Connect with us

Published

on

Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a major city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have declared a unilateral ceasefire on humanitarian grounds.

The M23 rebel group announced on Monday that the ceasefire would come into effect on Tuesday.

It came just under a week after the rebels completed their three-day capture of Goma – the regional capital of eastern DRC – after fierce battles with Congolese forces.

The UN health agency has said at least 900 people died during fighting in the days that followed, while Congo’s communications minister Patrick Muyaya on Monday more than 2,000 bodies are waiting to be buried in Goma.

The ceasefire announcement came after foreign ministers from G7 nations, including the UK, urged both sides in the conflict to return to negotiations.

In a statement on Monday, they called for a “rapid, safe and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians”.

The fighting in Goma forced hundreds of thousands of people who had been displaced by years of conflict to carry what remained of their belongings and flee again – with many pouring into nearby Rwanda.

Goma, home to two million people, is at the heart of a region home to trillions of dollars in mineral wealth and remains in rebel control despite the ceasefire announcement.

M23 rebels on the streets of Goma.
Pic: AP/Brian Inganga
Image:
M23 rebels on the streets of Goma.
Pic: AP/Brian Inganga

Following the capture of the city, the Rwanda-backed rebels were said to be moving towards Bukavu in South Kivu, also in the east of the country.

However, they appeared to be held up by Congolese troops that were supported by the army from neighbouring country Burundi.

M23 had also expressed a desire to march to DRC’s capital Kinshasa before the rebel group’s spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, said on Monday: “It must be made clear that we have no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas.

“However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions.”

The M23 group cited “humanitarian reasons” for the ceasefire.

Map of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) showing Goma, Bukavu and Kinshasa.
M23 rebels patrol the streets of Goma this week.
Pic: AP/Brian Inganga
Image:
M23 rebels patrol the streets of Goma this week.
Pic: AP/Brian Inganga

There was no immediate comment from Congo’s government after it was declared.

The rebels’ announcement came ahead of a joint summit this week by regional blocs for southern and eastern Africa, which had called for a ceasefire.

Kenya’s President William Ruto said the presidents of DRC and Rwanda would attend.

Congolese authorities have said they are open to talks to resolve the conflict, but that such a dialogue must be done within the context of previous peace agreements.

Rwanda and the rebels have accused the DR Congo government of defaulting on previous deals.

Read more:
EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal
What is the fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo about?
Eyewitness account after rebels take key city

People rush to shop in downtown Goma after the M23 rebels advanced into the city. Pic: AP
Image:
People rush to shop in downtown Goma after the M23 rebels advanced into the city. Pic: AP

The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in 2012 when they first briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure.

They are the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups vying for control in DRC’s volatile eastern borderlands, which hold vast deposits of minerals critical to much of the world’s technology.

M23 is also the latest in a long line of Rwandan-supported rebel movements to emerge in eastern DR Congo following two successive wars stemming from Rwanda’s genocide more than 30 years ago.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Dozens of mercenaries in DRC sent to Rwanda by M23 rebels

During the atrocity in 1994, members of Rwanda’s majority Hutu population went on the rampage, murdering Tutsis and those who tried to protect them in a massacre that lasted more than 100 days.

M23 now says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in DRC, whom Rwanda claims are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the genocide.

Many Hutus fled to DRC after the massacre and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group.

Rwanda said the group is “fully integrated” into the Congolese military, which it denies.

Continue Reading

World

Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Published

on

By

Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.

The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.

Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.

Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.

In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”

In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.

Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.

“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.

“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.

He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”

Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.

The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.

Read more US news:
Trump plans to hit Canada with 35% tariff
More than 160 missing after Texas floods
Robot performs realistic surgery

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

How ‘liberation day’ unfolded

Trump’s tariff threats and delays

On his so-called “liberation day” in April, Mr Trump unleashed “reciprocal tariffs” on many of America’s trade partners.

The US president said he was targeting countries with which America has a trade imbalance.

However, since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.

In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.

However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.

As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.

Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

Continue Reading

World

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

on

By

'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

Omar Meshmesh carries the body of his three-year-old niece Aya - one of the victims of the clinic attack. Pic: AP
Image:
Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

Continue Reading

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

on

By

'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

Continue Reading

Trending