The UN human rights chief accused Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a second major city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of killing children and attacking hospitals and warehouses storing humanitarian aid.

Volker Türk said in a statement Tuesday that his office “confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week. We are also aware that children were in possession of weapons.”

He provided no details or did not refer to specific events, but UN agencies have previously accused both Congolese government forces and the rebels of recruiting children. The United Nations Human Rights Council earlier this month launched a commission that will investigate atrocities, including rapes and killings akin to “summary executions” committed by both sides since the beginning of the year.

The M23 rebels on Sunday captured Bukavu, a city of 1.3 million people, after seizing Goma, 101 kilometers (63 miles) to the north last month. At least 3,000 were reported killed and thousands displaced in the Goma fighting.

The M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern DRC’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that’s critical for much of the world’s technology. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts.

Rwanda accuses DRC of enlisting Hutu fighters responsible for the 1994 genocide of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. M23 says it’s fighting to protect Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination and wants to transform DRC from a failed into a modern state — though critics say it’s a pretext for Rwanda’s involvement.

Unlike in 2012, when the M23 briefly seized Goma and withdrew after international pressure, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.

The decades-long fighting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

A Ugandan military official said Tuesday that Ugandan troops had entered the eastern Congolese city of Bunia to assist the Congolese army in quelling deadly violence by armed ethnic groups.

The United States and Russia will appoint high-level teams to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine and are working to reestablish diplomatic channels, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the end of key talks that excluded Kyiv.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Rubio said “concessions” will have to be made by “all sides” in order for the conflict to end.

Even the fact that the talks were held at all was a major victory for Russia. The meeting marked the first time top-level US and Russian officials had met face to face since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and they marked a complete reversal of policy from that of the Biden administration.

The US delegation, which included Rubio as well as the US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, suggested that this would be the first in a series of engagements to bring the war to an end.

Asked if the US would be willing to accept Russia retaining any of the territory it had annexed from Ukraine since February 2022, Waltz said it was something ”to be discussed.”

“We know just the practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory and there’s going to be discussion of security guarantees. Those are just fundamental basics that will undergird and underlie any type of discussion,” Waltz said.

Russia has previously demanded that Ukraine must cede control of large swaths of its territory and give up its ambition to join NATO – conditions Kyiv previously rejected. But with no seat at the table in Riyadh, Ukraine was left to watch from afar as the US and Russia appeared to set out their initial positions.

The announcement that Washington and Moscow would begin in-person talks, just days after US President Donald Trump held a 90-minute phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, sparked panic in Ukraine and amid Kyiv’s Western allies.

European leaders even held an emergency summit on Monday, reiterating that no peace talks can happen without Ukraine and its European allies having a seat at the table.

Waltz pushed back on the idea that Europe and Ukraine had been sidelined, while Rubio appeared at pains to stress that any agreement will include Ukraine. And while the US delegation did suggest Ukraine might have to give up territory, Rubio said that in order for the war to end “everyone involved in that conflict has to be okay with it.”

Speaking after the talks, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would not “give in to Russia’s ultimatums.”

“Russia attacked Ukraine and we had no choice but to take up arms and defend ourselves. And there was no diplomacy because Russia attacked, attacked Ukraine at night and Ukrainians took up arms and started to defend their country,” Zelensky said at a news conference in Turkey’s capital Ankara.

Zelensky added that he was postponing his planned visit to Saudi Arabia in light of the talks that took place there on Tuesday.

Talks mark end to Russia’s isolation

Russia has been excluded from global diplomacy since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Tuesday’s meeting in Riyadh – which went ahead despite Russia launching an extensive drone attack on Ukraine just hours ahead of their start – appeared to mark an end of this isolation.

Russia’s Lavrov called the meeting “very useful.”

“We not only listened, but also heard each other,” Lavrov said Tuesday.

The two sides have agreed to reestablish diplomatic communication, with Rubio going as far as saying that “extraordinary opportunities” could be available for both the US and Russia if the war in Ukraine ends.

Rubio said the US could “partner with the Russians geopolitically on issues of common interest and, frankly, economically.”

Witkoff, meanwhile, described the meeting as “positive, upbeat, constructive.”

“We couldn’t have imagined a better result after this session, it was very, very solid,” Witkoff said.

Russia demands territory, Zelensky’s ouster

Neither the US nor the Russian officials gave any indication whether they discussed in detail what, if any, concessions Russia and Ukraine might be willing to make to bring the conflict to an end.

But the Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya outlined Moscow’s key demands ahead of the talks. Many of them will likely be seen in Kyiv as unacceptable.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, Nebenzya said that Russia wants Ukraine to cede control of the entirety of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, saying these places and Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula Russia illegally annexed in 2014, were “irrevocably lost.”

