Much of the international community believes that Rwanda backs the M23 rebels, who claimed to capture the city of Goma in eastern Congo last week. UN experts believe that an estimated 3,000 – 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are supervising and supporting M23 fighters in the east of the DRC, outnumbering the rebel group’s forces in the country.

“I don’t know,” Kagame said, despite the fact that he is commander-in-chief of the Rwandan Defence Force.

“There are many things I don’t know. But if you want to ask me, is there a problem in Congo that concerns Rwanda? And that Rwanda would do anything to protect itself? I’d say 100%,” he continued.

Madowo told Kagame that comparisons have been made between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backed local separatist forces to try and invade Donbas, an eastern region of Ukraine, in 2014.

“There will be so many stories,” Kagame said of the comparison, adding that he can’t “stop people from saying whatever they want to say.”

“I may be called anything – what can I do about it?” he asked. “We have to do what we have to do… we have to make sure we survive any storm that blows across our country.”

Kagame called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), one of the largest foreign armed groups operating in the DRC, an “existential threat” to Rwanda. He alleged that the group was fully integrated into the Congolese armed forces, suggesting that other governments in the region also support the rebel group.

Kagame repeatedly insisted that Rwanda will do “whatever it takes” to protect itself, without giving much information about what this entails.

“Nobody,” including the United Nations or the international community “is going to do it for us,” the leader said.

When asked again if he was sending troops to the DRC, Kigame said that Rwanda will do “anything to protect itself,” telling Madowo to “read whatever you want to read from what I’m telling you.”

Ecuador will apply a 27% tariff on Mexican goods to “ensure fair treatment” of Ecuadorian producers, President Daniel Noboa said on Monday.

In a post on X, Noboa said he is open to signing a free trade deal with Mexico, but “not when there is abuse,” though did not elaborate. The president said that until a free trade deal is struck, a 27% tariff will apply to goods imported from Mexico.

Ecuador imported $541 million worth of goods from Mexico in 2023, Mexican government data shows. The biggest single import was medication, representing 12.6% of the goods sold from Mexico to Ecuador that year.

Still, Ecuador is a miniscule trading partner for Mexico, accounting for less than 0.1% the value of Mexico’s exports last year, according to Mexican government data.

The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump announced a pause on his threat of 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico, after a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Last year, the two countries broke off diplomatic relations following Noboa’s order of a raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador to arrest Jorge Glas, a former Ecuadorean vice president.

Surveillance footage from the incident in April 2024 showed Ecuadorian police grappling with the Mexican mission’s top diplomat as they arrested Glas, who had been seeking asylum from Mexico when the raid took place. The ex-vice president had sought protection from embezzlement charges by requesting asylum in Mexico, saying that the accusations were politically motivated.

Noboa, the son of a banana tycoon, swept into office in late 2023 as the youngest president in Ecuador’s history on the back of a promise to rein in the rampant crime. Since then, he has embarked on an uncompromising agenda, including declaring “war” on more than 20 criminal gangs.

The founder of a pro-Russian militia group in eastern Ukraine, described by authorities in Kyiv as a “criminal mastermind”, has died following a bombing in central Moscow, according to Russian state media.

Armen Sarkisyan died Monday at a Moscow hospital from injuries sustained in an explosion in an upmarket residential complex in the capital city, TASS quoted the medical services as saying. The Russian Investigative Committee later confirmed Sarkisyan’s death, stating that “despite the assistance provided, one of the victims died in a medical facility.”

Sarkisyan, also known by nickname “Armen Gorlovsky” after Horlivka (Gorlovka in Russian) the eastern Ukrainian town he is from, founded the separatist Arbat Battalion fighting in the region. Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence described him as a “well-known criminal mastermind” who became the “supervisor” of prisons across Russia and occupied territories of Ukraine in November 2022.

The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence said the founding of Arbat in 2022 was an attempt to counterbalance the influence of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in the Russian private military company sector. Prigozhin was killed the following year when his plane crashed two months after his attempted mutiny against Russia’s leadership.

The battalion fought in several key battles of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) previously said. Arbat was composed “almost entirely” of former Wagner personnel, the US-based conflict monitor said in October 2023.

Sarkisyan was an ally of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian-leaning leader who was ousted following deadly protests in Ukraine in 2014 and fled to Russia, according to Ukrainian authorities. Sarkisyan was wanted in Ukraine for his alleged role in the violent response to those demonstrations against Yanukovych.

Sarkisyan was leaving the exclusive Aliye Parusa residential complex in northwest Moscow on Monday morning when the explosion happened, a local resident said in a video published by the independent Russian media outlet SOTA.

Asked about the incident during a press briefing on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “The special services are doing their job. It is difficult work. The information is being clarified, and work is ongoing, so it is impossible for us to comment on anything at this time.”

“What has been happening in Jenin city and the refugee camp over the past two weeks is similar to that of Gaza but on a smaller scale,” Mohammad Jarrar said Monday.

Hundreds of residential units make up the 120 destroyed buildings, he said, noting that the destruction had impacted thousands of families.

