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Week 3 International News

I. PBS, Sep. 7, 2019: Rwanda’s economy is booming, but at what cost?

Since Rwanda's genocide ended in 1994, the East African nation has been led by the
Rwandan Patriotic Front and current President Paul Kagame, who has been celebrated
by many for bringing stability and economic gains to the long-struggling country. But
to Kagame’s opponents, his authoritarian rule is setting a dangerous precedent.

Full Transcript
Benedict Moran:
Jean Bosco Ngarama left Rwanda seven years ago. But the memories of his torture
there are still fresh.
Jean Bosco Ngarama:
I was brought into a small room, which I considered like a slaughterhouse. I saw
machetes, I saw axes, I saw electric cables. It was a room where they torture people.
Benedict Moran:
Ngarama says his problems began in 2010, when he lived in the capital Kigali. He
worked for a human rights organization, and was openly critical of Rwanda's
government. In March of that year, unknown assailants launched grenade attacks on
the city. Soon after, Ngarama, was arrested and imprisoned.
Jean Bosco Ngarama:
They asked me to admit that I know the people who threw the grenades. 'You have no
information?' I said 'no.' They said, 'if you don't do it willingly, you'll do it by force.'
They slapped me. Then they brought batons and they hit me with electric cables. I was
standing up. When I screamed, they took plastic bottles, and shoved it in my mouth.
Blood was pouring out of my mouth.
Benedict Moran:
He says a soldier then electrocuted him, and he passed out. He was held for eight
months before being charged with conspiracy. Months later, he was tried but was in
fact acquitted. Ngarama now lives in Philadelphia and is determined to speak out.
Jean Bosco Ngarama:
They knew I was innocent. But sometimes, the military soldiers said, 'Jean Bosco,
even if you don't do anything, we want to brainwash you.' That's the term they used,
to wash your brain.
Benedict Moran:
Allegations like Ngarama's tell a tale about Rwanda at odds with the international
reputation it has worked hard to achieve. The East African country is known for
making a remarkable turnaround since the 1994 genocide. Today, it has one of the
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fastest-growing economies in Africa. There's universal healthcare. The streets are

clean. These results have earned the country and President Paul Kagame praise in the
United States.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
"It's an honor to have you as a friend. Thank you."
JIM INHOFE:
"Paul Kagame is the reason Rwanda is leading the way. Rwanda is a clear example of
what a strong strategic partner should look like to the United States."
Benedict Moran:
Last year, President Kagame was named African of the Year at the All Africa Business
Leaders Awards, for his role in the transformation of his country.
Benedict Moran:
This is the Kigali Convention Center, built for an estimated 2 to 300 million dollars.
This week they are hosting the African CEO forum. It's labeled Africa's biggest
annual business summit.
Benedict Moran:
It's an example of how the country has branded itself a hub of business and
tourism.Through companies like Rwandair, the national airlines.
Kevin Rutikanga:
RwandAir today covers about 26 destinations and we are looking to open more new
routes very soon.
Benedict Moran:
The goal is to seek investment and prosperity by portraying what is safe and business
friendly about the country. European Union Ambassador to Rwanda, Nicola Bellomo.
Nicola Bellomo:
Rwanda is now on the map, Rwanda is on the radar screen everywhere. President
Kagame is becoming more and more the voice of Africa. Some consider his
development model, you know, something to be followed.
Benedict Moran:
Despite praise from the United States, the 2018 U.S. State Department's own human
rights report on Kagame's Rwanda cites instances of unlawful or arbitrary killings,
forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention of Rwandan civilians by state
security forces. Journalists have been threatened by police or killed under mysterious
circumstances. Most at risk are those who directly oppose the government. In 2010,
opposition leader Victoire Ingabire was running for President when she was charged
with quote "minimizing the genocide" and so-called "divisionism," which is a crime
in Rwanda. She was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. She is now out of
prison, after Kagame approved her early release in September of last year.
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II. CNN 10, Sep. 10, 2019

A. @0:18 Indian mission to the moon

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Things have not gone as planned in a recent
mission by India to make a soft landing on the lunar surface. A soft landing means a
spacecraft has a slow, controlled descent and spacecraft from only three countries the
United States, China and the former Soviet Union have ever done this. India`s attempt
to become the fourth country in that club probably ended in failure over the weekend.

We say probably because scientists aren`t sure yet what happened. There are three
components to its mission. An orbiter to circle the moon, a lander to touch down on it
and a rover attached to the lander.

On Saturday, the lander was descending towards the moons surface. It was a little
more than a mile above it when contact was lost. Scientists don`t know yet how hard
it hit the moon, how bad the damage might be or whether the instruments aboard can
still get some work done. They have located it but they`re still trying to get a signal
from it. Even if it`s destroyed though, the mission isn`t a total loss. The orbiter is still
doing its job circling the moon. Its mission is to map the moon`s surface and to study
its atmosphere.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the mission control room when contact
with the lander was lost. He said in life there are ups and downs but that India is still
proud of its scientists and their hard work.

B. @5:35 Battle for the Balkans

AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Belgrade is the capital of what land locked European
country? Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania or Serbia.

To get to Belgrade you have to travel to Serbia, a nation a little smaller than the U.S.
state of South Carolina.