He incorrectly claimed that the regions had “joined the Russian Federation,” referring to referenda that were held by Russian-installed authorities across the occupied areas, widely denounced as shams by Ukraine and its Western allies.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor, Russia currently occupies about 99% of the Luhansk region, 70% of the Donetsk region, and roughly 75% of both the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Nebenzya said that the peace negotiations should “correct” this situation, insisting that Ukraine give up control of the parts of the four regions not under Russian occupation.

Nebenzya also made it clear that Russia wants to force Zelensky out of office. The Russian ambassador called Zelensky “the self-proclaimed Ukrainian president” and referred to his government as “the Zelensky cabal,” saying that neither had “a role to play in the new Ukraine.”

Zelensky won the second round of Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election in a landslide. His mandate should have ended last May, but he remains in office because Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion and martial law prohibits holding elections.

Nebenzya also said that Ukraine should be a “demilitarized, neutral state, not a part of any blocs or alliances.” Ukraine has long insisted on joining NATO in the future and the defense alliance has said the door is open to any country that wishes to join, as long as it fulfills the admission criteria.

Speaking on Tuesday, Lavrov said that Russia would not accept troops from NATO countries acting as peacekeepers in Ukraine.

And while Rubio suggested on Tuesday that Ukraine’s European partners “would have to be at the table at some point,” Nebenzya said the European Union and the United Kingdom cannot act as mediators or be part of any agreement on Ukraine. He said the EU and UK are “incapable” of reaching any agreement with Russia because they are blinded by “primitive Russophobia.”

A shark attacked and injured a Canadian tourist as she tried to take its picture in the Turks and Caicos Islands earlier this month, according to local authorities.

The attack occurred the morning of February 7 at a beach on Providenciales, one of the territory’s eastern islands, per a statement from the Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force.

“The 55-year-old victim was brought ashore and rushed to the Cheshire Hall Medical Center for treatment,” the police statement said, adding that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

In a press statement posted on social media, the Caribbean territory’s environmental department said that the tourist “had attempted to engage with the animal from the shallows in an attempt to take photographs.”

“The shark was estimated to be approximately 6ft in length, however the species is yet to be confirmed,” it continued.

Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian government body that manages diplomatic relations, said it was aware of “a Canadian citizen who experienced an accident in Turks and Caicos.”

“Consular officials have contacted local authorities to gather information and stand-ready to provide consular assistance,” Global Affairs continued.

Global Affairs declined to offer further information out of privacy concerns.

Though popular movies like “Jaws” have given sharks a reputation for hostility and aggression, attacks on humans are extremely rare, especially in Turks and Caicos. Per the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File, which tracks such incidents, there were only 3 recorded shark attacks in Turks and Caicos between 1749 and 2024. The Bahamas, meanwhile, recorded 33 in that period.

One of those rare attacks occurred just two years ago in 2023, when a shark bit a snorkeling American woman. She lost her leg in that attack, which the Florida Museum included in their 2023 annual report.

Dr. Gavin Naylor, who manages to the Shark Attack File, said that the most recent attack would be added to the total next February, when the database releases its yearly roundup.

There are about 30 different kinds of shark in that part of the Caribbean, according to Naylor.

A week of spectacular lava sprays on Sicily’s snow-capped Mount Etna, one of the world’s most active volcanos, has drawn thousands of people wanting to see the eruption.

But the sudden influx of sightseers has become a safety risk, according to Salvo Cocina, head of Sicily’s regional Civil Protection agency.

On Monday eight people who were attempting to hike up the mountain without a guide were lost for several hours before rescuers located them, Cocina said. On Sunday, a 48-year-old man fractured his foot after falling on ice, he said.

He added the constant presence of rescue workers, including 4×4 ambulances and other off-road vehicles, is important for those who work on the volcano and for the guides who are authorized to take people up the mountain.

“Blocking them has created a dangerous situation for everyone,” he said.

The current eruptive phase started February 11, according to the country’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. Videos and photos of the bright orange lava flowing down the mountainside went viral after a group of hikers posted them on social media.

Catania’s airport also diverted flights away from the ash clouds both Sunday and Monday, according to the airport’s X account, but has now resumed all services. The airport closes several times a year due to the active volcano.

As well as being the most active volcano in the world, Mount Etna is also Europe’s highest volcano, at about 3,350 meters (almost 11,000 feet) tall.

In 2023, a cloud of volcanic ash spewing from the volcano prompted the closure of one of Sicily’s largest airports, leading to flights being delayed, canceled and diverted.

In a move that brings the fate of the Gaza ceasefire even closer under his personal control, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is appointing a close political ally to lead talks over phase two of the current ceasefire in Gaza, replacing Israel’s previous chief negotiator.

