GOMA: Rwandan-backed M23 rebels appeared to have consolidated their control over Goma, with eastern Congo’s largest city mostly quiet on Wednesday apart from sporadic gunfire in some outlying districts, residents said.
Rebel fighters, supported by Rwandan troops, marched into the lakeside city of nearly 2 million on Monday in the worst escalation of a long-running conflict in more than a decade, leaving bodies lying in the streets and hospitals overwhelmed.
They seized the city’s international airport on Tuesday, which could cut off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
“There are some sporadic shots that are heard here in the neighborhood. They are certainly Wazalendo,” said one resident of the northern Majengo neighborhood, referring to militias that allied with the government in 2022 to resist M23 advances in the hinterlands.
The assault on Goma has led to widespread international condemnation of Rwanda and calls for a ceasefire. The United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to consider unspecified measures to halt the offensive.
In a post on X, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said he had agreed in a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the need for a ceasefire but gave no indication of bowing to demands for a withdrawal from Goma.
“Had a productive conversation with Secretary Rubio on the need to ensure a ceasefire in Eastern DRC and address the root causes of the conflict once and for all,” Kagame wrote.
Rubio told Kagame Washington was “deeply troubled” by the escalation and urged respect for “sovereign territorial integrity,” the US State Department said in a statement.
M23 is the latest in a string of ethnic Tutsi-led, Rwandan-backed insurgencies that have roiled Congo since the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda 30 years ago, when Hutu extremists killed Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and then were toppled by the Tutsi-led forces led by Kagame.
Rwanda says some of the ousted perpetrators have been sheltering in Congo since the genocide, forming militias with alliances with the Congolese government, and pose a threat to Congolese Tutsis and Rwanda itself.
Congo rejects Rwanda’s complaints, and says Rwanda has used its proxy militias to control and loot lucrative minerals such as coltan, which is used in smartphones.
The Congolese and Rwandan army exchanged fire across their shared border on Monday, with Rwanda reporting at least nine deaths.
At a stadium in Goma on Tuesday, hundreds of unarmed government soldiers and militia fighters sat on the football pitch while others lined up in what the M23 fighters described as a disarmament process, according to an unverified video seen by Reuters.
Bertrand Bisimwa, who leads the M23’s political wing, said on X that the last pockets of resistance in Goma had been put down.
“Our army is working hard to guarantee total security, complete tranquillity and definitive peace as is the case for all their compatriots living in liberated zones,” he said.
Congo and the head of UN peacekeeping have said Rwandan troops are present in Goma, backing their M23 allies. Rwanda has said it is defending itself against the threat from Congolese militias, without directly commenting on whether its troops have crossed the border.
M23 captured Goma in 2012 during its last major insurgency but withdrew after a few days following intense international pressure and threats to withdraw aid to Rwanda.
Analysts and diplomats say that kind of pressure is unlikely to materialize this time due to a reluctance by world powers to take on Rwanda, which has positioned itself as a stable partner in a tumultuous region.
In the Congolese capital Kinshasa, 1,600 km (1,000 miles) west of Goma, protesters attacked a UN compound and embassies including those of Rwanda, France and the United States on Tuesday, angered at what they said was foreign interference.
Goma’s four main hospitals have treated at least 760 people wounded by the fighting, medical and humanitarian sources told Reuters on Tuesday, cautioning that an accurate death toll could not be established since many people were dying outside hospitals.
“We had to drain gasoline from ambulances to power the generator because there are people on respirators who couldn’t survive without electricity,” said the manager of one hospital in Goma.
“The injuries are often very severe. Some people die before they even get there.”
Congo’s M23 rebels consolidate control over a devastated Goma
https://arab.news/bxkrp
Congo’s M23 rebels consolidate control over a devastated Goma
Police say a person is in custody after a suspected arson fire at Pennsylvania governor's mansion
- Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo said that forthcoming charges will include attempted murder, terrorism, attempted arson and aggravated assault
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania: Police say a man has been arrested and will face charges including attempted murder, terrorism and attempted arson in the early morning fire that badly damaged the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and forced Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to quickly escape.
Sunday’s announcement came after Shapiro and his family were evacuated overnight from the official governor’s residence after someone set fire to the building. Shapiro told an afternoon news conference that he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family that had celebrated Passover on Saturday were inside the home when they were awakened by state troopers.
No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, according to authorities.
Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris identified the man in custody as Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg. Paris emphasized at a Sunday afternoon news conference that the investigation is continuing.
Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo said that forthcoming charges will include attempted murder, terrorism, attempted arson and aggravated assault.
Authorities said the suspect hopped over a fence surrounding the property and forcibly entered the residence before setting it on fire.
Police deputy commissioner George Bivens said Balmer had a homemade incendiary device and evaded police who knew there had been a breach.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated overnight from the official governor’s residence after someone set fire to the building, police said Sunday.
No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, according to authorities.
