LUANDA, Angola: The UN refugee agency on Sunday airlifted its first batch of relief supplies to the more than 11,000 people fleeing the latest violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
The UN said that more than a million civilians have been displaced inside the DR Congo since a brutal conflict broke out in the Kasai region in mid-2016, with about 25,000 asylum seekers crossing into Angola.
“Arrivals are in urgent need of life-saving assistance, including food, water, shelter and medical services,” the UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) southern Africa representative, Sharon Cooper, said in a statement.
A cargo aircraft carrying mosquito nets, blankets and sanitary items flew in from Dubai and landed near Dundo, about 100km from the Angola-Congo border, where the UNHCR has set up makeshift centers sheltering refugees, the agency said.
The UN said it would send more relief items to Angola in the coming days.
The Kamuina Nsapu insurrection that erupted in the DR Congo’s Kasai-Central province last August has become the most serious threat to President Joseph Kabila’s 16-year rule, with lawlessness across Africa’s second-largest country inflamed by Kabila’s decision to remain in power after his mandate ran out in December. A UN team of investigators said this month that it had uncovered 40 mass grave sites and killings of more than 400 people in Kasai.
Memories of lost prosperity haunt town
In the Congolese town once home to the palm oil plantations of Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever, memories of forced labor mingle with nostalgia for its lost decades of prosperity. Formerly known as Leverville, the town is now called Lusanga. Grass grows in the remains of villas, offices are abandoned and factories are in ruin, testament to the tumultuous history of this part of southwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
Back in 1911, while a Belgian colony, vast concessions of palm tree forests were granted to English entrepreneur William Lever, whose company Lever Brothers gave birth two decades later to Unilever, an international food and consumer products giant.
Today, former plantation workers and their descendents recall stories of suffering under the colonial yoke but also times of economic activity that vanished after Unilever pulled out of the region.
For a company that “began as a maker of soap on an industrial scale... to become the multinational Unilever, it owes that in part to Congo,” said Belgian historian David van Reybrouck in his book on the vast African country’s history. During the time of the Belgian Congo, palm oil production was based on a system of coercion.
Severin Mabanga, who worked in the industry in the 1970s, said colonial-era workers were recruited “by force with the complicity of the village chief to come and cut down the palm nuts.”
“They lit a fire at the foot of the palm tree so that the apprentice cutter wouldn’t try to climb down from the tree” before finishing his task, said Mabanga, 65, who now makes baskets for a living. Plantation workers were also forced to perform risky tasks like climbing the trunks of trees 10 meters (33 feet) high to pluck heavy bunches of palm nuts for starvation wages. When the palm oil industry was plunged into the global economic crisis of 1929, Unilever used wage cuts to partly compensate for its losses.
Anger over that move combined with strong resentment against the colonial administration in 1931 touched off the biggest revolt in the history of the Belgian Congo — which was crushed by a brutal crackdown that left hundreds dead.
After independence in 1960, the palm oil plantations suffered from declining productivity, competition from Southeast Asia and dictator Mobutu Sese Seko’s policy of confiscating foreign-owned businesses in the country he had renamed Zaire.
Unilever eventually recovered its palm oil production in 1977 and switched its focus to the domestic market with oil for cooking rather than for making soap. But it faced competition from homemade oils and dwindling profits.
Unilever began slowly to disengage from DR Congo and had left completely by 2009 after the country went through two civil wars between 1996 and 2003.
But there was a time during the 1970s and 80s in the era of the Lever Plantations of Zaire (PLZ) that “there was a lot of economic activity, people were happy,” said Thomas-Michel Mondenge, a regional administrative official.
Mabanga recalled that medical care was free and “we had the means to pay for the children’s schooling.”
But once the palm oil production foundered, so did the local economy.
Some former PLZ workers want to believe an economic miracle could still happen. They are counting on a promise to relaunch economic activity by a Colombian company, according to Mondenge.
While Lusanga recently inaugurated an arts center project to encourage production of arts and crafts in the region, it remains a town with no tap water, electricity or shops to buy basic goods. And today, the DR Congo imports huge amounts of palm oil.
UNHCR in its first batch of relief supplies to DR Congo refugees
UNHCR in its first batch of relief supplies to DR Congo refugees
Putin vows more ‘destruction’ on Ukraine after drone attack on Russia’s Kazan
- ‘Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country’
“Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country,” Putin said in comments on the attack on Kazan — which left no casualties — during a televised government meeting.
France’s most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream
- The Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes on Saturday
- Launch is welcome news for the heavily indebted state-owned energy company EDF after multiple problems extended construction to 17 years
PARIS: France on Saturday connected its most powerful nuclear power reactor to the national electricity grid in what leaders hailed as a landmark moment despite years of delays, budget overruns and technical setbacks.
The Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes at 11:48 a.m. (1048 GMT) Saturday, the EDF power company’s CEO Luc Remont said in a statement.
“Great moment for the country,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on social network LinkedIn, calling it “one of the world’s most powerful nuclear reactors.”
“Re-industrializing to produce low-carbon energy is French-style ecology,” he added. “It strengthens our competitiveness and protects the climate.”
The French-developed European Pressurised Reactor project, launched in 1992, was designed to relaunch nuclear power in Europe after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe in Soviet Ukraine, and is touted as offering more efficient power output and better safety.
The EPR, a new generation pressurized water reactor, is the fourth to be finished anywhere in the world. Similar design reactors in China and Finland came online ahead of it.
The launch is welcome news for the heavily indebted state-owned energy company EDF after multiple problems extended construction to 17 years and caused massive budget overruns.