Dermer replaces David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, who led talks in January that resulted in the current deal. The Israeli government has not confirmed whether Barnea will stay on as part of the Israeli negotiating team.

Talks on phase two of a ceasefire, which would see the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of all living hostages, were supposed to have begun more than two weeks ago. Even as Netanyahu says that the talks will now begin, it is unclear how committed the prime minister is to seeing them succeed. His finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has promised to withdraw from the government coalition if Israel does not return to war in Gaza when the current ceasefire expires on March 1.

The reshuffle in Israel’s negotiating approach comes as Hamas said that it would release the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest Israelis held by the group, Kfir and Ariel Bibas. The militant group is expected to release six living hostages on Saturday, and a further four bodies next week – all in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Removing Barnea sidelines Israel’s security establishment, with whom Netanyahu has frequently clashed.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that phase two could be delayed if they believe there is “a constructive dialogue with a possible horizon of getting to an agreement.” He also said that if Israel believes that “negotiations are not leading anywhere,” the military would resume the war in Gaza.

Hamas negotiators in Cairo have appeared to accelerate delivery of their side of the 42-day phase one agreement, laying out a timeline for the return of the last remaining 14 hostages of the 33 agreed to be released in phase one – all to be completed by next week.

It was a shift by the terror group, which only last week threatened to derail talks completely, saying they would no longer hand over hostages and alleging Israel had failed to meet terms of the agreement, including by allowing prefabricated housing and heavy machinery to enter Gaza.

Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday said that it had “approved bringing only a small amount of caravans and heavy equipment into Gaza,” saying that it would “not in any way change the feasibility of implementing the Trump plan for voluntary immigration and creating another Gaza – to which Prime Minister Netanyahu is fully committed.”

US President Donald Trump has proposed that the United States “own” Gaza, and that 2.1 million Palestinians living there move to “beautiful sites” in Middle Eastern countries. The proposal has been welcomed by Netanyahu, but derided by Palestinian and Arab leaders alike, who characterize it as ethnic cleansing.

It is unclear what changed Hamas’s calculus to recommit to the hostages’ release in the coming days. US President Donald Trump had threatened that “all hell is going to break out” for Hamas unless they release all hostages by this past Saturday – a deadline that came and went without incident.

Trump’s envoy Witkoff outlined the challenges facing Netanyahu. “It just is a little bit more intricate and complicated in terms of how we bring the two sides together on this, because phase two contemplates an end of the war, but it also contemplates Hamas not being involved in the government and being gone from Gaza. So we’ve got to we’ve got to square those two things,” he told Fox News on Sunday.

Argentine President Javier Milei has defended himself for promoting a cryptocurrency whose value collapsed within hours of its launch, likening those who invested in the token after his endorsement to gamblers at casinos.

“The reality is if you go to the casino and lose money, I mean, what is the claim if you knew that it had those characteristics?” he said during an interview with the TN news channel that aired on Monday night.

Milei said he promoted the little-known crypto coin $LIBRA in a tweet on X last week because he believed it would encourage economic growth by funding small businesses.

“I am spreading the word that this is to fund Argentines who do projects and who do not have access to financing,” he told TN.

The price of the coin soared after the president’s endorsement then quickly collapsed, leading to losses for thousands of investors.

Milei deleted his tweet hours after posting it, saying he had doubts about the matter.

Critics have called for Milei’s impeachment and filed multiple criminal complaints against the president, including at least one to the US Department of Justice, alleging an illicit association to commit “an indeterminate number of frauds.”

One complaint against the president, the developers of the cryptocurrency and other named individuals was filed by the Popular Unity political party and others. It alleged that “The biggest MEGA scam in history in this sector was carried out through an operation known as ‘Rugpull’ which occurs when the developers behind a project launch a token and attract investors to increase its value, then abruptly withdraw and take the money.”

The plaintiffs said Monday that a judge has been appointed to look into the complaint.

On Saturday, the firm behind the launch, Kelsier, rejected claims that the project’s backers were scammers.

Asked if he thought he had made a mistake, Milei told TN, “No, because I also acted in good faith.”

Milei insisted that anyone who invested in the coin did so voluntarily, despite his tweet.

“I did not promote it. What I did was I spread it,” he said, adding that he did not benefit from the crypto coin.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been charged in connection with an alleged coup plot to overturn the results of the 2022 election and keep his opponent from taking power, according to documents filed by prosecutors Tuesday evening.

Bolsonaro was among 34 people facing charges including those of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, and damage qualified by violence.

Prosecutors allege that the plot began in 2021, with an effort to undermine public trust in electronic voting machines.

In 2022, Bolsonaro allegedly met with ambassadors and diplomatic representatives to discuss the accusations of voting fraud “in an attempt to prepare the international community for disrespecting the popular will in the presidential elections,” a statement from the Attorney General’s Office read.