The fire broke out overnight on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which Shapiro and his family had celebrated at the governor’s official residence in the state capital of Harrisburg. Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that, while the investigation was ongoing, they were “prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson.”
State police gave no other details about the cause of the fire at the Susquehanna Riverfront mansion but said it caused a “significant amount of damage” to a portion of the residence. Shapiro and his family had been sleeping in a different part of the residence, police said.
In a statement, Shapiro, viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, said he and his family awoke at about 2 a.m. to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after the fire broke out.
The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was called to the residence and, while they worked to put out the fire, police evacuated Shapiro and his family from the residence safely, Shapiro said.
“Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished,” Shapiro said in a statement.
On Sunday, fire damage was visible on the residence’s south side, primarily to a large room often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. Large west-facing windows were completely missing their glass panes and doors stood ajar amid signs of charring.
There was a police presence Sunday as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway, investigators observed the damage inside and an officer led a dog outside an iron security fence before investigators sawed off a section from the top of the security fence on the residence’s south side. They wrapped it in heavy black plastic and took it away in a vehicle.
Shapiro splits his time between the mansion that has housed governors since it was built in the 1960s and a home in Abington, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east. He posted a photograph on social media Saturday of the family’s Passover Seder table at the residence.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker, a Republican, called the attack a “despicable act of cowardice” and said he hoped Pennsylvanians joined he and his wife in keeping the Shapiros in their prayers.
Former Gov. Tom Ridge, also a Republican, said images of the damage to the residence where he lived for eight years with his family were “heartbreaking” and said the attack on the official residence was shocking.
“Whoever is responsible for this attack — to both the Shapiro family and our Commonwealth — must be held to account,” Ridge said.
State police are leading the investigation. The agency offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Germany’s Merz says Russia committed ‘serious war crime’ in Ukraine strike
- “It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended,” he said in comments to broadcaster ARD
BERLIN: Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said Sunday that Russia committed a “serious war crime” in its missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed at least 34 people.
“It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended,” he said in comments to broadcaster ARD.
“There are two waves of attacks, and the second arrived as emergency workers were taking care of the victims,” said Merz.
“That is the response, that is what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does to those who talk with him of a ceasefire,” he added.
“Our willingness to discuss with him is interpreted not as a serious offer to make peace, but as weakness,” said Merz.
Two ballistic missiles hit the northeastern city on Sunday morning. Two children were among the dead, authorities said.
While Germany’s outgoing chancellor Otto Scholz has refused to supply Kyiv with Taurus missiles capable of striking inside Russia, Merz has said he is open to the idea.
“I have always said that I would only do it in agreement with European partners,” he told ARD.
“It must be coordinated and if it is coordinated, then Germany should participate,” he added.
Trump team tries to project confidence and calm after his tariff moves rattled markets
- White House advisers and Cabinet members tried to project confidence and calm amid Trump’s on-again, off-again approach to tariffs on imported goods
ATLANTA: Trump administration officials were out in force across the television networks Sunday defending President Donald Trump’s economic policies after another week of reeling markets that saw the Republican administration reverse course on some of its steepest tariffs.
Trump, meanwhile, said on his social media platform that there ultimately will be no exemptions for his sweeping tariff agenda, disputing characterizations that he has granted tariff exceptions for certain electronics, including smart phones, whose production is concentrated in China. Rather, Trump said, “those products are subject to the existing 20 percent Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”
White House advisers and Cabinet members tried to project confidence and calm amid Trump’s on-again, off-again approach to tariffs on imported goods from around the world. But their explanations about the overall agenda, coupled with Trump’s latest statements, also reflected shifting narratives from a president who, as a candidate in 2024, promised an immediate economic boost and lower prices but now asks American businesses and consumers for patience.
A week ago, Trump’s team stood by his promise to leave the impending tariffs in place without exceptions. They used their latest news show appearances to defend his move to ratchet back to a 10 percent universal tariff for most nations except China (145 percent), while seeming to grant exemptions for certain electronics like smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and semiconductor chips.
Here are the highlights of what Trump lieutenants said last week vs. Sunday:
There are varying answers on the purpose of the tariffs
Long before launching his first presidential campaign in 2015, Trump bemoaned the offshoring of US manufacturing. His promise is to reindustrialize the United States and eliminate trade deficits with other countries.
LAST WEEK
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, interviewed on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” played up national security. “You’ve got to realize this is a national security issue,” he said, raising the worst-case scenarios of what could happen if the US were involved in a war.
“We don’t make medicine in this country anymore. We don’t make ships. We don’t have enough steel and aluminum to fight a battle, right?” he said.
SUNDAY
Lutnick stuck to that national security framing, but White House trade adviser Peter Navarro focused more on the import taxes being leverage in the bigger economic puzzle.
“The world cheats us. They’ve been cheating us for decades,” Navarro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He cited practices such as dumping products at unfairly low prices, currency manipulation and barriers to US auto and agricultural products entering foreign markets.
