GENEVA: The decades-old conflict in Congo’s mineral-rich east has “drastically deteriorated” since early 2022, and gotten even worse since last October, with sharp increases in sexual violence, the number of wounded, and child recruitment, the top Red Cross official in the country said Wednesday.
Francois Moreillon called Congo a “double-edged crisis,” with the last 30 years of conflict weakening the capacity of government, including at local levels, to deliver basic services such as water, education and food. When it came to protecting civilians, Moreillon said the crisis was “extremely acute.”
Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, known as the ICRC, said “all indicators are going through the roof” since Oct. 1 when fighting resumed between Congolese government forces with their allies, and the M23 rebel group.
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, along with the US and UN experts, accuses neighboring Rwanda of giving military backing to M23. Rwanda denies the claim, but in February it effectively admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a build-up of Congolese forces near the border.
Moreillon told several reporters at the office of the ICRC’s UN envoy that the number of displaced Congolese rose from 5.6 million in early 2022 to nearly 7.4 million now, which makes Congo “one of the most serious crises for displacement on the planet.”
He said another escalating indicator is the level of sexual violence. In Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, he said the number of incidents of sexual violence in the first half of 2024 rose 90 percent compared with 2023 — from 7,500 incidents last year to around 15,000 this year.
Moreillon cited the case of a woman the ICRC cared for who had been raped twice and explained that women in groups went to fetch wood “taking condoms with them to try to convince the rapist to wear them while they were raped.” This was not just to prevent getting pregnant or sexually transmitted diseases, but also to prevent them from being ordered to leave the house if their husbands learned they were raped, he said
Moreillon said sexual violence can not only be a weapon of war but also a product of decades of war where “anyone with a gun feels he can do whatever he wants” — and the fact that there is impunity for these crimes “does not help.”
The ICRC has also witnessed an increase in child recruitment, with estimates that it’s increased roughly 80 percent in some areas. “That could be only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
A key reason is that fighting has gotten so intense that armed groups need new recruits to replace dead combatants, he said, and children can either be convinced or forced.
Several kids he interviewed said they joined because they thought they would get respect, he said. When families don’t give their children to armed groups they are “taxed” and then hand them over to the recruiters.
Another indicator is the number of wounded civilians seeking treatment, Moreillon said.
The ICRC supports three hospitals in eastern Congo including one in Goma where it had to increase the number of surgical teams from two last year to three this year who are working day and night, he said.
Last year, Moreillon said, 1,050 cases were treated at the Goma hospital, and just in February this year the ICRC treated 350 cases — a third of last year’s caseload in just one month.
“So that’s a clear indicator of the severity of the intensity of the conflict,” he said.
The ICRC head in Congo said what has changed is that more sophisticated weapons are being used combined with increased fighting in crowded urban settings.
He said 45 percent of those wounded by weapons are civilians, and about 40 percent of the wounds are caused by shrapnel which wasn’t the case last year when most wounds were caused either by bullets or knives.
What about deaths? Moreillon said it’s very difficult to get figures, but if the number of wounded “is drastically increasing” this must also be the case for the number killed.
Moreillon appealed to donors to help the Congolese in need, saying his budget for Congo this year — 85 million Swiss francs ($95 million) — is only 22 percent funded.
Red Cross envoy: Congo conflict has worsened with sharp increases in sexual violence and wounded
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Red Cross envoy: Congo conflict has worsened with sharp increases in sexual violence and wounded
- Francois Moreillon called Congo a “double-edged crisis,” with the last 30 years of conflict weakening the capacity of government
Papers reveal UK feared US handling of 2004 Fallujah uprising
- Newly released documents say George W. Bush was given ‘difficult messages’ by Tony Blair in 2004
- Operation Vigilant Resolve was launched after the deaths of four US military contractors
LONDON: Newly released government papers in the UK have revealed that US President George W. Bush believed American military operations following the 2003 invasion of Iraq were a “mission from God,” but that British officials feared Washington lacked “political control” of the war.
