for favors related to contestants in the competition he ran.
In October 2023, the High Court sentenced him to five years in prison. Neither he nor his legal team appeared for the ruling, while the prosecution was present. It was later established that Prince Kid had fled justice.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Prince Kid in Fort Worth, Texas on March 3, 2025.
Authorities said he had been living in Fort Worth unlawfully for some time. This immigration-related offense is the basis of the case he currently faces in the U.S.
Speaking on Monday during the launch of the judiciary’s anti-corruption week, Prosecutor General Habyarimana said Rwanda is working closely with U.S. judicial authorities to ensure that Prince Kid answers for his crimes.
“The case concerning Ishimwe Dieudonné, known as Prince Kid, has been concluded with a final conviction, meaning there are no further avenues of appeal. It has now been established that he is in the United States, where he is also facing other charges under that country’s jurisdiction.
“As is standard practice when a person has been definitively convicted and their location is known, the required procedures were undertaken, including the preparation of an arrest warrant submitted to the competent authorities in that country. Cooperation is ongoing, and we are following the matter in accordance with the law,” she said.
She added that Prince Kid could be extradited to Rwanda after responding to the charges he faces in the United States.
“We informed them of the judgment against him, detailed the charges, provided his full identification, and formally requested that he be returned to Rwanda. When a person is facing proceedings in another country, extradition can sometimes take time. We submitted the relevant documents and case files in October 2024, but he must first answer to the proceedings where he is currently located. In due course, we expect to receive him as requested.”
The charges against Prince Kid stem from alleged sexual abuse of contestants who participated in the Miss Rwanda pageant, which he organized for years through his company, Rwanda Inspiration Backup.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide called the resignation “right and necessary,” saying Juul’s contact with the convicted sex offender showed a “serious failure of judgment” and made it difficult to restore the level of trust required for the post, the ministry said in a statement.
Juul had been relieved of her work obligations last week while the ministry reviewed her knowledge of and contact with Epstein, according to the ministry.
The ministry said its internal fact-finding will continue even after Juul’s resignation, with particular attention to the rules that apply to state employees and officials both in and outside service.
Separately, the ministry said it had launched a review of its grants to and contacts with the International Peace Institute during the period when Juul’s husband, Terje Rod-Larsen, led the organization. Eide described information that has emerged about Rod-Larsen’s contact with Epstein as “very extensive” and “highly concerning,” adding that there was “no doubt” he had shown poor judgment.
Epstein, who died in 2019, was a U.S. financier accused of sex trafficking. The U.S. Department of Justice said on January 30 that it had published more than 3 million additional pages of materials under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which it said was signed into law by President Donald Trump in November 2025.
Okokrim, Norway’s national authority for investigating and prosecuting economic and environmental crime, said on Thursday that it had opened an investigation into former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland on suspicion of aggravated corruption based on information contained in the Epstein files, noting his past roles, including chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and secretary general of the Council of Europe.
He was speaking to journalists during a briefing marking the launch of the judiciary’s anti-corruption week on February 9, 2026.
“He was a senior leader in the FDLR and holds extensive knowledge of his own activities and those of the group, including its current operations,” Col Sumanyi said. “Security organs are still interrogating him, but in the near term, neither very soon nor far off, he will be handed over to military justice. As you know, our trials are public, and interested parties will be able to follow the proceedings.”
Brig Gen Gakwerere, who ranked third in the FDLR’s leadership hierarchy, was arrested in Goma in January 2025. Fighters from the AFC/M23 coalition, which is engaged in conflict against the Democratic Republic of Congo government, handed him over to Rwandan authorities on March 1, 2025.
Upon his transfer to Rwanda, Gakwerere told the media he was born in the former Kigali Ngali province and hails from Kanyinya in Shyorongi sector.
During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Gakwerere held the rank of Lieutenant and served at the Non-Commissioned Officers School (ESO) in Butare, where he was reportedly a trusted subordinate of Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana, the school’s deputy commander.
He is alleged to have commanded newly recruited soldiers known as the “New Formula,” who were responsible for killing numerous Tutsi at roadblocks and other sites in the former Butare region.
Gakwerere is also suspected of leading soldiers sent by Capt Nizeyimana to the residence of Queen Rosalie Gicanda on April 20, 1994, where she was killed. He is further implicated in the death of Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, the former prefect of Butare.
The company began operations in Rwanda in 2016 and now averages over 600 deliveries per day. While it initially focused on transporting blood, Zipline has expanded its services to include more than 200 types of medicines across 10 product categories.
Zipline operates drone distribution hubs in Muhanga District’s Shyogwe Sector and in Kayonza District. Nearly 35 percent of all deliveries consist of livestock vaccines, supporting both human and animal health services.
Each drone can carry between two and three kilograms, fly up to 160 kilometres, and operate for up to three hours on a single battery charge. The longest active route, between Muhanga and Mibilizi District Hospital in Rusizi District, takes less than 40 minutes.