Remont of EDF called the event “historic.”
“The last time a reactor started up in France was 25 years ago at Civaux 2,” he said, referring to the Civaux power plant in southwestern France.
The connection was initially scheduled to take place Friday.
It is the most powerful reactor in the country at 1,600 MW. Ultimately, it should supply electricity to upwards of two million homes.
The connection to the grid “will be marked by different power levels through to the summer of 2025” in a months-long testing phase, the company has said.
EDF said that starting up a reactor was “a long and complex operation.”
The plant will be shut down for a complete inspection lasting at least 250 days, probably in the spring of 2026, the company added.
Construction of the Flamanville reactor began in 2007 and was beset by numerous problems.
The start-up comes 12 years behind schedule after a plethora of technical setbacks which saw the cost of the project soar to an estimated 13.2 billion euros ($13.76 billion), four times the initial 3.3 billion euro estimate.
The start-up began on September 3, but had to be interrupted the following day due to an “automatic shutdown.” It resumed a few days later.
Generation has been gradually increased to allow the reactor to be connected to the electricity network.
Nuclear power accounts for around three-fifths of French electricity output and the country boasts one of the globe’s largest nuclear power programs.
That is in stark contrast to neighboring Germany, which exited nuclear power last year by shutting down the last three of its reactors.
“This morning marks the culmination of a titanic effort that has finally paid off,” Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the outgoing minister for ecological transition, said on X.
“We are drawing all the lessons from this to make a success of the nuclear revival that we decided on with the President of the Republic.”
Macron has decided to ramp up nuclear power to bolster French energy sustainability by ordering six new-generation reactors and laying options for eight more, that could cost tens of billions of euros.
In 2022, he called for a “renaissance” for the country’s nuclear industry to transition away from fossil fuels.
“What we have to build today is the renaissance of the French nuclear industry because it’s the right moment, because it’s the right thing for our nation, because everything is in place,” Macron said at the time.
Pickup truck driver killed by police after driving through Texas mall and injuring 5
- The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, 109 kilometers north of the state capital Austin
- Emergency medical services transported four victims to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately
KILLEEN, Texas: A pickup truck driver fleeing police careened through the doors of a JCPenney store in Texas and continued through a busy mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, authorities said.
The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 68 miles (109 kilometers) north of the state capital Austin, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday and continued into the building, striking people as it went, Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety said in an evening news briefing.
Emergency medical services transported four victims from the mall to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately. They ranged in age from 6 to 75 years old and their conditions were not immediately known, he said.
The chase began around 5 p.m. on Interstate 14 in Belton, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Killeen, after authorities received calls about an erratic driver in a black pickup, Ofelia Miramontez of the Killeen Police Department said.
The driver then pulled off the road and drove into the parking lot of the mall.
“The suspect drove through the doors and continued to drive through the JCPenney store, striking multiple people,” Washko said. “The trooper and the Killeen police officer continued on foot after this vehicle, which was driving through the store, actively running people over. He traveled several hundred yards.”
Officers from the state public safety department, Killeen and three other law enforcement agencies “engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat,” Washko said.
One of the officers who traded gunfire with the suspect was working as a security guard at the mall and others were off duty, he said.
Washko did not have information about the suspect’s identity at the time of the briefing.
Witnesses interviewed by local news outlets outside the mall said they heard multiple gunshots and saw people fleeing through the mall.
India child marriage crackdown reaches nearly 5,000 arrests
- India is home to more than 220 million child brides, according to the United Nations
- The legal marriage age in India is 18 but millions of children are forced to tie the knot when they are younger
GUWAHATI, India: A crackdown on illegal child marriages in India’s northeast has resulted in nearly 5,000 arrests, after 416 people were detained in the latest police sweep, a minister said Sunday.
“We will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil,” Himanta Biswa Sarma, chief minister of Assam state, said in a statement.
“Assam continues its fight against child marriage,” he added, saying raids have been carried out overnight and that those arrested would be produced in court on Sunday.
India is home to more than 220 million child brides, according to the United Nations, but the number of child weddings has fallen dramatically this century.
Assam state had already arrested thousands in earlier abolition drives that began in February 2023, including parents of married couples and registrars who signed off on underage betrothals.
It takes the total now arrested to more than 4,800 people.
Sarma has campaigned on a platform of stamping out child marriages completely in his state by 2026.
The legal marriage age in India is 18 but millions of children are forced to tie the knot when they are younger, particularly in poorer rural areas.
Many parents marry off their children in the hope of improving their financial security.
The results can be devastating, with girls dropping out of school to cook and clean for their husbands, and suffering health problems from giving birth at a young age.
In a landmark 2017 judgment, India’s top court said that sex with an underage wife constituted rape, a ruling cheered by activists.
Russian defense ministry says it downed 42 Ukrainian drones overnight
- The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks
MOSCOW: Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday its air defense systems destroyed 42 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions during the night.
Twenty drones were shot down over the Oryol region, eight drones each were destroyed in the Rostov and Bryansk regions, five in the Kursk region and one over Krasnodar Krai, the ministry said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
One attack triggered a fire at a fuel infrastructure facility in the village of Stalnoi Kon, said Andrei Klychkov, the governor of Oryol.
“Fortunately, thanks to the quick response, the consequences of the attack were avoided — the fire was promptly localized and is now fully extinguished. There were no casualties or significant damage,” he said.
It was the second week in a row where fuel infrastructure facilities in Oryol have been attacked.
The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.
