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☆ ‘A Trump tribute act’: Meet Suella Braverman, the commander-in-chief of Britain’s culture wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

London CNN —Late last year, after a breakneck ascent of British politics put her in charge of the country’s migration, crime and national security agenda, Suella Braverman revealed her political fantasy. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesAnd she is an equally furious culture warrior, borrowing rhetoric from the American right when lambasting “woke” culture, transgender rights and climate protesters. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty ImagesIt is a stance that has drawn sharp criticism – including from within the traditional wing of Braverman’s Conservative Party. Should Braverman succeed at her next bid for the party leadership, her critics fear another rightwards shift in British politics. “She’s recognized that in the current political climate, her way of creating an impact… (is) positioning herself as a Trump tribute act.

☆ 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.

☆ Corpses pile up after nearly 200 killed in Congo floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Crispin Kyala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The rainfall in Kalehe territory in South Kivu province caused rivers to overflow on Thursday, inundating the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi. South Kivu governor Théo Ngwabidje Kasi put the death toll at 176 and said that others were still missing. Floods and landslides are not uncommon in South Kivu, which shares a border with Rwanda. Heavy rains also triggered flooding and landslides in Rwanda this week, killing 130 people and destroying more than 5,000 homes. The last incident of a similar scale in Congo occurred in October 2014, when heavy rainfall destroyed over 700 homes.

CNN —Heavy rain caused flooding and landslides on Tuesday in western Rwanda killing at least 109 people in the Western and Northern Provinces, according to state media Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA.) The Rwanda National Police warned that due to heavy rains, the roads Mukamira-Ngororero and Rubavu-Rutsiro are temporarily unavailable. Police officers are available to direct traffic,” the Rwanda National Police said in their twitter account. The Rwanda Meteorology Agency had warned in its forecast for May that many parts of the country will receive more rainfall than average this month. Last year, 205 people died from disasters across Rwanda, MINEMA said in its Disaster Effects Situation Report.

☆ Heavy rain, floods kill at least 136 in Rwanda and Uganda
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Philbert Girinema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Residents walk over a water bridge after their homes were swamped following rains that triggered flooding and landslides in Rubavu district, Western province, Rwanda May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Jean BizimanaSummary Rain causes flooding and landslidesRescuers search for people trapped in homesSix dead in Uganda from mudslidesNAIROBI, May 3 (Reuters) - Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain have killed at least 129 people in Rwanda and six in Uganda, authorities said on Wednesday, as rescuers hunted survivors trapped in homes. "We woke up at 2 a.m and heard people screaming," Angelique Nibagwire, 47, said from Karongi district in western Rwanda where at least 16 people died. In a mountainous area of neighbouring Uganda near the border with Rwanda, six people died overnight into Wednesday in the southwestern Kisoro district, the Uganda Red Cross said. Rwanda and Uganda have been experiencing heavy and sustained rains since late March.

☆ EU lawmakers demand obligatory hosting of migrants under looming overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Evidence, from Nigeria, looks at the sea on his sixth day waiting for a safe port to disembark on board of NGO Proactiva Open Arms Uno rescue boat in central Mediterranean Sea, August 22, 2022. The bloc's migration and asylum system collapsed in 2015 when more than one million people - mostly fleeing the war in Syria - reached Europe's southern shores. But Mediterranean arrivals rose last year, with the bloc's border agency Frontex reporting some 330,000 unauthorised arrivals. With irregular immigration on the rise, those including Italy's far-right government are leading growing calls for the EU to do more to reduce sea arrivals. While the EU wants to overhaul its defunct system before a bloc-wide election in 2024, the issue of obligatory relocations seems as stuck as ever, according to diplomats.

