SA probes claim Ramaphosa’s speech written by chatbot

 The South African presidency is investigating whether parts of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech last week were written using the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, local media report.

It follows claims online that a section of the speech delivered last week at an education forum by the president did not come from the president or his speechwriters.

The president’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, denied this, saying they do not use AI tools for content such as speeches.

He said that parts of the speech were written by the department of education for the president’s office, adding that they were following up regarding the source of the content.

“The use of AI to produce speeches or any other material is unacceptable, and action will be taken should these reports prove to be correct,” Mr Magwenya was quoted by The South African news outlet as saying.

Source: BBC

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JS military aircraft crashes off coast of Japan

 

A US military aircraft has crashed into the sea off the coast of southern Japan.

The wreckage of a US Osprey, which crashed with eight crew members on board, has been found along with a deployed lifeboat, Japan’s coastguard said on Wednesday.

The coastguard said it received an emergency call on Wednesday afternoon from a fishing boat near the crash site, which is off the island of Yakushima, located south of the main island of Kyushu.

“We received information at 2:47pm [05:47 GMT] today,” a coastguard spokesperson said. “We were also notified that there were eight crew members on board.”

The aircraft disappeared from radar at 2:40pm local time, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed.

According to witnesses, the left engine of the aircraft appeared to be on fire as it went down into the sea near Yakushima airport, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported. Nearby fishing boats rushed to the scene, locating three of the crew members.

A spokesperson for US forces in the region said they were still gathering information about the incident.

The CV-22 Osprey, belonging to the US Yokota airbase in Tokyo, departed from the Iwakuni US base in the Yamaguchi region on Wednesday, headed for the Kadena base in Okinawa, Ministry of Defense sources told NHK.

The hybrid aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers and cruise like an aeroplane, has a troubled history, with a string of fatal crashes over the years.

An Osprey crashed in Australia in August, killing three crew members, and injuring 20. In June last year, five Marines on board an Osprey were killed when it crashed in the California desert.

In March 2022, four Marines were killed when an Osprey crashed near a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise.

In 2017, three Marines were killed when an Osprey crashed off Australia’s north coast.

Earlier this year the US Army’s chief of staff grounded all pilots not involved in critical missions and required that they complete more training after four helicopters crashed in a matter of weeks with multiple deaths.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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Oscar Pistorius granted parole a decade after killing girlfriend

The South African former Paralympic star, jailed in 2014 for killing Reeva Steenkamp, will be released in January.

 

South African former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius, jailed in 2014 for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has been granted parole effective from January 5, the Department of Correctional Services said.

Known as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs, Pistorius went from a public hero as a Paralympic champion to a convicted killer in hearings that caught the world’s attention a decade ago.

Pistorius, who turned 37 this week, shot and killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

He was initially jailed for five years in 2014 for culpable homicide by a high court but the Supreme Court of Appeal in late 2015 found him guilty of murder after an appeal by prosecutors.

He was sent back to jail for six years in 2016, less than half the 15-year minimum term sought by prosecutors.

In 2017, the Supreme Court more than doubled his sentence to 13 years and five months, saying the six-year jail term was “shockingly lenient”.

Serious offenders in South Africa must serve at least half of their sentence to be eligible for parole, which Pistorius has done.

Pistorius was at the height of his fame and one of the world’s most admired athletes when he killed Steenkamp.

He shot her multiple times in the bathroom of his Pretoria villa in the predawn hours with his licensed 9mm pistol.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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Anne Rwigara: Rwanda’s vocal opposition figure dies mysteriously

Anne Rwigara, the sister to Diane Rwigara, who attempted to rival President Paul Kagame in the last Rwandan General Elections (2017) has passed on at the age of 41.

Anne was the daughter of the late Rwandan business mogul Assinapol Rwigara and lived in the United States where she passed on on Thursday.

Her mother, Adeline Rwigara, told the media that her daughter was not sick, making her death a “mystery.” Anne had complained of stomach issues a few days before she passed away.

Diane Rwigara attempted to challenge President Paul Kagame in the 2017 General Elections. She did not make it to the ballot as the electoral body disqualified her citing forged signatures. [Photo/BBC].

Anne and her mother were jailed in Rwanda for a whole year on charges of tax evasion and election misconduct.

In May 2017, Diane, Anne’s sister, announced that she would challenge President Kagame in the election. However, the National Electoral Commission said Diane’s signatures were fake, preventing her from running.

The Rwigara family was also told by the Rwanda Revenue Authority that they owed $6.7 million in unpaid taxes. As a result, their company was closed, and their bank accounts were blocked.

Diane Rwigara attempted to challenge President Paul Kagame in the 2017 General Elections. She did not make it to the ballot as the electoral body disqualified her citing forged signatures. [Photo/BBC].

Anne and her mother were jailed in Rwanda for a whole year on charges of tax evasion and election misconduct.

In May 2017, Diane, Anne’s sister, announced that she would challenge President Kagame in the election. However, the National Electoral Commission said Diane’s signatures were fake, preventing her from running.

The Rwigara family was also told by the Rwanda Revenue Authority that they owed $6.7 million in unpaid taxes. As a result, their company was closed, and their bank accounts were blocked.

Anne Rwigara and her mother, Adeline in court. They were arrested in 2017 and slapped with a one-year jail term each. [Photo/BBC].

Their father Assinapol died in a road accident in 2015 with the family claiming that it was planned. They however did not shed light on who may have planned his alleged execution through the accident.

Fraudulent competition - Angola Education Awards - SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR / BEST SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROJECT

 Fraudulent competition - Angola Education Awards 

Results of the fraudulent competition

 Greetings friends. 

Thank you for voting. Engineer Sofonie Dala, based on the results, won the competition with the majority of votes, but she was being a victim of fraud, this started from the beginning of the competition.