Jarrar described scenes of devastation amid a shortage of food, water and medication as services have been disrupted because of the operation. He added that displacement is expected to only further increase.

Israel launched its operation two days after the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire began, dubbing it “Operation Iron Wall.”

The Israeli military said the operation was aimed at eliminating “terrorists and terror infrastructure” and “ensuring that terrorism does not return to the camp after the operation is over – the first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza.”

More than 40 Palestinians have been killed across the West Bank by the Israeli military since the operation was launched, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which said that 25 of those people were from Jenin. Dozens more have been injured, the ministry said.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right nationalist who opposes the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, said in a January statement that security in the West Bank had been added to the country’s “war goals.”

Smotrich publicly toyed with quitting the Israeli government when the Gaza ceasefire was announced, but decided to stay in the cabinet after saying he had received assurances from Netanyahu on his commitment to continue Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

The mayor said that schools might be opened to take in displaced people, as was seen in Gaza over the 15-month-long war.

“Today the (Jenin) camp is uninhabitable and would require major reconstruction efforts for it to stand on its feet,” he said, adding that the “crisis is huge,” and that alternative housing for the displaced might be needed for around six months.

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli troops would remain in the Jenin camp once their current operation is complete – a significant change in Israeli policy.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said in a statement Monday that “Jenin camp has been rendered a ghost town.”

“Operations conducted both by Israeli and Palestinian security forces have led to the forced displacement of thousands of camp residents, many of whom will now have nowhere to return to. The basics of life are gone,” it said.

“Today’s shocking scenes in the West Bank undermine the fragile ceasefire reached in Gaza, and risk a new escalation,” the UNRWA statement added.

A former British soldier convicted of spying for Iran after an audacious three-day escape from a London prison was sentenced Monday to more than 14 years behind bars for betraying his country.

Daniel Khalife, 23, was convicted in November of violating the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act for providing restricted and classified material to Iran.

“As a young man you had the makings of an exemplary soldier, however, through the repeated violations of your oath of service, you showed yourself to be instead a dangerous fool,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said.

Jurors in Woolwich Crown Court had rejected his testimony that he was trying to work for the UK as a double agent.

Khalife’s spying case had not received much attention until he broke out of Wandsworth Prison on the underbelly of a food delivery truck. He was on the run for three days before police arrested him on a bicycle by a canal in London.

Khalife pleaded guilty to the escape during his trial, but continued to contest the spying charges.

Khalife’s lawyer, who argued his acts were more like a plot from “Scooby Doo” than a James Bond thriller, said his client had only passed along imprecise information, including “laughably fake” documents that caused no actual damage.

“There’s no way that what Mr. Khalife did is going to wind up being a lesson for budding spies,” attorney Gul Nawaz Hussain said. “His intentions were neither sinister nor cynical.”

But prosecutors said Khalife had in fact played a “cynical game” by claiming he wanted to be a spy after he had delivered a large amount of restricted and classified material to the Iranian intelligence service, including the names of special forces officers.

Khalife testified that he had been in touch with people in the Iranian government but that it was all part of a ploy to ultimately work as a double agent for Britain, a scheme he developed from watching the TV show “Homeland.”

Authorities said he presented a true risk to national security because of the threat that Iran poses. Police noted that the UK has disrupted 20 plots by Iran, including assassination plans.

British security services were not aware of Khalife’s contacts with the Iranians until he contacted MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service, to offer to work as a double agent.

He reached out to MI6 anonymously, saying he had earned the trust of his Iranian handlers and that they had rewarded him by leaving $2,000 cash (£1,578) in a dog poo bag in a north London park.

Khalife joined the army at 16 and was assigned to the Royal Corps of Signals, a communications unit that is deployed with battlefield troops, as well as special forces and intelligence squads.

He was told he could not join the intelligence service because his mother is from Iran.

At 17, he reached out to a man connected with Iranian intelligence and began passing along information, prosecutors said. He was given NATO secret security clearance when he took part in a joint exercise at Fort Cavazos in Texas in early 2021.

The judge noted that his security breaches while on US soil could have caused diplomatic damage.

Khalife’s escape from the Victorian-era prison drew attention to larger failures in the nation’s aging and overcrowded correctional system. An inquiry is currently underway into how Khalife was able to escape and whether others helped.

Two men have been arrested on charges of helping him after he escaped.

As Germany enters the final few weeks of its election campaign, the man poised to be the next chancellor has doubled down on tightening the country’s immigration policy — shifting the nation to the right.

Merz and the Union party, comprised of the CDU and their Bavarian sister party the CSU, lead the polls with 30% of the vote.

Last week, Merz, a former investment banker at BlackRock with a pilot’s license, also made migration the focus of his campaign. The German lawmaker brought forward two pieces of legislation severely curbing migration. While the non-binding bill passed by a small majority, the binding “Influx Limitation Act” failed. Ahead of that Friday vote Merz told fellow parliamentarians, “the door to hell, we can still close together”.

Notably, among those who voted against the bill, were members of Merz’s own party.

Germany has seen a spate of recent attacks perpetrated by migrants that has catapulted the issue to the center of the election campaign.

In January an attack in Aschaffenburg left two people dead, including a two-year old boy. The attacker was an Afghan migrant. Just before Christmas six people were killed in Magdeburg after a Saudi-origin migrant drove a car through a Christmas market.

Merz dismissed his party’s role in the bill’s failure. Instead, he looked to deflect the blame on to the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), headed by current chancellor Olaf Scholz.

But that does not tell the whole story of a tumultuous week for Merz.

There is an unwritten agreement between Germany’s largest parties that they would never seek the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to pass laws or legislation – it’s known as the firewall. Working with the far-right is a taboo in German politics.

Last week Merz made it clear that he did not mind if the AfD voted for his proposals on curbing migration. The far-right party voted on both pieces of legislation Merz proposed, helping push the non-binding bill over the line, a risky gambit that prompted hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets.

On the issue of Elon Musk, who has become a feature of this election cycle, Merz said “I don’t appreciate what he is doing, but he is doing something which he is free to do”. Musk has been controversially inserting himself into the German election campaign in favor of the AfD.

“European level” response to Trump

Taking note of US President Donald Trump’s economic measures against some of the US’s closest allies, Merz was clear that any tariffs placed on the European Union would be handled at “the European level”.

The United States is the European Union second largest trading partner, according to US trade data. On Sunday President Trump called the European Union an “atrocity” that would also be facing tariffs, saying the bloc was “taking advantage” of the United States.

On the issue of ending the war, something which President Trump vowed to do within 24 hours after he assumed office, Merz said it would be best to cooperate with the US.

He was eager however, to hear the plans from the horse’s mouth: “we do not yet know what they are really planning to do. I would like to see what they are planning to do”.

Crucially for Merz, he may not have to wait much longer.

A female swimmer has died in a shark attack in the waters off a popular tourist spot on Australia’s east coast, authorities said.

Emergency crews were called to the Woorim Beach at Bribie Island, about 80 kms (50 miles) north of Brisbane around 5 p.m. local time on Monday following reports of a serious shark bite incident, Queensland state police said on Monday.

“The female was swimming when she was bitten by a shark … the female sustained life-threatening injuries and succumbed to those injuries,” a police spokesperson said in an email.

Police did not disclose the age of the victim though Australian media widely reported the victim was a 17-year-old girl.

Christopher Potter, a resident, said the beach is frequently used by swimming groups through the day.

“It’s known there are a lot of sharks around Bribie, but this close to shore, it’s still a shock,” he told Australian public broadcaster ABC News.

Kensington Place released a photo of a smiling Princess of Wales in honor of World Cancer Day on Monday.

According to the palace’s post on X, the photo was taken by her six-year old son Prince Louis. It shows Catherine with arms outstretched atop a log in a forest.

“Don’t forget to nurture all that lies beyond the disease,” reads the short caption, signed “C.”

Catherine last month revealed that she is in remission from cancer.

“As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal,” she said in a post on X in January.

“I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.”

Catherine, who is also known as Kate, stepped back from her public duties last year to undergo treatment for an unspecified cancer. In September, she announced that she had completed her chemotherapy, and said she was “doing what I can to stay cancer free.”

A rebel group that claimed to have captured the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after fighting with the Congolese military has left hundreds of people dead.

In a statement on Monday, the rebel coalition, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) – which includes the M23 armed group – said it had declared the truce, starting Tuesday, “in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Kinshasa regime,” referring to DR Congo’s government.

The DRC and much of the international community have accused neighboring Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels.

It is unclear if the Congolese army will agree to the ceasefire. Previous interventions, including truce agreements, failed to cease hostilities.

“Have you seen the Rwandans do what they say? It (the ceasefire announcement by the rebels) is a communication for international consumption and to put the international community to sleep on its feet,” he said.

United Nations experts also estimate that up to 3,000-4,000 Rwandan soldiers are supervising and supporting M23 fighters in the east of the DRC, outnumbering the rebel group’s forces in the country.

Last week, DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against M23, describing the group as Rwanda’s “puppet.”

Fighting erupted last week as the rebels advanced into Goma, the capital of DRC’s North Kivu province.

More than a dozen foreign peacekeepers, as well as the military governor of North Kivu, were killed trying to fend off the rebels, and thousands of locals were displaced.

According to the UN’s latest figures, at least 900 bodies have been recovered from the streets of Goma, and around 2,880 injuries have been recorded since the end of January. A report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said many healthcare facilities are overcrowded and in urgent need of medicine and equipment.

The rebel alliance emphasized it has “no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas,” referring to the capital city of the neighboring South Kivu province, where many displaced people from Goma had fled.

“However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions,” it said.

Rebel leader Corneille Nangaa also told Rwandan media last week that his group’s objective was “to go to Kinshasa.”

“We are going to fight until we get to Kinshasa. We have come to Goma to stay; we are not going to withdraw. We are going to move forward from Goma to Bukavu … up to Kinshasa,” he said.