内容摘要：Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s

“Today marks not an end but a beginning,” Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said Friday before signing the broad agreement, which commits Rwanda and Congo to draft a peace accord and work to instill security and a good business environment, allow the return of the millions of displaced and accomplish other goals.“The good news is there is hope for peace,” she said. “The real news is peace must be earned.”

She directed part of her remarks to the civilians of east Congo, brutalized, isolated and displaced by the fighting: “We know you are watching this moment with concern, with hope and, yes, with doubt. You are entitled to actions that measure up to the suffering you have endured.”Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said the two rival governments were now addressing the root causes of the hostility between them, the most important of which he said were security and the ability of refugees to return home.“Very importantly, we are discussing how to build new regional economic value chains that link our countries, including with American private sector investment,” he said.

Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, helped broker the U.S. role in promoting security in east Congo, part of an opening that Boulos has said could involve multibillion-dollar investments.The response from Congolese civil society Friday mixed hope with skepticism.

Rights advocate Christophe Muisa in Goma, a city in east Congo that the powerful, Rwandan-backed M23 armed group seized earlier this year, said the U.S. is the main beneficiary of the deal. He urged his government not to “subcontract its security.”

Georges Kapiamba, the president of the Congolese Association for the Access to Justice, a nongovernmental organization focusing on rights, justice and addressing corruption, said he supported a mineral-and-security deal with the U.S., but worried his own government could blow it by siphoning off the proceeds.“Now, the imitations aren’t very valuable, but the originals remain highly sought after,” he says. “As you collect ‘slow furniture,’ buy the most authentic versions you can afford.”

Dan Mazzarini of BHDM Design and ARCHIVE echoes the advice.“If you’re looking for a good investment, go straight to vintage. Things that have already stood the test of time often have another 50 years left in them! Side tables, desks, even cabinets are great pieces to look for,” he says.

Mendelson mentions a pair of vintage French plaster shell sconces in his Sagaponack, New York, home. He bought them 15 years ago “and they still feel fresh and relevant today.”“I think a desire for one-of-a-kind and bespoke is at least starting a conversation about handmade,” he says. “Quality vs quantity. Living with intention.”