Foreign
After 24 Years In Office; Kagame Sworn-In For Fourth Term As Rwandan President
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Rwandan President Paul Kagame was sworn in on Sunday for a fourth term after sweeping to victory in elections last month with more than 99 per cent of the vote.
Several dozen heads of state and other dignitaries from African nations joined the inauguration ceremony at a packed 45,000-seat stadium in Kigali, the nation’s capital, where crowds had started gathering in the early morning.
Kagame took the oath of office before Chief Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo, pledging to “preserve peace and national sovereignty, consolidate national unity.
”The outcome of the July 15 poll was never in doubt for the iron-fisted Kagame, who has ruled the small African nation since the 1994 genocide, as de facto leader.
He won 99.18 per cent of ballots cast to secure another five years in power, according to the National Electoral Commission.
Rights activists said the 66-year-old’s overwhelming victory was a stark reminder of the lack of democracy in Rwanda.
Only two candidates were authorised to run against him out of eight applicants, with several prominent Kagame critics barred.
Democratic Green Party leader Frank Habineza scraped into second place with 0.5 per cent of the vote against 0.32 per cent for independent Philippe Mpayimana.–
DRC ceasefire talks –
Kagame is credited with rebuilding a ruined nation after the genocide when Hutu extremists unleashed 100 days of vicious bloodletting targeting the Tutsi minority, killing around 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates.
But rights activists and opponents said he rules in a climate of fear, crushing any dissent with intimidation, arbitrary detentions, killings and enforced disappearances.
Kagame is also accused of stoking instability in the east of its much larger neighbour the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Angola’s President Joao Lourenco, among those attending Sunday’s ceremony, was due to have private talks with Kagame on a DRC ceasefire deal, the Angolan presidency said.
Luanda brokered the agreement last month after a meeting between the foreign ministers of DRC and Rwanda, which is accused of backing the M23 rebel group fighting Kinshasa’s armed forces.
But on August 4, the day the deal was supposed to take effect, M23 rebels — who have seized territory in the east since launching a new offensive at the end of 2021 — captured a town on the border with Uganda.
With 65 per cent of the population aged under 30, Kagame is the only leader most Rwandans have ever known.
“I proudly cast my vote for President Kagame and made it a priority to be here today to witness this historic inauguration.“
His leadership has been transformative for our nation.
Under his leadership, Rwanda has risen from our tragic past and forged a path towards prosperity, unity and innovation,” said a 27-year-old trader, Tania Iriza, one of the tens of thousands who turned out for the ceremony.
Kagame has won every presidential election he has contested, each time with more than 93 per cent of the ballot.
In 2015, he oversaw controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential terms to five years from seven but reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, allowing him to potentially rule until 2034.
Source: AFP
Foreign
Trump says Iran has 22% of missiles left
Iran still has “21, 22 per cent” of its missiles left, US President Donald Trump said Friday, in a week in which Tehran fired dozens of them toward regional neighbours, despite a sputtering ceasefire.
“They still have capacity. They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, percentage wise, maybe 21, 22 percent of their missiles,” Trump told NBC News in an interview.
That figure for Iran’s missile stockpile is higher than one of 18 per cent Trump gave in May. He has often claimed to have completely destroyed Iran’s war-fighting capacity.
Iran’s military said Friday it had fired “warning missiles” at two US destroyers in the Gulf of Oman — a claim promptly denied by the US military. Two days earlier, Kuwait said it had intercepted 30 ballistic missiles fired as part of “heinous Iranian aggression.”
AFP
Foreign
US, allies oppose Bolivia President Paz’s ouster as unrest grow
The United States and allies on Friday condemned the ongoing efforts to overthrow the elected government of President Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia.
The Shield of the Americas member states said “mob rule” cannot replace the decision that most Bolivians made at the ballot box to remove “two decades of corrupt governments.”
The U.S., Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago signed the joint statement.
They affirm support for the Paz administration as it resists “attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to prevent the delivery of food, medicine and other vital supplies.”
“Those who are funding these protests with dirty money from drug trafficking and transnational crime should be held accountable,” the allies urged.
The governments encouraged people who have grievances to dialogue with the government, warning against abusing their causes to “regain power.”
President Paz admitted Bolivia has been pushed to a “breaking point” amid weeks of widespread protests and a blockade that has paralyzed major cities.
Farmers, miners, transport workers and teachers are demanding immediate measures to ease the country’s worst economic crisis in four decades.
Defence Minister Marcelo Salinas and Education Minister Beatriz Garcia resigned this week as demonstrators continue to demand Paz’s resignation, a call he rejects.
The government accuses ex-President Evo Morales of fuelling unrest, which opposition figures believe could end with a referendum to decide whether Paz should remain in office.
Foreign
Russia claims deadly drone strike varsity hostel killed 21 students
Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of carrying out a deadly drone attack on a university complex in Starobelsk, in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region, claiming that 21 students were killed in the strike.
According to a statement circulated by Russian officials, the attack occurred on the night of May 22 and targeted the academic building and dormitory of Lugansk State Pedagogical University.
Russian authorities alleged that 16 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including four heavy drones, were deployed in three waves during the operation.
Officials described the incident as one of the deadliest attacks on a civilian educational facility in the region since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, claiming that the victims were students residing in the university dormitory.
“Just a week ago, they were students with dreams, plans and a future. Today, all that remains are photographs, memories and unbearable grief,” the statement said.
The authorities further alleged that the strike was deliberate and targeted civilians rather than military infrastructure.
The claims could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian authorities had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report.
Since the start of the conflict, both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of carrying out attacks on civilian infrastructure, allegations that are often difficult to verify independently due to ongoing hostilities and restricted access to affected areas.
The reported incident has renewed concerns among humanitarian organizations about the impact of the war on educational institutions and young people caught in the conflict.
The Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, widespread displacement and extensive damage to homes, schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure across both countries.
International observers have consistently called for independent investigations into attacks involving civilian casualties, regardless of the parties involved, to establish the facts and ensure accountability under international humanitarian law.
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