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☆ World’s Top AI Researchers Debate the Technology’s Next Steps
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Karen Hao | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

New AI voice and video tools can look and sound like you. WSJ’s Joanna Stern replaced herself with her AI twin for the day to find out. Photo illustration: Elena ScottiKIGALI, Rwanda—Amid growing talk of the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, more than 2,000 researchers and engineers from around the world gathered in Rwanda this week to debate contrasting visions for the technology’s future. One vision is to build ever-more-powerful systems such as ChatGPT that aim to exceed human intelligence to boost worker productivity and economic growth. The other is to create more-targeted, small-scale AI solutions to local and global challenges, including tackling climate change, improving healthcare and preserving biodiversity.

☆ The $2 billion Rwandan airport that could help African aviation take off
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

For RwandAir CEO Yvonne Manzi Makolo, the problem of connectivity presents the “biggest challenge” to the African aviation industry. Pascal Pavani / AFP via Getty ImagesSolutionsBut solutions are touching down, starting with the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). First proposed in 2018, if implemented the policy would create a single market for African aviation, facilitating the free movement of people, goods, and services. What is missing is the willingness of states to really implement it.”There is hope for a bright new future in African aviation. Because of scale, they can then open up the African continent a lot more.

☆ Freed 'Hotel Rwanda' hero departs Doha for Houston for family reunion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Imad Creidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, March 29 (Reuters) - The man who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda", Paul Rusesabagina, has boarded a plane in Qatar bound for Houston after being released from prison in Rwanda last week, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. He was released last Friday after Kagame commuted his sentence, following months of negotiations between Washington and Kigali, and arrived in Doha on Monday. Rusesabagina was feted around the world after being played by actor Don Cheadle in the 2004 film "Hotel Rwanda" which portrayed him as a hero who risked his life to shelter hundreds of people as manager of a luxury hotel during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Washington's historically close ties with Rwanda had been strained by Rusesabagina's detention and by U.S. allegations, denied by Kigali, that Rwanda has sent troops into neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and supports rebels there. Rwanda has said that Rusesabagina's release is the result of a shared desire to reset the U.S.-Rwanda relationship.

☆ Freed 'Hotel Rwanda' hero Rusesabagina leaves Rwanda, reaches Qatar - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Imad Creidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DOHA, March 28 (Reuters) - Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the film "Hotel Rwanda" about the 1994 genocide, has arrived in Qatar after being released from prison in Rwanda last week, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Rwanda has said that Rusesabagina's release is the result of a shared desire to reset the U.S.-Rwanda relationship. The 68-year-old former hotelier landed in Doha on Monday, a source with knowledge of the matter said. "Hotel Rwanda" portrays Rusesabagina's success in saving more than 1,000 refugees, including his family, during the genocide in 1994 by sheltering them in the besieged hotel that he managed in Kigali. Reporting by Imad Creidi; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross and Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The U.S. has said Rusesabagina was unlawfully detained, while Rwanda has bristled at the criticism, saying it would not be intimidated. The U.S. allocated more than $147 million in foreign assistance to Rwanda in 2021, making it Rwanda's largest bilateral donor. Blinken met Kagame during a visit to Rwanda in August, where U.S. officials said the case was discussed extensively. Yet Kigali continued to take a hard line, with Kagame suggesting on the sidelines of the December summit that only an invasion of Rwanda could force Rusesabagina's release. He will remain in Rwanda for a couple of days before travelling to Doha and then to the United States, U.S. officials said.

☆ 'Hotel Rwanda' figure Rusesabagina to be released from prison -government source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Philbert Girinema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary * 'Hotel Rwanda' figure to be released on Saturday* Rusesabagina to be flown to Doha, and on to the U.S.* His release follows letter to president seeking clemency* Rebel spokesman Sankara to also be releasedKIGALI, March 24 (Reuters) - Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the Hollywood film "Hotel Rwanda" and is serving a 25-year sentence in Rwanda on terrorism charges, will be released on Saturday, a Rwanda government source said on Friday. His release follows intense diplomacy by the United States, where Rusesabagina has permanent residency rights. Rusesabagina will initially be flown to Doha, and then on to the United States, the source said. "If I am granted a pardon and released, I understand fully that I will spend the remainder of my days in the United States in quiet reflection," he wrote. Earlier this month, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said there were discussions about "resolving" the fate of Rusesabagina.

☆ 'Hotel Rwanda' figure Rusesabagina to be freed from prison -Rwanda government
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Philbert Girinema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The announcement of his release follows intense diplomacy by the United States, where Rusesabagina has permanent residency rights. "This is the result of a shared desire to reset US-Rwanda relationship," Stephanie Nyombayire, spokesperson of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, wrote on Twitter. Rusesabagina was sentenced in Sept. 2021 over his ties to an organization opposed to Kagame's rule. "If any individual benefiting from early release repeats offences of a similar nature, the commutation can be revoked and the remainder of the prison sentence will be served," Rwanda's justice ministry said. In a handwritten letter to Kagame released by the justice ministry, Nsabimana said he had apologised to all Rwandans and especially those affected by attacks by FLN fighters.

☆ UK interior minister visits Rwanda to discuss deportation plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Philbert Girinema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KIGALI, March 18 (Reuters) - British interior minister Suella Braverman visited Rwanda on Saturday to discuss a deal under which the east African country will accept migrants who arrive in Britain without permission, if British courts confirm that the proposals are legal. Britain's government wants to send tens of thousands of migrants more than 4,000 miles away (6,400 km) to Rwanda as part of a 120 million pound ($146 million) deal agreed with Rwanda last year. British Home Secretary Suella Braverman walks at Downing Street in London, Britain March 15, 2023. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that finding a solution is one of his top priorities for 2023. Britain spends more than 2 billion pounds a year to accommodate migrants and has tendered a $95 million contract to transport them to countries like Rwanda instead.

☆ FIFA Triples Women’s World Cup Prize Money for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. women’s players celebrate after winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup. FIFA is increasing the prize money for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand to $110 million, more than triple what it was in 2019, and says it could award equal prize money with the Men’s World Cup by 2027 if broadcasters increase their bids for the women’s event. FIFA president Gianni Infantino , speaking at the organization’s Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, said the international soccer federation was “embarking on a historic journey for women’s football and for equality. And this will lead us to a path to equal pay.”

☆ FIFA says 2026 World Cup will have record 104 matches
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The FIFA Council unanimously approved the proposed amendment to the FIFA World Cup 2026 competition format" FIFA said. The 32-team World Cup in Qatar last year had a total of 64 matches completed in 29 days. Confederation champions from 2021-2024 will be eligible to play in the Club World Cup, which means Chelsea and Real Madrid have already qualified. The current version of the FIFA Club World Cup -- an annual competition with seven teams -- will be discontinued after 2023, with a new yearly club competition approved from 2024. "With 56 days, the total combined number of rest, release and tournament days remain identical to the 2010, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup editions," FIFA added.

☆ Britain denies plan to expel asylum seekers breaks law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We are confident that we are complying with the law, domestic and international," she told the BBC. Under the government's plans, almost all asylum seekers who reach Britain in small boats will be detained without bail before they are deported to their home country or, if this is not safe, another destination such as Rwanda. They will also lose the right to challenge their deportation while in Britain, and once deported will be automatically banned from returning. Last year, a record 45,000 people came to Britain in small boats across the Channel, mainly from France. If everyone who arrived in small boats last year were detained, this would be equal to about half of Britain's total prison population.

"Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered," Francis said. [1/9] Pope Francis sits next to Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi as he attends the welcoming ceremony at the Palais de la Nation on the first day of his apostolic journey, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 31, 2023. The pope criticised rich countries for ignoring the tragedies unfolding in Congo and elsewhere in Africa. On Wednesday, Francis will celebrate Mass at a Kinshasa airport that is expected to draw more than a million people.

