NewsCongo conflict escalates: Goma Airport seized amid Ebola threat. Tragedy in India. This is what happened in the news overnight
Congo conflict escalates: Goma Airport seized amid Ebola threat. Tragedy in India. This is what happened in the news overnight
It happened while you were sleeping. Here's what the world agencies reported from Tuesday to Wednesday night.
- Rebels from the M23 group have taken over the airport in the largest city of eastern Congo, Goma, potentially severing the main route for delivering aid to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. This marks the most significant escalation of the conflict in a decade. The International Red Cross has warned that a laboratory storing Ebola virus samples could be destroyed at any moment due to ongoing clashes between Congolese forces and rebels supported by Rwandan troops. The spread of Ebola virus samples and other pathogens at the laboratory in Goma could have "unimaginable consequences, and even power outages pose a danger," according to Patrick Youssef, the regional director for Africa at the International Committee of the Red Cross. Further protests have also erupted in Kinshasa.
- There was a tragedy during the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in northern India. Tens of millions of people gathered to take a holy bath on the most important day of the six-week Hindu festival, and panic ensued. The media reported both casualties and injuries.
- In several Serbian cities, demonstrations took place on Tuesday against violence towards protesters. The incident that ignited the protests occurred on the night from Monday to Tuesday when a group supporting the ruling party attacked several students, with a young woman sustaining serious injuries. Despite the resignation of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, the situation remains tense. Thousands of people gathered on the streets of Novi Sad, Belgrade, Niš, and Kragujevac to express their opposition to the violence inflicted on the students by those sympathetic to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) on that unfortunate night.
- White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said mysterious drones that appeared over New Jersey had flight permits, and many belonged to hobbyists. U.S. President Donald Trump previously suggested that former authorities concealed the truth about this issue.
- The Mona Lisa will have its room as part of the comprehensive renovation of the Louvre. The renovation project, "The New Renaissance of the Louvre," will continue until 2031. President Macron has not disclosed the budget allocated for the museum's modernization project, although it is estimated to be up to 695 million pounds sterling.
