TANZANIA International Container Terminal (TICTS) envisages extending wings to neighbouring Rwanda, hardly a month after winning global respect as one of Africa’s most improved ports.

TICTS Executive Officer Paul Wallace

The US Journal of Commerce, which collects data on 140,000 port calls at 750 of the world’s container terminals, has acknowledged TICTS as one of the most improved ports in Africa.

“Everyone at the nation’s largest port is delighted that our efforts have been appreciated by such an authoritative body,” TICTS Chief Executive Officer Paul Wallace said in Dar es Salam over the weekend.

“It is truly an industry achievement,” Mr Wallace said of the recognition, adding: “This is just the start… the port is now poised for huge expansion over the coming few years.” He however attributed the great achievement to the commitment of the company’s valued employees and trust from TICTS parent company, Hutchison Port Holdings, which operate 48 ports in 25 countries.

The company has over the past few years invested over 210bn/- to generate 1.35trn/- in the Tanzanian economy through wharfage, royalties and rent.

According to Mr Wallace, the container handling firm is scheduled to open the Kigali office on July 1, 2016, to generate greater volumes through the port of Dar es Salaam. Already, the company has trained 16 young Tanzanian leaders who have just graduated in a year-long intensive management programme.

Kazi Services’ management experts Zuhura Muro and Petronella Mwasandube, with other formidable guest speakers, shared their wealth of experience in mentoring the young, gifted and potential future leaders of the East African port industry.

“The course blended management practices, self-learning, teamwork and financial analysis with on the job project management skills,” said Mr Wallace who sponsored the programme.

He expressed excitement over the profound talents in his organisation, saying “With such committed and motivated employees, the future of the port will be in capable hands beyond my years in Tanzania.”

Mr Wallace said the company was determined to build for the future in all areas of expanding business, citing an investment of over 40bn/- in new quay cranes, which arrive in November.

He particularly thanked the ports’ loyal customers, partners and Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), with whom the company works closely to improve performance.

China creates fastest computer in the world, challenging US dominance in making supercomputers.

The computer can make about a quadrillion calculations a second, according to its makers

A supercomputer that can make more than one million billion calculations a second (Rex) Rex

A Chinese supercomputer is the world’s fastest – and uses only Chinese technology for the first ever time.

The announcement shows the fast development of Chinese supercomputers and is a demonstration of the way that the US – once easily the dominant force in making massively powerful computers – is getting challenged.

China also displaced the US as the country with the most supercomputers in the top 500 ranking of the most powerful computers in the world. China had 167 systems and the United States had 165. Japan was a distant No. 3 with 29 systems.

Although Chinese computers have topped the ranking before, this year marks the first that the computer that did so was entirely using Chinese chips.

Last year's Chinese winner in the TOP500 ranking maintained by researchers in the United States and Germany slipped to No. 2, followed by a computer at the U.S. government's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. 

Supercomputers are one of a series of technologies targeted by China's ruling Communist Party for development and have received heavy financial support. Such systems are used for weather forecasting, designing nuclear weapons, analyzing oilfields and other specialized purposes. 

"Considering that just 10 years ago, China claimed a mere 28 systems on the list, with none ranked in the top 30, the nation has come further and faster than any other country in the history of supercomputing," the TOP500 organizers said in a statement. 

This year's champion is the Sunway TaihuLight at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi, west of Shanghai, according to TOP500. It was developed by China's National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology using entirely Chinese-designed processors. 

The TaihuLight is capable of 93 petaflops, or quadrillion calculations per second, according to TOP500. It is intended for use in engineering and research including climate, weather, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and data analytics. 

Its top speed is about five times that of Oak Ridge's Titan, which uses Cray, NVIDIA and Opteron technology. 

Other countries with computers in the Top 10 were Japan, Switzerland, Germany and Saudi Arabia. 

The TaihuLight is due to be introduced Tuesday at the International Supercomputing Conference in Frankfurt by the director of the Wuxi center, Guangwen Yang. 