☆ Rwanda shoots at Congolese military jet over alleged airspace violation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A video shared widely on Congolese social media showed a projectile shooting towards an airborne military plane, before exploding in the air near the plane, which continued to fly. Congo denied Rwanda's accusation that the jet had been in Rwandan airspace - the latest dispute between the two countries whose relationship has been strained by a rebel insurgency. Earlier the Rwandan government said Rwandan forces had fired at the jet after it violated Rwandan airspace in Rubavu - the same area as previous alleged violations, "prompting the government to take defensive measures." Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said last week that the rebels had not fully withdrawn from those areas. In December, Rwanda said another fighter jet from Congo had briefly violated its air space.

☆ Gabon's foreign minister dies of heart attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Gabonese Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo poses for a picture during a Reuters interview at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Ayenat Mersie/File PhotoLIBREVILLE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Gabon's Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo died on Friday of a heart attack, President Ali Bongo said in a statement. Three government sources said that he was in a council of ministers meeting when he suffered the cardiac attack. He was rushed to the hospital and died shortly after midday despite specialist treatment, said a government statement. Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome Writing by Nellie Peyton Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"It's important for us to have clear agreement because this is what we have now to finance our development," he said. President Felix Tshisekedi's government has been revisiting a 2007 deal struck by his predecessor Joseph Kabila under which Sinohydro Corp (SINOH.UL) and China Railway Group Limited agreed to build roads and hospitals in exchange for a 68% stake in the Sicomines venture as well as a 2008 contract with CMOC. "We have already a framework, we have some key elements of change that we want to bring in that agreement," Kazadi said of Sicomines, though he declined to provide further details. "In only five days they have managed to burn and export 27 kilograms," Kazadi said, speaking of the joint venture that is owned 55% by the United Arab Emirates with the remainder owned by Kinshasa. Reporting by Karin Strohecker and Jorgelina do Rosario, editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Kagame criticizes U.S. over 'Hotel Rwanda' figure's detention
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Wednesday criticized the United States over the concerns it has raised in the case of Paul Rusesabagina, a U.S. permanent resident jailed in Rwanda who was portrayed as a hero in the film "Hotel Rwanda." Kagame, who was in Washington for a U.S.-Africa summit, questioned why Rwanda should release Rusesabagina because he is famous and a permanent resident of the United States. When asked if he would meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, Kagame said he was not sure yet. The United States in May determined that Rusesabagina had been "wrongfully detained," citing a lack of fair trial guarantees during Rusesabagina's trial. Rusesabagina, who was feted around the world after being portrayed by actor Don Cheadle in the 2004 film "Hotel Rwanda," is a vocal critic of Kagame.

☆ Factbox: COP27: Major players at the U.N. climate talks in Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Rachel Parsons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Here are some of the main stakeholders and negotiating blocs engaged in the U.N. climate conference (COP27) that starts on Nov. 6 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. A diplomatic row over Taiwan led Beijing to cancel bilateral climate talks with the United States. EUROPEAN UNIONGreenhouse gas emissions from the 27-country European Union comprise about 8% of the global total, and have been trending downward for years. Negotiating as a single group at the U.N. climate talks, the EU intends to push other major emitters to raise their targets. Meanwhile, long-time climate champion King Charles III said he will skip the COP27 conference in Egypt.

☆ Kenya deploys troops to Congo to help end decades of bloodshed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Edwin Waita | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Thomas MukoyaNAIROBI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Kenya's President William Ruto on Wednesday officially deployed troops to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to join an East African regional force aiming to end decades of bloodshed. The seven countries of the East African Community (EAC), which Congo joined this year, agreed in April to set up a joint force to fight militia groups in Congo's east. Despite billions of dollars spent on one of the United Nation's largest peacekeeping forces, more than 120 armed groups continue to operate across large swathes of east Congo, including the M23 rebels, which Congo has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting. Uganda has already sent troops into Congo as part of separate deployment to chase down an Islamic State-linked armed militants, one of the warring groups in eastern Congo. "We have been working very hard to mobilise the international community to support the east African force," Kenya's defence minister Aden Duale said at the event.

