World
Hundreds of thousands displaced displaced by eastern DRC conflict
Escalating violence compelled practically 300,000 folks to flee Rutshuru and Masisi territories of North Kivu province final month, UNHCR says.
The United Nations refugee company (UNHCR) has warned of a rising humanitarian disaster within the japanese Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the place combating between authorities forces and armed teams has brought on tons of of hundreds of individuals to flee.
UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh mentioned on Friday the violence had prompted practically 300,000 folks to flee throughout the Rutshuru and Masisi territories of the DRC’s North Kivu province in February.
“Civilians proceed to pay the heavy and bloody value of battle, together with ladies and youngsters who barely escaped the violence and at the moment are sleeping out within the open air in spontaneous or organised websites, exhausted and traumatised,” he informed reporters in Geneva.
Expressing “nice alarm”, Saltmarsh mentioned the UNHCR and its companions have been stepping up humanitarian help however that difficulties stay in accessing displaced folks in some elements of North Kivu due to the violence.
In mid-January, the UN support company OCHA mentioned 12 humanitarian organisations had been compelled to restrict their operations in elements of Ituri province due to elevated assaults.
Scores of armed teams roam the huge mineral-rich japanese DRC, a lot of them a legacy of two regional wars that flared on the finish of the twentieth century.
In 2021, the federal government declared a state of siege in North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri, putting them below army rule in an try to handle the safety disaster – however the violence has continued.
On Thursday, an in a single day assault on the village of Mukondi, 30km (19 miles) south of the town of Beni in North Kivu province, killed at the very least 36 folks. An area official and the pinnacle of a civil society group mentioned the assailants have been believed to be members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – a Ugandan armed group primarily based in japanese DRC that has pledged allegiance to ISIL (ISIS) and wages frequent lethal raids on villages.
Individually, sources quoted by AFP information company mentioned clashes between the M23 armed group and authorities forces erupted once more on Friday close to Goma, the capital of North Kivu.
The early morning combating came about close to the village of Murambi, fewer than 30km (18 miles) west of Goma, native officers mentioned.
Murambi is the final settlement earlier than the city of Sake, thought of the town’s final bulwark.
“The inhabitants is beginning to panic once more,” Leopold Busanga, a spokesman for civil society teams in Sake, informed AFP.
Combating was additionally reported additional north, about 70km (43 miles) from Goma, an official there mentioned.
Goma has been below menace because the M23 launched an offensive final 12 months after reviving from dormancy in 2021. The DRC accuses its neighbour Rwanda of supporting the group, one thing that Kigali denies, and regional international locations have deployed a joint drive geared toward stabilising the area. A number of makes an attempt at a ceasefire have didn’t cease the violence.
The reviews of the combating got here hours earlier than the anticipated arrival in Goma of an support mission, the primary in an airlift introduced on Saturday by the European Union to assist the beleaguered metropolis.
The buying and selling hub of greater than 1,000,000 those that has additionally seen an inflow of hundreds of displaced folks lies on the shore of Lake Kivu.
Many of the land routes to Goma have now been minimize off, leaving flights the one dependable manner to herald provides. The EU airplane is carrying emergency shelters, treatment and hygiene kits.
A UN Safety Council delegation arrived in DRC late on Thursday on a three-day go to to evaluate the scenario in Goma. The crew will meet President Felix Tshisekedi and fly to the town on Saturday.
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World
Israel keeping its ‘eyes open’ for Iranian attacks during Trump transition period, ambassador says
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon tells Fox News Digital that his country is keeping its “eyes open” for any potential aggression from Iran during the Trump transition period, adding it would be a “mistake” for the Islamic Republic to carry out an attack.
The comments come after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed earlier this week that Iran would retaliate against Israel for the strategic airstrikes it carried out against Tehran on Oct. 26. Araghchi was quoted in Iranian media saying “we have not given up our right to react, and we will react in our time and in the way we see fit.”
“I would advise him not to challenge us. We have already shown our capabilities. We have proved that they are vulnerable. We can actually target any location in Iran. They know that,” Danon told Fox News Digital.
“So I would advise them not to make that mistake. If they think that now, because of the transition period, they can take advantage of it, they are wrong,” he added. “We are keeping our eyes open and we are ready for all scenarios.”
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Danon says he believes one of the most important challenges for the incoming Trump administration will be the way the U.S. deals with Iran.
“Regarding the new administration, I think the most important challenge will be the way you challenge Iran, the aggression, the threat of the Iranian regime. I believe that the U.S. will have to go back to a leading position on this issue,” he told Fox News Digital.
