Sofonie Dala - Young Talents from Africa

Wednesday, 29 November 2023

US ambassador highlights strengthened cooperation with Angola

Luanda - The US ambassador to Angola Tulinabo Mushingi said Tuesday that the meeting between the Angolan Head of state João Lourenço and US President Joe Biden scheduled for November 30 is recognition of the positive results of the partnership between the two nations.

Speaking to the press in the framework of the meeting to be held in the US White House, the US diplomat said the visit demonstrate the increase of the partnership between the two states in recent 30 years, a reflection of the two leaders' recognition that the two countries can achieve even more positive results for the citizens of both countries.

The diplomat said the US is committed to working with Angola to create more opportunities to improve the lives of the citizens of both countries.

Tulinabo Mushingi said the aim of the meeting is for the two heads of state to discuss the growth of US investment in Angola, increasing bilateral trade, strengthening cooperation for infrastructure partnership initiatives, particularly those linked to the Lobito Corridor and global investment in different sectors.

According to the diplomat, the two statesmen will also talk about Angola's leadership in peace and security initiatives at regional and world level.

According to a statement issued by the Presidency of the Republic, the two presidents will analyze bilateral cooperation in the trade, investment, climate and energy sectors, with emphasis on the development of the Lobito Corridor, which will link Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

Angola-US relations

Angola and the United States of America established formal diplomatic relations in 1993.

Angola is the US's third largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly due to oil exports. The two countries cooperate in a number of areas, most notably trade, finance, energy, manufacturing, security, health and justice.

Trade between Angola and the US totaled roughly 1.4 billion US dollars by November 2019.

Russian court extends detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich

The Wall Street Journal has denounced the continued detention of its reporter as a ‘brazen and outrageous attack’ on free press.

Russia will keep American reporter Evan Gershkovich in custody for another two months as he awaits trial for espionage, a Moscow court has ruled, heightening concerns about the fate of the jailed journalist.

In a closed-door hearing on Tuesday, the Moscow court extended Gershkovich’s detention until January 30, an expected outcome in a country that rarely releases prisoners with serious charges ahead of trial.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Gershkovich’s employer, slammed his continued detention as a “brazen and outrageous attack” on the free press, calling for his immediate release.

“Evan has now been unjustly imprisoned for nearly 250 days, and every day is a day too long,” the newspaper said in a statement.

What are the charges?

Gershkovich, a 32-year-old Moscow correspondent for the WSJ, has been behind bars since March, when he was accused of spying in the city of Yekaterinburg, some 2,000km east of Moscow.

Russia’s Federal Security Service claims the reporter was trying to obtain secret information about a Russian arms factory, saying he was “caught red-handed”.

Gershkovich’s legal team and his supporters have dismissed the charges as baseless.

The United States has declared Gershkovich to be “wrongfully detained” and accused Russia of using him for “hostage diplomacy”.

Gershkovich is the first Western reporter to be jailed on spying charges in Russia since the Soviet era and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Gershkovich’s detention has unfolded amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over the war in Ukraine and his advocates say the arrest is part of Moscow’s broader crackdown on media during the war.

Gershkovich is one of few foreign journalists who continued reporting from Russia after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive in February 2022.

Gershkovich’s arrest also comes after Russia exchanged several US citizens for Russian prisoners held in the US.

At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years – including women’s basketball star Brittney Griner – have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.

Russia’s foreign ministry has said it will consider a swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial, which could last for more than a year.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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

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

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

Sunday, 26 November 2023

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.

Anne Rwigara: Rwanda's vocal opposition figure dies mysteriously — 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 and her mother were jailed in Rwanda for a whole year on charges of tax evasion and election misconduct.

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.

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.

Saturday, 25 November 2023

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