Although it is clearly a historic achievement, we should not be fooled into thinking this is a milestone for the U.K.’s minority communities. Sunak, and the ruling Conservative Party he now heads, have been no champions of minority communities like mine. Sunak pointed to his pride in being an immigrant in such a country of opportunity in an early campaign video. Yet it is people of color who make up much of the working-class population that Sunak avoids associating with. Although politicians like Sunak come from immigrant communities, their policies have been to those communities’ detriment.

☆ Kigali is building its way to becoming ‘the Silicon Valley of Africa’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Rachel Wood | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Among its most recent and most impressive designs is a start-up hub called Norrsken Kigali House, commissioned by the Swedish Norrsken Foundation, which supports entrepreneurship globally. A rendering of entrepreneurship hub Norrsken Kigali House. This rendering shows an aerial view of Norrsken Kigali House. A study pod at the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda. Some of these graduates, like Minuifuong Nghombombong, founder of international home rental platform Bongalo, are already using Norrsken Kigali House as their base and helping to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city.

☆ Air traffic controllers suspend strike in West and Central Africa
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Ngouda Dione | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DAKAR, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A 48-hour strike by air traffic controllers in West and Central Africa has been suspended, their union said on Saturday. The strike, which started on Friday, has disrupted flights across the region and left hundreds of passengers stranded at airports on Saturday. The Union of Air Traffic Controllers' Unions (USYCAA), which called the wildcat strike, said in a statement it decided to suspend its strike notice for 10 days immediately so as to allow for negotiations. The union said more than 700 air traffic controllers joined the strike to demand better working and pay conditions. The controllers work under the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) an 18-member state agency that manages air traffic over an area covering 16 million square km of airspace.

☆ U.S. ratifies global treaty to curb climate-warming chemicals in air-conditioning, refrigeration
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to the media after the 51-50 vote passed the "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. August 7, 2022. The Senate has voted to ratify a global climate treaty that will phase down the use and production of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, the climate-warming chemicals widely used in air-conditioning and refrigeration. Forty-eight Democrats and 21 Republicans voted in favor; four members of the Senate did not vote. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that regulatory action on such chemicals could help avoid up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by the end of the century. The U.S. joins 136 other nations and the European Union in ratifying the amendment.

☆ Senate Set to Vote on Climate Treaty Amendment Cutting HFCs in Air Conditioners
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Katy Stech Ferek | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Senate lawmakers on Wednesday are expected to vote to ratify an industry-backed climate treaty amendment that would commit the U.S. to reducing refrigerant chemicals that contribute to climate change. The Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol treaty of 1987 would reduce the production and use of man-made hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, used in air conditioners and other appliances, which scientists say warm the planet when released into the air. The original treaty was designed to phase out chemicals that depleted the planet’s ozone layer.

☆ Senate Approves Climate Treaty Amendment Cutting HFCs in Air Conditioners
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Katy Stech Ferek | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The Senate voted to ratify an industry-backed climate treaty amendment that would commit the U.S. to reducing refrigerant chemicals that contribute to climate change. The Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol treaty of 1987 would reduce the production and use of man-made hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, used in air conditioners and other appliances, which scientists say warm the planet when released into the air. The original treaty was designed to phase out chemicals that depleted the planet’s ozone layer.

☆ Top U.S. Senate Democrat Schumer sets vote for Wednesday on Kigali climate deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterU.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters following the Senate Democrats weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzWASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will vote on Wednesday on approving the Kigali amendment to a major global climate treaty, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday. "Today the Senate will finish the work of ratifying the Kigali amendment," Schumer said in a speech to the Senate. Two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, are needed for approval for passage. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Moira Warburton in WashingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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