They reveal that Tony Blair, the UK prime minister at the time, had to deliver “some difficult messages” to Bush after the US launched a military operation in Fallujah in 2004 to suppress an insurgency.
Bush had demanded that US forces “kick ass” after four military contractors were killed by Iraqi fighters, but US Deputy Secretary of State Richard “Rich” Armitage told the then UK ambassador in Washington, Sir David Manning, the president needed a “dose of reality.”
Armitage asked Blair to persuade Bush that the operation in Fallujah needed to be treated “as part of a carefully judged political process.”
Operation Vigilant Resolve was launched after the bodies of four US contractors were found hanging from a bridge in Fallujah in May 2003. The US lost 27 troops, while about 200 insurgents and 600 Iraqi civilians were thought to have been killed in Fallujah at that time. Coalition forces took the city in a second operation in November 2004.
Elements of the US military had pressed the president for a harsh response, with a plan floated for the US Marine Corps to occupy the city.
The papers reveal that Manning told the government: “Rich summed it all up by saying Bush still thought he was on some sort of mission from God. But that recent events had made him ‘rather more sober.’”
Fears abounded at the time over Bush’s view of the war, after reports surfaced suggesting he had told a Palestinian delegation that God had spoken to him about invading Iraq and overthrowing Saddam Hussein, saying” “George, go fight these terrorists in Afghanistan” and “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.” The White House later dismissed the claims as “absurd.”
Gen. John Abizaid, the US commander in Iraq, had claimed he could put down the Fallujah insurgency within days. This was dismissed by Armitage as nonsense and “politically crass.”
The deputy secretary of state believed Washington was “gradually losing on the battlefield” and that it was “inevitable” Bush would need to send US reinforcements to Iraq, Manning said.
A briefing document from No. 10 (Downing Street) issued at the time said: “Publicly we will want to underline our continued commitment to seeing the task (in Fallujah) through, but privately we will need to deliver some difficult messages to Bush about the need for a more measured approach by the US military, under proper political oversight, and the need for a clear end to the occupation on July 1.”
It added: “The prime minister might question Bush on whether there is proper political control of military operations.”
The brief concluded: “In short, too many military officers talking tough to a US audience, with little attention to the effect on an Iraqi or regional audience.”
India caps 2024 with first space docking mission, eyes launching orbital station
- SpaDeX mission marks ‘first step’ in establishing India’s space station
- Earlier this year, India announced $116 million fund for space startups
NEW DELHI: India has launched its first space docking mission on a home-made rocket, capping 2024 with a major technological feat in efforts to establish its position in the global space industry after last year’s successful moon landing and a solar observation project.
The Space Docking Experiment, or SpaDeX, mission launched on Monday evening from the Indian Space Research Organization’s Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota island off the Bay of Bengal.
About 15 minutes after liftoff aboard the ISRO’s PSLV rocket, the mission director confirmed the launch as a success and reaching “another milestone in India’s space journey” when the spacecraft reached an altitude of 470 km.
The SpaDeX mission involves launching two small spacecraft, each weighing about 220 kg, into a 470 km circular orbit.
“SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) is a pioneering mission to establish India’s capability in orbital docking, a key technology for future human spaceflight and satellite servicing missions,” the ISRO said in a statement.
“In-space docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives. Through this mission, India is marching toward becoming the fourth country in the world to have space docking technology ... This technology is essential for India’s space ambitions such as Indian on Moon, sample return from the Moon, the building and operation of Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), etc.”
India is planning to build its modular space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, by 2035. The docking mission is the “first step” toward that endeavor, said Syed Maqbool Ahmed, a former ISRO scientist who was part of the Chandrayaan program — the Indian Lunar Exploration Program.
“When we want to build a space station, the very first thing we have to do is continuously coming and going back to the station, and that is where the docking is needed,” Ahmed told Arab News.
“That is amazing. Only three countries have done so till now: America, USSR and China. And we will be the fourth country.”