Navarro insisted the tariffs would yield broader bilateral trade deals to address all those issues. But he also relied on a separate justification when discussing China: the illicit drug trade.
“China has killed over a million people with their fentanyl,” he said.
Speaking before Trump’s Truth Social post disputing the notion of exemptions, Lutnick alluded to that coming policy. “They’re going to have a special focus-type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored,” he told ABC’s “This Week.”
The status of negotiations with other nations, including China, remains fuzzy
LAST WEEK
With the higher rates set to be collected beginning April 9, administration officials argued that other countries would rush to the negotiating table.
“I’ve heard that there are negotiations ongoing and that there are a number of offers,” Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Economic Council, told ABC. He claimed that “more than 50 countries (were) reaching out,” though he did not name any.
SUNDAY
Navarro named the United Kingdom, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Israel as among the nations in active negotiations with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Lutnick and other officials.
Greer said on CBS that his goal was “to get meaningful deals before 90 days” –- the duration of Trump’s pause -– “and I think we’re going to be there with several countries in the next few weeks.”
Talks with China have not begun, he said. “We expect to have a conversation with them,” he said, emphasizing it would be between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump took an aggressive tone himself Sunday in his social media post, saying “we will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China, which will do everything within its power to disrespect the American People.”
Navarro was not as specific about Beijing. “We have opened up our invitation to them,” he said. Lutnick characterized the outreach as “soft entrees … through intermediaries.”
Pressed on whether there is any meaningful back and forth, Navarro said, “The president has a very good relationship with President Xi.”
Then he proceeded to criticize several China’s polices and trade practices.
The pitches are different, but confidence is constant
LAST WEEK
Navarro was bullish even after US and global trading markets suffered trillions of dollars in losses.
“The first rule, particularly for the smaller investors out there, you can’t lose money unless you sell. And, right now, the smart strategy is not to panic,” he said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
SUNDAY
Navarro’s optimism did not waver despite another net-loss week for securities markets and rocky bond markets. “So, this is unfolding exactly like we thought it would in a dominant scenario,” he said.
Others confronted some of the more complex realities of trying to achieve Trump’s goal of restoring a bygone era of US manufacturing.
Lutnick suggested the focus is on returning high-tech jobs, while sidestepping questions about lower-skilled manufacturing of goods such as shoes that could mean higher prices because of higher wages for US workers. But some of that high-tech production is what Trump has, for now, exempted from the tariffs that he and his advisers frame as leverage for forcing companies to open US facilities.
Hassett did acknowledge widespread angst.
“The survey data has been showing that people are anxious about the changes a little bit,” he said, before steering his answer to employment rates. “The hard data,” he said, “has been really, really strong.”
Australian political leaders launch election campaigns focused on first-time homeowners
MELBOURNE: Australia’s rival political leaders offered Sunday competing policies to help Australians buy a home ahead of the nation’s first federal election in which younger voters will outnumber the long-dominant baby boomer generation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton officially launched their parties’ campaigns ahead of the May 3 elections.
Helping aspiring homeowners buy into a national real estate market in which prices are high and supply is constrained due to inflation, builders going broke, shortages of materials and a growing population was central to both campaigns.
“Buying a first home has never been easy, but for this generation, it’s never felt further out of reach,” Albanese told his supporters in the west coast city of Perth.
“In Australia, home ownership should not be a privilege you inherit if you’re lucky. It should be an aspiration that Australians everywhere can achieve,” he added.
The governing center-left Labor Party promised Sunday 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.3 billion) in grants and loans to build 100,000 new homes over eight years exclusively for first-homebuyers, who would only have to pay a 5 percent deposit instead of the current minimum 20 percent, with the government paying the remainder.
Opposition promises to reduce housing demand
Dutton’s conservative Liberal Party promised to ease demand for housing by banning foreign investors and temporary residents from buying existing homes for two years while reducing immigration and foreign student numbers.
Spain busts ring bringing Moroccans in via Romania
MADRID: Spanish police said on Sunday they had broken a ring that had brought in up to 2,500 Moroccan irregular immigrants via Romania, arresting four suspects.
The four were detained in the southeastern Murcia province on charges of belonging to a criminal organization and facilitating irregular migration, the Guardia Civil said in a statement.
The Moroccans entered Europe by plane to Romania, from where they were transported to Spain, with each one charged 3,000 euros ($3,400) for the voyage, it said. The suspects were alleged to be the ringleaders of the organization. Their nationalities were not specified.
Spanish authorities believe the ring organized 50 such trips over the past two years, each one composed of between 20 and 50 Moroccans, making for a total of between 1,000 and 2,500 irregular immigrants.
The outfit was alleged to have a “logistics center” in Romania where it hid the migrants while they awaited their transport to Spain.
The Guardia Civil said the operation to bust the ring was conducted with the help of Europol and the European Union’s border patrol agency Frontex.