Apparently, the organizers of this event lack knowledge and high skills to evaluate candidates in different areas of knowledge.

The end of this competition was very ugly, painted with theft, dishonesty, corruption, nepotism, lack of transparency, misinformation, slander and favoritism.

We first received a message that we were approved. The following days we received a false and fraudulent message saying that they thought again and decided to give our place to their favorites ones who were unable to win the competition.

From the beginning of the competition, the organizers tried in any way to obscure the strong candidates, putting only a simple description of their profile and achievements, while their affiliates had a full biography.

We also noticed that very important information about Sofonie Dala's research, discoveries and achievements were hidden by the organizers and it was clear that they did this out of spite.

We wrote official complaints about the harm they caused us. To date we have not received any response.

This organization is not serious.

Unsustainable competition and a waste of time.

These types of abusive behavior always happen in competitions organized by Africans, these are one of the reasons that make us lose interest in participating in competitions where the committee is completely made up of Africans.

We need to put an end to these harmful practices in competitions. It is unacceptable to lose opportunities because of envious people.

ATTENTION - FRAUD

URGENT INTERVENTION NEEDED 

Did you know?

The same injustice happened with our hybrid learning platform "She Leads Angola".

We also submitted this platform to compete in the category of best education, science and technology portal, fortunately at the beginning of the month we received a notification saying that we had successfully passed to the next phase, they asked us to send our portal's logo, we didn't hesitate we sent our logo immediately the next day, still within the deadline. A few days later, after they realized that our platform has the potential to win the contest, we received another false message saying that at the weekend the judges sat down and decided to put our portal out of the competition and decided to give priority to their favorites and affiliates. from them. Consequently, they removed our portal from the list.

It is a lie, they stole our place.

What type of crime is that?

Dear all, we are dealing with very serious fraud, we are dealing with highly dangerous professionals.

Another important detail that we find suspicious is the change in the email that was used to submit the applications. Engineer Sofonie Dala used her work email to submit our platform "She Leads Angola, but when they sent the announcement about the selection of our portal they used her other personal email that she used to apply in the category of, "scientist of the year".

That's when we discovered something wasn't clean.

Of course we protested when they sent that second fraudulent email. They just ignored it and didn't respond.

That's how this dishonest game began, accompanied by persecution.

Another mistake is that they did not send any notification to participants confirming that their application was submitted successfully.

In case of fraud the participant wouldn't have any proof confirming that he had submitted something.

That's why Angola and other African countries are the way they are.

VOTE FOR SOFONIE DALA, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW, YOU WILL NEED TO SIGN IN WITH YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT TO VOTE.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeP4StZZhnAjVBnljgLX-vxyj9jHJ0HF0VJ8rLMtHIdKtJ86A/alreadyresponded

We are happy to see our founder Sofonie Dala on the list of Young Scientists of Angola, and we are even prouder that she is the only female candidate on the list.

This means that gender disparity remains a major problem in Angola. We need to balance this picture, we need to end gender inequality in the country and so that in the next editions more women scientists appear on the list.

THIS IMAGE PERFECTLY SHOWS THE GENDER DISPARITY IN SCIENCE

Gender inequality in science

How should a better gender balance be achieved?

Why are women underrepresented in many areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? This is a question with no easy answers. In science, as in many areas of life, bias against women exists, but researchers disagree on how much bias matters: Some suggest that the effects of bias accumulate over time to shape careers, whereas others argue that gender differences in preferences are much more important. However, it is likely impossible to disentangle the effects of societal bias and individual preferences, because people's understanding of gender differences shape their preferences. 

Greetings.

Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time Angola is recognizing their own researchers, scientists, best teachers, universities and students for their efforts and contributions to improve education in Angola.

Our founder Sofonie Dala is also being recognized. Let's support her. 

Click here to vote:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeP4StZZhnAjVBnljgLX-vxyj9jHJ0HF0VJ8rLMtHIdKtJ86A/alreadyresponded

Learn more:

 https://linktr.ee/angolaeducation_awards

The Climate Action Project, “Empowering to Change” was launched in Angola

EMPOWERMENT TO CHANGE

The Climate Action Project, “Empowering to Change” was launched on November 15, in a partnership between the Ministries of Environment and Education.

The launch event was presided over by the Secretary of State for Climate Action and Sustainable Development, Dr. Paula Francisco Coelho, and the Secretary of State for Pre-School and Primary Education, Dr. Pacheco Francisco.

Also present at the meeting were the Provincial Director of Education of Luanda, School Directors of Luanda, Philomene Marie Brito Carlos, teachers and heads of the various offices that make up the Ministries of Education and Environment.

The Pilot project aims to provide primary school teachers with technical and scientific knowledge about climate change, so that they are able to raise awareness among their students about climate action and innovative teaching materials will be produced, allowing children to learn school content, and at the same time develop knowledge and skills essential to everyone's future.

ANGOLA TUNES STRATEGY FOR COP-28

 ANGOLA TUNES STRATEGY FOR COP-28

The Meeting of Ministers on Angola's participation in Cop 28 in Dubai took place on November 17, 2023, in Luanda. The concentration was guided by the Minister of the Environment, Ana Paula de Carvalho Pereira, and was addressed to Ministers and the Technical group of Ministerial Departments, such as Sonangol, the National Oil and Gas Agency and members of the Angolan delegation going to COP 28.

The Meeting aimed to share information with Ministers about Angola's participation in the Twenty-Eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28). During the event, the coordinator of the technical group presented the activity program which runs from November 30th to December 12th, the themes that each sector will present and the layout of the conference cycle, where the Angolan tand were presented. 

The Minister presented in detail the steps already taken in the technical meetings over the last three months, where she requested greater engagement on the part of the delegation, for better participation in the Event.