Paul Kagame (born 1957) has been President of Rwanda since 2000. Born to
a Tutsi family in southern Rwanda, he grew up in Uganda after the
Rwandan Revolution ended centuries of Tutsi political dominance. He
joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which invaded Rwanda in 1990,
taking control after the death of Fred Rwigyema. By 1993, the RPF
controlled significant territory in Rwanda and a ceasefire was
negotiated. The assassination of Rwandan President Habyarimana in 1994
was the starting point of the Rwandan Genocide, in which Hutu extremists
killed an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutu.
Kagame resumed the civil war, and ended the genocide with a military
victory. During his vice presidency, Kagame controlled the national army
and maintained law and order. Many RPF soldiers carried out retribution
killings; it is disputed whether Kagame organised these or was merely
powerless to stop them. As president, Kagame has prioritised national
development, and the country is developing strongly on key indicators
including health care and education. He is popular in Rwanda and with
some foreign observers; however, human rights groups accuse him of
political repression.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kagame>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1829:
William Austin Burt was awarded a patent for the typographer,
the first practical typewriting machine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographer_(typewriter)>
1940:
US Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issued a declaration
that the US would not recognize the Soviet Union's annexation of the
Baltic states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welles_Declaration>
1970:
Qaboos overthrew his father Said bin Taimur to become Sultan of
Oman.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaboos_bin_Said_al_Said>
1983:
Air Canada Flight 143 made an emergency landing in Gimli,
Manitoba, Canada, without loss of life after the crew was forced to
glide the aircraft when it completely ran out of fuel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider>
2001:
Megawati Sukarnoputri became the first female president of
Indonesia after the People's Consultative Assembly removed Abdurrahman
Wahid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megawati_Sukarnoputri>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
levity:
1. Lightness of manner or speech, frivolity.
2. The state or quality of being light, buoyancy.
3. (countable) A lighthearted or frivolous act.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/levity>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The dilemma of the critic has always been that if he knows enough
to speak with authority, he knows too much to speak with detachment.
--Raymond Chandler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler>