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M23 Rebels Withdraw from Planned Talks with Congo Govt, Citing Int’l Sanctions

M23 rebels sit on a truck during the escort of captured FDLR members (not pictured) to Rwanda for repatriation, at the Goma-Gisenyi Grande Barrier border crossing, March 1, 2025. (Reuters) 
M23 rebels sit on a truck during the escort of captured FDLR members (not pictured) to Rwanda for repatriation, at the Goma-Gisenyi Grande Barrier border crossing, March 1, 2025. (Reuters) 
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M23 Rebels Withdraw from Planned Talks with Congo Govt, Citing Int’l Sanctions

M23 rebels sit on a truck during the escort of captured FDLR members (not pictured) to Rwanda for repatriation, at the Goma-Gisenyi Grande Barrier border crossing, March 1, 2025. (Reuters) 
M23 rebels sit on a truck during the escort of captured FDLR members (not pictured) to Rwanda for repatriation, at the Goma-Gisenyi Grande Barrier border crossing, March 1, 2025. (Reuters) 

The Rwanda-backed rebels who captured key areas of Congo's mineral-rich east said Monday they were withdrawing from peace talks this week with the Congolese government, saying that international sanctions on the group's members have undermined such dialogue.

The talks scheduled to start in the Angolan capital, Luanda, on Tuesday "have become impracticable" as a result of the sanctions announced by the European Union against some of its members on Monday, M23 rebel group’s spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement. Alleged offensives still being carried out in the conflict-hit region by Congo's military also undermine the talks, he said.

"Consequently, our organization can no longer continue to participate in the discussions," he added.

Congo's government, after initially rejecting such talks, said Monday that it would participate in the dialogue in Angola. A delegation representing Congo has already traveled to Luanda for the talks, Tina Salama, the spokesperson for President Felix Tshisekedi, told The Associated Press. Tshisekedi had earlier refused direct negotiations with the rebels.

M23 also initially had sent a delegation to Luanda, the group's spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said on the X platform on Monday.

The conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January when the Rwanda-backed rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by Bukavu in February.

Angola, which has acted as a mediator in the conflict, announced last week that it would host direct peace negotiations between Congo and M23 on Tuesday.

Peace talks between Congo and Rwanda were unexpectedly canceled in December after Rwanda made the signing of a peace agreement conditional on a direct dialogue between Congo and the M23 rebels, which Congo refused.

"A dialogue with a terrorist group like the M23 is a red line that we will never cross," Tshisekedi said during a speech to the diplomatic corps on Jan. 18.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced.

The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,575 kilometers (978 miles) to the east.

The UN Human Rights Council last month launched a commission to investigate atrocities, including allegations of rape and killing akin to "summary executions" by both sides.

International pressure is growing on Rwanda as the European Union sanctioned five Rwandan nationals, including the commander of Rwandan special forces deployed in eastern Congo. On Monday, Rwanda cut diplomatic ties with Belgium and ordered all its diplomats to leave, a month after Brussels suspended development aid to the East African country. Rwandan President Paul Kagame had accused Belgium of "destroying" Rwanda in a speech on Sunday.

The US State Department said last week it was open to a mining partnership in Congo and has confirmed that preliminary discussions had begun.

On Sunday, Tshisekedi met with the US special envoy to Congo, Rep. Ronny Jackson, to discuss potential security and economic partnerships.

"We want to work together so that American companies can invest and work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for that we have to make sure there is a peace in the country," Jackson told reporters after the meeting.

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WHO Chief Tells Tenerife People that Risk from Hantavirus-hit Ship 'Low'

Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)
Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)
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WHO Chief Tells Tenerife People that Risk from Hantavirus-hit Ship 'Low'

Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)
Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

The WHO chief told the people of Tenerife Saturday that the risk to them from an arriving cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak was "low".

"I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid," World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in an open letter to the people of the Spanish island where the MV Hondius was expected to arrive Sunday.

"The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low."

The Dutch-flagged cruise ship was expected to reach waters off Tenerife at dawn, with Tedros also due on the archipelago to help coordinate the evacuation of around 150 people on board, The AP news reported.

Three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.

The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.

It has also sparked fears among people of the Canary Islands, with regional authorities having refused to allow the vessel to dock, deciding it will remain offshore while passengers are screened and evacuated.

- 'Serious' -

In his open letter, Tedros hailed the people of Tenerife for their solidarity and said he had thanked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez personally for Spain agreeing to take on its "moral duty" and receive the ship.

"I know you are worried," Tedros wrote in his open letter.

"I know that when you hear the word 'outbreak' and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment," he said.

Tedros acknowledged that the Andes strain of hantavirus "is serious".

"Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families," he said, stressing though that "the risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low".

"This is the WHO's assessment, and we do not make it lightly."

An expert with the United Nations health agency was on board and had determined that currently "there are no symptomatic passengers", Tedros said.

He also highlighted that "medical supplies are in place" and stressed that Spanish authorities had prepared a "careful, step-by-step plan" for the evacuation.

According to that plan, he said, "passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries".

"You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them."

- Deemed 'nearest port' -

The WHO chief insisted the request for Spain to receive the ship "was not made arbitrarily", pointing out that under International Health Regulations, "the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board".

"Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home," he said.

Tedros said he was travelling to Tenerife to observe the evacuation operation personally, to "stand alongside" health workers and port staff, and to "pay my respects" to the island and its response.

"The WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way," he said.

World

Frontier Airlines Plane Suffers Engine Fire, Reportedly Hits Pedestrian in Denver

Frontier airlines planes are parked at the boarding gates at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida, US, July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photo
Frontier airlines planes are parked at the boarding gates at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida, US, July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photo
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Frontier Airlines Plane Suffers Engine Fire, Reportedly Hits Pedestrian in Denver

Frontier airlines planes are parked at the boarding gates at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida, US, July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photo
Frontier airlines planes are parked at the boarding gates at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida, US, July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photo

A Frontier Airlines passenger jet abandoned its take-off for Los Angeles late on Friday after suffering an engine fire and reportedly striking a pedestrian on the runway at Denver International Airport, the airline and the airport said.

Denver ⁠International Airport said ⁠that a brief engine fire had been promptly extinguished by the fire department.

According to Reuters, Frontier said that smoke was reported in ⁠the cabin of the Airbus A321 and the pilots aborted takeoff.

The company said the flight was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members, all of whom safely evacuated.

Neither the airline nor the airport gave details on ⁠the pedestrian ⁠who was reportedly struck. Frontier said it was investigating the incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.

At least one passenger suffered a minor injury, ABC News reported.

World

Putin Attends Scaled-back WW2 Victory Parade

Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on the Red square in Moscow, Russia, 09 May 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on the Red square in Moscow, Russia, 09 May 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Putin Attends Scaled-back WW2 Victory Parade

Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on the Red square in Moscow, Russia, 09 May 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on the Red square in Moscow, Russia, 09 May 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years on Saturday due to the threat of attack from Ukraine, where victory for Moscow's forces has proven elusive more than four years into the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.

The May 9 parade on Red Square marks Russia's most revered national holiday - a time to celebrate the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany and to pay homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens, including many from Ukraine, who perished. Once used to show off Russia's vast military, including its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, the parade this year had no tanks or other military equipment rolling over the cobbles of Red Square.

Instead, weapons including a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, the new Arkhangelsk nuclear submarine, the Peresvet laser weapon, the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter, the S-500 surface-to-air missile system and a host of drones and artillery were shown on giant screens on Red Square, and on state television.

Soldiers and sailors, some of whom have served in Ukraine, marched and cheered as President Vladimir Putin looked on, seated beside Russian veterans in the shadow of Vladimir Lenin's Mausoleum. North Korean troops, who fought against Ukrainians in Russia's Kursk region, also marched.

Reuters said fighter ⁠planes flew above ⁠the towers of the Kremlin and Putin made an eight minute speech, promising victory in the war in Ukraine which the Kremlin calls the "special military operation.”

"The great feat of the victorious generation inspires the soldiers carrying out the tasks of the special military operation today," Putin said. "They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And in spite of that, our heroes march forward."

After Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating unilateral ceasefires they had each declared over recent days, US President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire from Saturday to Monday that was supported by the Kremlin and Kyiv.

The two sides also agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners. "I'd like to see it stop. Russia-Ukraine - it's the worst thing since ⁠World War Two in terms of life.

Twenty-five thousand young soldiers every month. It's crazy," Trump told reporters in Washington. He added that he would "like to see a big extension" of the ceasefire. There were no reports of violations of the ceasefire from either Moscow or Kyiv.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, had warned that any attempt by Kyiv to disrupt Saturday's event would lead to a massive missile strike on the Ukrainian capital. Moscow told foreign diplomats that they should evacuate Kyiv staff in the event of such an attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a tongue-in-cheek decree "allowing" Russia's May 9 military parade to proceed and saying Ukrainian weapons would not target Red Square. Security was tight in Moscow.

Reuters pictures showed soldiers with guns atop pickup trucks and roads blocked around the center of the capital, which along with the surrounding region has a population of 22 million.

After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Red Army eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler killed himself and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in May 1945.

Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender came into force at 11:01 p.m. ⁠on May 8, 1945, marked as "Victory ⁠in Europe Day" by Britain, the United States and France.

In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union's "Victory Day" in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. But this year's parade comes amid a wave of anxiety in Moscow about the ultimate outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, left swathes of Ukraine in ruins and drained Russia's $3 trillion economy, while Russia's relations with Europe are worse than at any time since the depths of the Cold War.

"The crisis is still deepening gradually, but any sharp movement can send the economy (and not only the economy) into a tailspin," jailed pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who has criticized the Kremlin for its conduct of the war, said in a post on Telegram.

Girkin, a former Federal Security Service officer, used a naval analogy to say that Russia's leaders were more worried about being kicked out of their cabins than about a shipwreck.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week dismissed CNN and other Western media reports that Putin's protection had been intensified because of fears of a coup or assassination. Russian officials have dismissed reports of a coup plot as nonsense.

CNN cited an unidentified European intelligence agency as saying that Putin's former defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, was seen as a potential coup leader.

Security Council Secretary Shoigu, who attended an online meeting of the Security Council chaired by Putin on Friday, was at the parade on Saturday, sitting beside some of Putin's most powerful officials.