Archive for February 2025
East Congo city of Goma rushes to bury bodies after rebel offensive
Over 2,000 bodies require burial in Goma after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took over the Democratic Republic of Congo city last week, inflaming a decade-old conflict and humanitarian crisis, Congo’s communications minister Patrick Muyaya said late on Monday. Relative calm has returned to Goma, where the rebel alliance that includes M23 declared a ceasefire for humanitarian…
Read MoreVirginia Gang Members Sentenced to Decades in Prison for Kidnapping and Murder
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/virginia-gang-members-sentenced-decades-prison-kidnapping-and-murder Hezekiah Carney, 26, of Norfolk, Virginia, and Jayquan Jones, 22, of Richmond, Virginia, were each sentenced today to 38 years in prison for federal charges relating to the kidnapping and murder of a fellow Almighty Black P. Stone gang member. A total of four defendants have now been sentenced as part of the case.…
Read MoreThe Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a major Congo city declare a unilateral ceasefire
The Rwanda-backed rebels who seized eastern Congo’s key city of Goma announced a unilateral ceasefire in the region Monday for humanitarian reasons, following calls for a safe corridor for aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. The M23 rebels said the ceasefire would start Tuesday. The announcement came shortly after the U.N. health agency…
Read MoreNeo-Nazi group leader convicted of plotting Maryland power grid attack
The founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group was convicted Monday of conspiring with his former girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland’s power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs. Brandon Russell, 29, encouraged Sarah Beth Clendaniel to carry out a series of “sniper attacks” on electrical substations around Baltimore that could have caused…
Read MoreRussia accelerating executions of Ukrainian POWs: UN
The United Nations has expressed “alarm” over a sharp rise in reported executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian armed forces. According to a report published on Monday by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, 79 executions took place in 24 separate incidents since August 2024. The mission obtained footage and photographs published…
Read MorePro-Russia paramilitary leader killed in Moscow blast
The leader of a pro-Russian paramilitary group in eastern Ukraine has died in hospital after being injured in an explosion in Moscow on Monday morning, Russian media have said. Armen Sargsyan, the leader of the “Arbat” battalion, was severely injured following a blast in the entrance hall of a residential building in north-west Moscow, 12km…
Read MoreDaniel Khalife, former soldier who spied for Iran, jailed for more than 14 years
Daniel Khalife, a former soldier, has been sentenced to more than 14 years in custody and condemned as a “dangerous fool” for spying for Iran and escaping from prison. In September 2023, Khalife, 23, sparked a high-profile manhunt when he broke out of HMP Wandsworth by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck.…
Read MoreSenior Islamic State Somalia commander captured in Puntland
A senior commander of Islamic State’s Somalia wing was captured on Monday, police and state media said, two days after the IS leadership was targeted with U.S. airstrikes and as security forces continue a weeks-long offensive against them. In the last few years Somalia’s IS franchise has become an increasingly important part of the jihadist…
Read MoreCar bomb kills 15 in northern Syria, deadliest since Assad toppled
A car bomb killed at least 15 people in the Syrian city of Manbij on Monday, the second attack there in three days and Syria’s deadliest since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power in December. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack in Manbij, located some 30 km (19 miles) from the…
Read MoreDozens killed as opposition RSF forces attack open market in Sudan
Fighters with the opposition Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have attacked an open market in the Sudanese city of Omdurman, killing 54 people. The attack on Sabrein market also wounded at least 158 others, Sudan’s health ministry said. Two more people were killed on Saturday in an airstrike in the capital, Khartoum, across the Nile from…
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