[1/2] Migrants are escorted into Dover harbour, after being rescued while attempting to cross the English Channel, in Dover, Britain, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Henry NichollsLONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - Britain is anticipating that 56,000 migrants will cross the Channel in small boats to its shores this year, court documents show, meaning it would be need to house as many as 140,000 asylum seekers. Already this year, more than 5,000 more people have arrived in Britain across the Channel. "Significantly, the number needing support is predicted to grow still further: Home Office operational plans are based on scenarios of up to 56,000 small boat arrivals in 2023," the document said. ($1 = 0.8055 pounds)Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tobin, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Africa needs more help with climate change, debt and food crises
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Joe Bavier | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Africa is struggling with the triple shock of rising debt burdens, an ongoing food crisis and climate change fallout and needs more help from international institutions and wealthy nations to cope, African finance ministers said on Saturday. "African countries are really victims. The trio were speaking on behalf of the continent's finance ministers. The African finance ministers, meanwhile, called for a G20-backed framework aimed at helping countries restructure burdensome debt to go further. Two African countries - Zambia and Ghana - have already defaulted on their sovereign debt since the start of the pandemic.

☆ Opinion: How the battle for Bakhmut exposed Russia’s ‘meat-grinder’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

It will also be recorded in history as a battle that exposed more than anywhere the meat-grinder approach of Russian fighting. Taking Bakhmut would be the first Russian gain since it captured (and later lost) the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in November. That Ukrainian forces have demonstrated such endurance in the battle for Bakhmut should come as little surprise. Like the current battle for Bakhmut, it too became emblematic of Ukraine’s tenaciousness to defend itself against Russia’s aggression – particularly considering the Ukrainian Armed Forces were far less prepared and equipped. “The battle for Bakhmut in winter-spring 2023 will surely enter the history books as the bloodiest battle in Europe since World War II,” said Masliychuk.

☆ Viktor Bout, the 'Merchant of Death' arms dealer exchanged for Brittney Griner, says he fears for Trump's life and urged him to flee to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed the "Merchant of Death," is asking Trump to flee to Russia. He sent Trump a telegram, warning him to escape charges in New York and that his "life is in peril." Bout said Trump would find "safe haven" in Russia, where he could rebel against "globalists." They would sooner end your life than let you stand in their way," Bout's message read, Russian state media first reported. A photo of Bout's telegram, posted by Russian state media on the messaging app Telegram, shows the message was addressed to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

☆ Uganda’s anti-gay bill is the latest and worst to target LGBTQ Africans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Aditi Bhandari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

Same-sex activity in Africa is punishable by … Map of the 32 African countries where same-sex activity is illegal. Same-sex activity in Africa … Map of the 22 African countries where same-sex activity is legal. In 1993, Guinea-Bissau became the first African country to legalise LGBTQ activity when it adopted a new Penal Code that didn’t include any laws criminalising it. Country Constitutional protection Broad protections Employment Hate crime Incitement Marriage or civil union Adoption Angola No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Botswana No No Yes No No No No Cape Verde No No Yes Yes No No No Gabon No No No No No No No Guinea-Bissau No No No No No No No Lesotho No No No No No No No Mozambique No No Yes No No No No Sao Tome and Principe No No Yes Yes No No No Seychelles No No Yes No No No No South Africa Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes YesNote: Broad protections include laws protecting against discrimination in at least 3 of 4 categories: the provision of goods and services, housing, healthcare and education. Namibia and Mauritius criminalise same-sex activity, but around 35% of respondents said they would dislike having a gay neighbour.

☆ British interior minister Braverman says Rwanda is safe for migrants
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - Britain's interior minister Suella Braverman said she was convinced Rwanda was a safe country to resettle migrants who had arrived in Britain illegally but she declined to set any deadline for the first deportations to the country. London's High court ruled in December the scheme was legal, but opponents are seeking to appeal that ruling. "The High Court - senior expert judges - have looked into the detail of our arrangement with Rwanda and found it to be a safe country and found our arrangements to be lawful." Braverman, who visited Rwanda last month, would not give a deadline for the first flight to depart. "We had a very strong victory in the High Court at the end of last year on Rwanda.