In the past few years, India has been establishing its position in the global space industry.
In August last year, it became the fourth nation to ever soft-land a spacecraft on the moon. A month later, it launched its solar mission, becoming the second country, after the US, to have explored the sun.
But what counts is not only the recent achievements but creating the environment and long-term investment for the space industry to flourish and involve the private sector as well.
“India has approved a space policy just a few months ago. They have also taken almost 1,000 crores ($116 million) separately to help the aerospace industry,” Ahmed said.
“India is encouraging each and every person ... lots of startups to come into the aerospace field.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan named in Britain’s New Year honors
- Khan said he was “truly humbled to have received a knighthood”
- He was elected mayor of the capital for the third time this year
LONDON: London Mayor Sadiq Khan is among the hundreds named in King Charles’s New Year honors list published on Monday.
Khan, a member of Britain’s governing Labour Party, will receive a knighthood. He was elected mayor of the capital for the third time this year but has faced criticism for crime levels and a housing crisis in the city.
Khan said he was “truly humbled to have received a knighthood.”
“I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I’d one day be Mayor of London.
“It’s the honor of my life to serve the city I love,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The full list includes more than 1,200 people in politics, sport, the arts or community service to be awarded honors ranging from Member, Commander or Officer of the Order of the British Empire (MBE, CBE or OBE) up to knighthoods and damehoods.
Former England soccer boss Gareth Southgate and Paris Olympics gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson also featured on the list.
Southgate, who led England to two straight European Championship finals before stepping down as the national side’s manager in July, receives a knighthood.
MI5’s Ken McCallum, who has served as the domestic intelligence service’s director general since 2020, was also set to receive a knighthood.
Among business executives, ex-Rolls-Royce boss Warren East and former HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn will be knighted, while Ruth Cairnie, chair of defense group Babcock , receives a damehood.
Andy Street, a former boss of retailer John Lewis who failed to win re-election as a regional mayor this year, will also receive a knighthood.
Among those receiving a CBE are actors Sarah Lancashire and Carey Mulligan and TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh.
The New Year honors, which have been awarded since at least 1890, aim to recognize not just well-known figures but people who have contributed to national life through often unsung work over many years.
Children’s author Jacqueline Wilson was awarded a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, while Nobel laureate novelist Kazuo Ishiguro was given a Companion of Honour, of which there are only 65 recipients at any time.
In sport, Paris 800 meters gold medallist Hodgkinson receives an MBE while Olympic champion rower Helen Glover is recognized with an OBE.
For his work on mental health awareness, actor Stephen Fry will receive a knighthood.
South Korea in mourning: Air crash shakes nation as 2024 draws to a close
- 179 people were killed in the deadliest aviation on South Korean soil on Sunday
- Families are still waiting at Muan airport to receive the bodies of their relatives
MUAN, South Korea: South Koreans ended the year in nationwide mourning on Tuesday, with bereaved families gathered at Muan Airport to receive the bodies of their loved ones killed in the deadliest-ever aviation disaster on the country’s soil.
The crash of Jeju Air flight 7CC216 from Bangkok to the southern Muan County on Sunday killed 179 people when the plane skidded off the runway, hit a concrete mound and exploded into flames. Only two people — both flight attendants — survived.
Investigators have recovered over 600 body parts from the crash site so far, as relatives and friends waited at the airport for authorities to release the victims’ remains.
“I am sorry the identification process took longer than initially promised,” said Na Won-oh, head investigator of the police in Jeonnam Province, where the airport is located.
All but five bodies have been identified as of Tuesday afternoon, as officials began to release the remains in the process expected to take another few days.
All the passengers were South Koreans, except for two Thai nationals.
“I am so heartbroken, and this is so tiring. It is really, really difficult for me,” said Park Han-shin, who lost his younger brother in the disaster.
Cries of angry relatives scolding authorities echoed through the airport, after they discovered that the bodies were spread out on the ground and not placed in refrigerators as officials had promised to do earlier.