Drone delivery is now fully integrated into Rwanda’s public healthcare system, serving more than 150 hospitals, health centres, and clinics. More than 600 primary healthcare facilities, representing about 50 percent of such clinics nationwide, are reachable by drone.
Health officials say the system has significantly improved emergency care, particularly for maternal health. Hospitals outside Kigali report that maternal deaths linked to blood shortages have fallen to nearly zero, as blood can now be delivered within minutes of being requested. The Minister of Health, Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, has publicly commended facilities such as Kaduha District Hospital for achieving zero maternal deaths related to delayed blood delivery.
Zipline Rwanda employs at least 250 people in technical and operational roles. In April 2025, the company reached the milestone of one million deliveries in Rwanda, eight years after launching operations. A second million deliveries was reached in a much shorter time, reflecting rapid growth.
Globally, Zipline operates 30 sites across four continents. A Zipline drone takes off every 50 seconds somewhere in the world, and the company has completed more than two million deliveries without any accident causing harm to human life. Its drones have flown a combined distance of about 193 million kilometres, serving more than 5,000 health facilities.
Following a recent USD 150 million investment supported by the United States Government, Zipline plans to expand further in Rwanda. A new distribution hub in Karongi District is expected to open in August 2026, serving 200 clinics and 60 major health facilities and reaching more than 2.8 million people.
Pierre Kayitana, Zipline Rwanda’s Country Director, said the expansion creates a single, integrated logistics system serving all Rwandans.
“Rwanda pioneered autonomous logistics for the world,” Kayitana said. “With the addition of a third hub and upcoming urban services in Kigali, Rwanda is creating a seamless national system that serves all citizens equally.”
The expansion is expected to enable nationwide coverage, serving Rwanda’s population of more than 14 million and creating up to 350 jobs. Zipline also plans to introduce urban drone delivery services in Kigali in 2027, including commercial deliveries using its next-generation Platform 2 (P2) drones, which were unveiled in Rwanda in 2025.
Officials say Rwanda’s early adoption of autonomous drone delivery has positioned the country as a global reference point for the technology, with systems tested locally now being deployed worldwide.
The update was shared on February 8, 2026, during events held at the hospital to mark the International Day of the Sick, where staff and stakeholders reflected on ways to further improve patient care.
CHUB’s Acting Director General, Dr. Christian Ngarambe, said the hospital has acquired a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine used to diagnose internal health conditions.
He added that the hospital has also strengthened its cancer care services by introducing new diagnostic equipment, which is expected to significantly reduce referrals to Butaro Hospital in Burera District for cancer-related examinations.
“To ease access for patients, services such as CT scanning, cancer diagnostics, and other procedures that previously required referrals to distant hospitals are now available closer to them. We thank our leadership for this milestone, which will improve the quality of care we provide,” he said.
Dr. Ngarambe noted that patient transfers to Kigali will drop significantly, as more than 75 percent of those previously referred outside CHUB were seeking MRI examinations. “We expect these journeys to decrease considerably, which is a positive development for patients,” he added.
Alphonse Nzabihimana from Nyamagabe District shared that he had suffered from an intestinal condition that had persisted since 2022 despite treatment.
After being examined using the newly installed equipment at CHUB, doctors identified the illness and treated him without surgery. He is now preparing to return home without needing treatment far from his district.
“We appreciate the Government of Rwanda for improving our lives and investing in technology. In the past, patients like us had to travel abroad or to Kigali for treatment, which was very difficult. Now advanced healthcare services are available in our Southern Province,” he said.
Eugénie Niyitegeka, a mother from Ruhango District receiving treatment at CHUB after being referred from Kinazi Hospital for an abdominal tumor, expressed similar gratitude. She said patients previously feared being referred to Kigali, far from their families and in unfamiliar surroundings, but now receive care closer to home at a lower cost.
“There is now a machine that scans the entire body. Even someone like me with limited means was examined with it, and doctors clearly identified my condition. There is no illness they fail to handle here at CHUB anymore. It is truly valuable,” she said.
The equipment, valued at over Rwf 12 billion, is expected to significantly enhance specialized healthcare services at CHUB, which serves more than four million residents across the Southern Province and much of the Western Province. The hospital receives at least 40,000 patients each month.
Abdelatty made the appeal during a phone call with his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, as the two diplomats discussed escalating regional tensions, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Abdelatty emphasized the critical need to advance the second phase of the U.S.-proposed peace plan, including deploying the International Stabilization Force to Gaza, which was endorsed by the UN Security Council in November last year.
He reiterated Egypt’s support for the newly formed Palestinian technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, describing it as a vital transitional body to address daily administrative and humanitarian needs.
The committee, established in mid-January, is intended to pave the way for the Palestinian Authority’s full return to governance in the territory, he affirmed.
The minister also stressed the importance of ensuring a continuous flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and laying the groundwork for early recovery and reconstruction.
The current ceasefire, in effect since Oct. 10, has initially focused on prisoner exchanges and aid delivery. The proposed next phase envisions a full Israeli military withdrawal, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of reconstruction under transitional governance.