"As the first No. 1 system of China that is completely based on homegrown processors, the Sunway TaihuLight system demonstrates the significant progress that China has made in the domain of designing and manufacturing large-scale computation systems," Yang was quoted as saying in the TOP500 statement. 

The TaihuLight uses Chinese-developed ShenWei processors, "ending any remaining speculation that China would have to rely on Western technology to compete effectively in the upper echelons of supercomputing," TOP500 said in a statement. 

The second-fastest computer, the Tianhe-2 at the National Supercomputer Center in the southern city of Guangzhou, is capable of 33 petaflops. It uses chips made by Intel Corp. 

Among countries with the most computers on the top 500 list, Germany was in fourth place with 26 systems, France was next with 18, followed by Britain with 12.

Iran warns Bahrain over revoking cleric's citizenship

Top Revolutionary Guard commander says Manama's move against Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim could "set region on fire".

Sheik Isa Qassim, Bahrain's top Shia cleric, was stripped of his nationality

FAST FACTS

Bahrain accused the cleric of using position to "serve foreign interests" and to promote "sectarianism and violence"

Thousands of protestors have gathered near Qassem's home

Public protests have been banned in Bahrain since 2012

Bahrain is at the heart of a growing sectarian divide across the Middle East

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has issued a warning to Bahrain suggesting there could be armed resistance across the country after Manama stripped the kingdom's top Shia cleric of his citizenship.

The Bahrain News Agency quoted the interior ministry on Monday as saying that Sheikh Isa Qassim had played a key role in creating an "extremist" sectarian atmosphere and working to divide Bahraini society.

The move against Qassim comes less than a week after a court suspended the activities of the country's leading Shia opposition group, Al-Wefaq, on charges of "terrorism, extremism and violence" in the kingdom, and having ties to a foreign power - pointing a finger at Iran, a vocal critic of the Sunni-led monarchy.

General Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Revoutionary Guard's elite Quds Force, warned Bahrain on Monday its move against Qassim could "set the region on fire".

"Al-Khalifa [the rulers of Bahrain] will definitely pay the price for that and their bloodthirsty regime will be toppled," Suleimani said in a statement published by Iran's state-run Fars news agency.

READ MORE: Bahrain strips Sheikh Isa Qassim of nationality

After the decision was announced, several hundred Qassim supporters gathered outside his home in the mostly Shia village of Diraz west of the capital, carrying posters and chanting religious slogans.

Bahraini media reported last week that authorities had been investigating a bank account in Qassim's name with nearly $10m to determine where the funds were coming from and how they were being spent.

The exiled opposition group the Bahrian Institute for Rights and Democracy released a statement warning the state's move against Qassim would escalate domestic tensions and could lead to violence.

Qassim has been accused

of working to divide Bahraini society

Qassim has been accused 

of working to divide Bahraini society

"We are deeply concerned that these actions will escalate tensions on the streets and may even lead to violence, as targeting the country’s leading Shia cleric is considered ... a red line for many Bahrainis," said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the group's director of advocacy.

The US State Department said it was "alarmed" by the move, and that it was "unaware of any credible evidence" to support the removal of the spiritual leader's citizenship.

Qassim, who had served as a member of parliament in the 1970s, could face deportation, though dozens of other Bahrainis stripped of their nationality have remained in the country without the benefits of citizenship, such as access to free health care and pensions. Their passports are revoked and they are considered stateless.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, says at least 250 people have been stripped of their Bahraini citizenship in recent years due to alleged disloyalty. Rights groups say at least five were deported in recent months after having their citizenship stripped.

Bahrain has been in turmoil since a 2011 uprising backed by majority Shia Muslims and others demanding reforms and a greater rights from the Sunni-controlled kingdom.

The government crushed the protests with the help of its Sunni Arab Gulf allies suspicious of Iran and opposed to a growing Shia influence across the region.