“Our brothers, siblings and family are lying on the floor. We had demanded a cold storage unit, but (the government) did not provide it. We have to take back the bodies in good condition,” Park said.
The units were brought in later, following the complaints.
During another round of identification on Tuesday morning, people embraced one another and began to cry as officials read out the victims’ names.
“My daughter is really dead,” a woman said, hugging her husband after they heard their child’s name.
When several lawmakers made their way through the airport’s halls to meet the grieving families, a father cried:
“I just want him to find peace. He is lying there … God knows where … I want to take my son home.”
Another man showed a photo of his son to Korean lawmaker Jung Chung-rae as he fell into sobs.
“He was so handsome. Now I can’t see him,” he said. “We are all just holding it in. We are all just hanging on because we are all going through the same thing.”
South Korea is observing seven days of mourning, with flags flying at half-mast and memorials set up across the nation.
The crash on Sunday was the deadliest aviation accident ever on South Korean soil.
At the Muan airport, families were overseeing the set-up of a memorial, with dozens of black-and-white flowers filling the area. Mourners were trickling in to pay respects for the victims.
“A few people from my neighborhood were also killed. There is a memorial in our town as well, but I wanted to come support the bereaved,” said Nam Eun-hui, who drove almost two hours to reach the site.
“When I first heard of the accident on the news, I thought more people would be saved. I didn’t know it would be such a big tragedy.”
Djokovic, Sabalenka win season-openers but Kyrgios loses on return
- Former world number one Novak Djokovic is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam crown in January in Melbourne
- Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios loses in three tight sets in his first singles match since June 2023
BRISBANE, Australia: Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka launched their Australian Open preparations with straight-sets wins on Tuesday at the Brisbane International but Nick Kyrgios lost on his return from injury.
Former world number one Djokovic, who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam crown in January in Melbourne, eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over wildcard Rinky Hijikata.
The 37-year-old Serb broke Hijikata once in the first set and twice in the second for a comfortable 74-minute win.
Djokovic, now ranked seven in the world, was all business against the young Australian and always looked in control as he set up a second-round clash against fellow veteran Gael Monfils.
“To start the new season with a win is obviously very important,” said Djokovic, who is pursuing an unprecedented 11th Australian Open title.
“But Hijikata was really good tonight and he made me work for it.”
Australian firebrand Kyrgios lost in three tight sets in his first singles match since June 2023.
Kyrgios went down 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3) to Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in almost two and a half hours as serve dominated.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios, 29, is making his comeback following wrist reconstruction and other injuries over the past couple of years.
Ahead of the Australian Open starting on January 12, big-serving Mpetshi Perricard said Kyrgios had shown enough to suggest that his comeback would be a success.
Kyrgios played and won in the doubles with Djokovic on Monday.
“Playing Nick here wasn’t a good match-up for me,” the 21-year-old Mpetshi Perricard said, asked about playing Kyrgios in front of his home crowd.
“He did some good things, he played with confidence.”
The Frenchman, who has risen from 205 in the world at the start of 2024 to his current ranking of 31, fired down 36 aces.
Women’s world number one Sabalenka kickstarted her bid to win the Australian Open for a third consecutive time with a straight-forward win after a sluggish start.
The Belarusian appeared bothered by the high humidity on Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, particularly during an error-strewn first set against Renata Zarazua.
But after breaking Mexico’s Zarazua at 5-4, the 26-year-old surged through the second set to wrap up the match 6-4, 6-0 in 65 minutes.
“The first match is always a tricky one,” Sabalenka said.
“It was a tricky start for me but I’m glad that I closed it out in the first set, and in the second set I felt like whatever I tried to do it would work for me.
“So I’m really happy for the first win of the season.”
Sabalenka is bidding to be the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997-99 to win three Australian Opens in succession.
She will play Yulia Putintseva next after the Kazakh’s 6-2, 7-5 win over American Mccartney Kessler.