“We are fighting the same enemies, the enemies of the United States of America. When you look at the Iranians, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, all those bad actors that are coming against Israel… that is the enemy of the United States. So I think every American should support us and understand what we are doing now,” Danon also said.
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Danon spoke as the U.S. vetoed a draft resolution against Israel at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.
The resolution, which was overseen by Algeria, sought an “immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire” to be imposed on Israel. The resolution did not guarantee the release of the hostages still being held by Hamas within Gaza.
“It was a shameful resolution because… it didn’t have the linkage between the cease-fire and the call [for] the release of the hostages. And I want to thank the United States for taking a strong position and vetoing this resolution,” Danon said. “I think it sent a very clear message that the U.S. stands with its strongest ally with Israel. And, you know, it was shameful, too, to hear the voices of so many ambassadors speaking about a cease-fire but abandoning the 101 hostages. We will not forget them. We will never abandon them. We will continue to fight until we bring all of them back home.”
Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
World
Fact-check: What do we know about Russia’s nuclear arsenal?
Moscow has lowered the bar for using nuclear weapons and fired a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead into Ukraine, heightening tensions with the West.
Russia’s nuclear arsenal is under fresh scrutiny after an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying an atomic warhead was fired into Ukrainian territory.
President Vladimir Putin says the unprecedented attack using the so-called “Oreshnik” missile is a direct response to Ukraine’s use of US and UK-made missiles to strike targets deep in Russian territory.
He has also warned that the military facilities of Western countries allowing Ukraine to use their weapons to strike Russia could become targets.
The escalation comes days after the Russian President approved small but significant changes to his country’s nuclear doctrine, which would allow a nuclear response to a conventional, non-nuclear attack on Russian territory.
While Western officials, including US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, have dismissed the notion that Moscow’s use of nuclear weapons is imminent, experts warn that recent developments could increase the possibility of nuclear weapons use.
Here’s what we know about Russia’s inventory of atomic weapons.
How big is Russia’s nuclear arsenal?
Russia holds more nuclear warheads than any other nation at an estimated 5,580, which amounts to 47% of global stockpiles, according to data from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
But only an estimated 1,710 of those weapons are deployed, a fraction more than the 1,670 deployed by the US.
Both nations have the necessary nuclear might to destroy each other several times over, and considerably more atomic warheads than the world’s seven other nuclear nations: China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
Of Moscow’s deployed weapons, an estimated 870 are on land-based ballistic missiles, 640 on submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and potentially 200 at heavy bomber bases.
According to FAS, there are no signs Russia is significantly scaling up its nuclear arsenal, but the federation does warn of a potential surge in the future as the country replaces single-warhead missiles with those capable of carrying multiple warheads.
Russia is also steadily modernising its nuclear arsenal.
What could trigger a Russian nuclear response?
Moscow’s previous 2020 doctrine stated that its nuclear weapons could be used in response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.”
Now, the conditions under which a nuclear response could be launched have changed in three crucial ways:
- Russia will consider using nuclear weapons in the case of a strike on its territory using conventional weapons, such as cruise missiles, drones and tactical aircraft.
- It could launch a nuclear attack in response to an aggression by a non-nuclear state acting “with the participation or support of a nuclear state”, as is the case for Ukraine.
- Moscow will also apply the same conditions to an attack on Belarus’ territory, in agreement with President Lukashenko.
Is there a rising nuclear threat?
The size of the world’s nuclear stockpiles has rapidly decreased amid the post-Cold War détente. The Soviet Union had some 40,000 warheads, and the US around 30,000, when stockpiles peaked during the 1960s and 70s.
But FAS warns that while the overall number is still in decline, operational warheads are on the rise once again. More countries are also upgrading their missiles to deploy multiple warheads.
“In nearly all of the nuclear-armed states there are either plans or a significant push to increase nuclear forces,” Hans M. Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), said in June this year.
Is the West reacting?
When Putin approved the updated nuclear protocol last week, many Western leaders dismissed it as sabre rattling.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany and its partners would “not be intimidated” and accused Putin of “playing with our fear.”
But since Russia used a hypersonic ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead in an attack on Dnipro, European leaders have raised the alarm.
“The last few dozen hours have shown that the threat is serious and real when it comes to global conflict,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday.
According to Dutch media reports, NATO’s secretary-general Mark Rutte is in Florida to urgently meet President-elect Donald Trump, potentially to discuss the recent escalation.
NATO and Ukraine will hold an extraordinary meeting in Brussels next Tuesday to discuss the situation and the possible allied reaction, according to Euronews sources.
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