☆ Brittney Griner urges Biden to bring home reporter Gershkovich
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was detained in Russia, speaks next to her wife, Cherelle Griner, during the 54th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California, U.S., February 25, 2023. The Kremlin says Gershkovich was using journalism as a cover for spying activity - something his newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, has vehemently denied. Russia has not made public any evidence to support the charges, under which Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in jail. The White House has described the accusations as "ridiculous" and President Joe Biden has called on Moscow to release him. Brittney Griner, a WNBA star and double Olympic gold medallist who played for a Russian team in the off-season, was arrested at a Moscow airport one week before Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

☆ Counting the Lives an AIDS Foreign Policy Helps Save
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Josh Zumbrun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief helped fund this Rwanda HIV clinic. Often, retrospectives on U.S. foreign policy focus on the missteps and the boondoggles. A look at the number of lives saved in the war on AIDS points to a remarkable and under-celebrated policy success. Twenty years ago this spring, the George W. Bush administration launched an all-out initiative for AIDS prevention, care and treatment in developing countries, especially in Africa. At the time it was the largest-ever initiative dedicated to a single disease.

BOAO, China, March 31 (Reuters) - The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will stick to its mandate as an apolitical multilateral lender and won't get dragged into political disputes, even as multilateralism is severely tested, its president, Jin Liqun, said on Friday. "But on the other hand, we need to protect the bank in terms of its credit worthiness," he added. As of November, the AIIB had financed 194 projects totalling $37 billion, up from $29 billion in October 2021, according to S&P Global Ratings. "We now have projects in Rwanda, Ecuador, we have projects in central and eastern European countries," he said. Reporting by Joe Cash in Boao Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ AI will eventually free people up to 'work when they want to,' ChatGPT investor predicts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The future of AI could "free humanity" from work, according to OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla. "This large transformation is the opportunity to free humanity from the need to work. People will work when they want to work on what they want to work on," Khosla told Semafor. Back in 2014, Khosla told Semafor, he started thinking about a future with AI, even predicting that eventually most media would be created by AI in the future and that AI will disrupt teaching. AI jobs in tech, mathematics, accounting, and communication fields will be especially at risk, the researchers found.

The contracted use of hotels was envisioned as a temporary measure, but adds strain to the asylum accommodation system. The cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels has increased over the past year, now exceeding £6 million ($7.4 million) a day, the Home Office told CNN in a statement. On Tuesday, the UK Home Office also said Afghans who have been living in temporary UK accommodation for 18 months will be given three months’ notice to move out of so-called bridging hotels. There are currently around 8,000 Afghans living in 59 bridging hotels in the UK, according to the Home Office. But campaigners also warned that the plan could exacerbate the trauma experienced by people displaced by political strife and conflict in Afghanistan.

☆ 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.

☆ Fact Check-Image of Suella Braverman overlooking model of Auschwitz concentration camp is digitally altered
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A cropped picture of Suella Braverman has been digitally added to a photo of a model of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. The digitally altered image appears to show the British interior minister overlooking the replica site. However, Braverman and a masked man have both been digitally added to the photo of the Auschwitz model. It shows a Jewish boy sitting in front of a replica concentration camp that he built to honour his great-grandfather, who was held captive there. Suella Braverman’s image was added to an old photo of a model of Auschwitz concentration camp.

Paul Rusesabagina’s detention had been condemned by the U.S. State Department. Rwanda’s justice minister on Friday commuted the 25-year prison sentence of Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the movie “Hotel Rwanda” about the 1994 genocide and later used his Hollywood fame to criticize President Paul Kagame . A Belgian citizen and U.S. green-card holder, Mr. Rusesabagina was convicted by a Rwandan court in 2021 on a string of charges including terrorism, the financing and founding of armed groups, murder, arson and conspiracy to involve children in militancy. Rwandan authorities say Mr. Rusesabagina for years funded the National Liberation Front, the alleged armed wing of his opposition group, the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change.

☆ '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.

☆ Rwanda is releasing dissident Paul Rusesabagina from prison, the government says. The hero whose story inspired 'Hotel Rwanda' saved over 1,000 people from being massacred in the 1990s.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rwanda announced Friday that it is commuting the 25-year sentence of dissident Paul Rusesabagina. Rusesabagina, whose story inspired the Hollywood movie "Hotel Rwanda," saved over 1,000 people from being killed during the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s. Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana at an event in West Hollywood in 2005. The Hotel des Mille Collines, known as "Hotel Rwanda," where Rusesabagina sheltered Tutsis. Paul Rusesabagina (left) and actor Don Cheadle (right) at a 2005 press conference for "Hotel Rwanda."

☆ '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.

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