As the crow flies, Belgrade is almost the exact same distance from Beijing, China as it
is from Washington, D.C. Belgrade`s a little over 4,600 miles from each capital. Yet
the small European country of Serbia has become significant to both east and west
with China and America wrestling to have influence there. According to the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency, China is Serbia`s third largest import partner behind
Germany and Italy which are much closer. And while Serbia`s government type is a
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parliamentary republic, a form of democracy, it`s a communist state that many

Serbians see as their nation`s good friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Follow the tracks on the outskirts
of Belgrade and you get to Central Europe. Follow the money and you end up
somewhere very different. The new tracks bear the markings of China railways, one
of the major Chinese projects in Serbia moving the Balkan country from its traditional
allies in the west to the "Red Dragon" in the Far East. This steel mill was once owned
by U.S. Steel, when it couldn`t make money the Americans sold it to the Serbian
government for one dollar until the Chinese stepped in. Retired construction worker
Bolisva Balinkovich (ph) says the move saved his hometown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE TRANSLATED: People do see the Chinese here as an

(inaudible). We would like them to stay here. If they leave, this would mean disaster
for many of us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China bought the plant for a premium of $51 million, then
poured more money into it. In villages here that rely on the steel mill for employment,
it is China that looks like the savior. It builds this perception that it`s Beijing to the
rescue and it grows Serbia`s reliance on a different super power. It`s not just
infrastructure. Chinese police will soon start patrolling in Serbia. (inaudible) a rise in
Chinese tourism. Telecom firm Huawei is installing surveillance cameras in the
capital of Belgrade and there are plans for Huawei to build a 5G network here despite
U.S. security concerns about the Chinese tech giant. All of it is a red flag to America.

KYLE SCOTT, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SERBIA: We`re trying to support them to

move in one direction. They should be careful about where they`re going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kyle Scott it the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, part of an

effort to bring the two countries closer. Last month, the White House hosted the
Serbian foreign minister in Washington who then urged Serbs in America to support
President Donald Trump. A door of friendship is open but China is coming in
bringing money and loans. For Serbia, which didn`t respond to our request for
comment the new attention means a boost to the economy, much needed
infrastructure projects and a powerful friend coming in to the region. (END VIDEO
CLIP)

III. PBS, Sep. 10, 2019: How giant African rats are helping uncover deadly land
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mines in Cambodia
Judy Woodruff: They are lethal legacies of war. Land mines present a constant
hidden threat.
Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from Cambodia, where the danger
is part of daily life. But an unlikely battalion of animals is making a difference.
This is part of Fred's series Agents for Change.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Let's face it, rodents rarely trigger warm fuzzy feelings in most people.
But these African giant pouched rats, being gently awoken from their cages, are called
hero rats by their handlers. They have names like Harry Potter, Godiva, and Frederick
— no relation.
After getting sunscreened up, this rat pack of 11 animals is headed out before dawn to
a former battlefield in rural Cambodia. Their task? Sniff out land mines.
Mark Shukuru:
Everyone was surprised, even me, when I heard that the rats also were detecting land
mines. It was like something unbelievable to me.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Mark Shukuru is head rat trainer in Cambodia for the Belgian non-profit APOPO. He
is from Tanzania, where this species is also native, and he learned early that they have
some of the most sensitive noses in the animal kingdom.
Each comes out of a rigorous program in Tanzania that trains them to distinguish
explosives from other scents. Each time they sniff out TNT buried in this test field, a
trainer uses a clicker to make a distinct sound, and they get a treat.
Mark Shukuru:
So, TNT smell, clicker, food. TNT smell, clicker, food. TNT smell, clicker, food.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
The drill can take up to 12 months before handlers are confident that, when the animal
scratches in place, an explosive is buried below.
Mark Shukuru:
We have never missed anything with the rats. So they're doing good.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Rats have a number of advantages compared to human de-miners, who must rely on
metal detectors. They detect a lot of scrap metal. These are, after all, old battlefields.
They are litter, but they don't always contain explosives, whereas these guys are
trained to sniff out TNT, which is the explosive in most mines.
Since 2016, APOPO's hero rats have found roughly 500 anti-personnel mines and
more than 350 unexploded bombs in Cambodia. They're the second animal to be
deployed in mine clearance. Dogs were first. Animals can work much faster than
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humans, although, when the land is densely mined, metal detectors are considered
more efficient.
IV. CNN 10, Sep. 12, 2019
A. @0:18 Radioactive Water at the Damaged Japanese Nuclear Plant
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: A natural disaster that led to a nuclear disaster
more than eight years ago is still causing problems for Japan and that`s the first story
we`re covering today on CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz.

The big question facing the Japanese government is where do you put the water, what
we`re talking about is radioactive water. Water that`s been contaminated by a
damaged nuclear power plant.

On March 11th, 2011, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake, a very rare and very severe
strength, struck about 230 miles off the coast of mainland Japan. It caused a tsunami
with 30 foot waves that swept inland leading to the deaths of roughly 20,000 people
and cutting off electricity to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Cooling systems at three of its reactors failed causing them to meltdown. That sent
radiation into the air and led to the evacuation of more than 100,000 people from the
area. Since this happened, Japanese officials have had to pump water, tens of
thousands of tons of it, to keep the fuel cores cool. Once that water`s used it`s
contaminated and has to be stored and now storage space is running out.

A Japanese government official says there are no other options than to release the
contaminated water into the ocean and dilute it. We don`t know how much water
would be dumped at sea and the government hasn`t made a final decision to actually
do this. But it has led to concerns by countries like South Korea, who`s government
has suggested that Japan work with it to make sure the contaminated water doesn`t
hurt the ocean or the nations nearby.