Despite finding no evidence of election fraud, the defendants allegedly continued their campaign to discredit the electoral system, prosecutors said.

They also allege that Bolsonaro approved a plan to carry out the coup, which they say included the death of the elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his vice president.

Prosecutors said the last attempt to overturn the election happened on January 8, 2023, when defendants allegedly encouraged groups of Bolsonaro supporters to mobilize in Brasília, where they stormed and vandalized the three seats of government.

In November, Bolsonaro and 36 others were indicted as part of an investigation into the alleged coup plot.

The charges, brought before the Supreme Court in Brasília, could set the stage for a high-profile trial. If the charges are formally accepted by the Supreme Court, those charged will formally become defendants.

To prevent the case from influencing Brazil’s 2026 presidential elections, Supreme Court justices are pushing to conclude the trial before the end of 2025, but it is unlikely the court will announce its decision on whether to take on the case or schedule preliminary hearings before early March.

In the 844-page November indictment, federal police accused Bolsonaro of having “full knowledge” of the alleged coup plan to prevent Lula from taking office, adding that the former president “planned, acted in, and led directly and effectively” the plan.

Bolsonaro denies involvement, telling the Brazilian magazine Veja he “never agreed to any plan.”

In 2023, Bolsonaro was banned from public office for eight years after a separate investigation into alleged abuse of power found him guilty of spreading misinformation about the integrity of the Brazilian election apparatus to foreign governments.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

More than 150 whales are stranded off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, according to local authorities.

The state’s Marine Conservation Program said Tuesday a total of 157 animals had become stranded near the town of Arthur River on the west coast of the island and that initial observations showed at least 90 of them were still alive.

“We are currently assessing the situation to plan an appropriate response,” the agency said.

The animals appear to be false killer whales, according to Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Marine Conservation Program said it was working with Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service in response to the “mass whale stranding” and urged the public not to approach the animals.

“Stranding response in this remote area is complex. If it is determined there is a need for help from the general public, a request will be made through various avenues,” it said.

The government agency said all whales are protected species even when deceased and reminded the public that interfering with a carcass is an offense.

Animal behaviorists and marine scientists say that survival rates for beached whales is low, and the animals “can only survive for around six hours on land before they start to deteriorate.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A Chinese military helicopter flew within 10 feet (3 meters) of a Philippine patrol plane over the South China Sea on Tuesday, in what observers said was the second incident of potentially catastrophic behavior by the People’s Liberation Army against foreign aircraft in a week.

Tuesday’s incident was witnessed by an Associated Press reporter aboard the single-engine Cessna Caravan plane operated by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources as it patrolled near Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rock about 140 miles (222 kilometers) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon.

Scarborough Shoal, which sits amid rich fishing grounds, has been effectively controlled by China since 2012 despite its location inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

The AP report said during the approximately 30-minute encounter, the pilot of the Philippine plane warned the Chinese helicopter, “You are flying too close, you are very dangerous and endangering the lives of our crew and passengers.”

The ambassador of the United States, a defense treaty ally of Manila, condemned the “dangerous” maneuvers of the Chinese helicopter.

In a post on X, Ambassador MaryKay Carlson also called on China “to refrain from coercive actions and settle its differences peacefully in accordance with international law.”

A statement from the PLA’s Southern Theater Command said the Chinese helicopter “expelled” the Philippine plane from “China’s territorial airspace,” while saying Manila “has seriously violated China’s sovereignty.”

Tuesday’s incident followed another last week over the South China Sea between an Australian military P-8 reconnaissance jet and PLA fighter planes, during which Australia said the Chinese jets fired flares within 100 feet (30 meters) of its aircraft.

If ingested into the P-8’s jet engines, the flares could have caused catastrophic damage, analysts said.

“They could have hit our P-8 and had that occurred it would have done significant damage to our aircraft and that obviously puts in danger the lives of our personnel,” Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Friday.

Like the latter incident with the Philippines, the Chinese military said it expelled a foreign aircraft that was intruding into Chinese airspace, in this case over the Xisha Islands, also called the Paracel Islands.

Beijing claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3-million-square-mile South China Sea, and most of the islands and sandbars within it, including many features that are hundreds of miles from mainland China. As well as the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan also hold competing claims.

Potentially dangerous incidents between Chinese and foreign aircraft over the South China Sea are nothing new, with several reported over the past several years between not only Australian and Philippine craft but also those of the US and Canada, who all say they operate in international airspace.

But the two latest incidents in less than a week are raising fears Beijing may be becoming more assertive in enforcing its disputed claims while the attention of the US – a defense treaty ally of the Philippines, Australia and Canada – is focused on the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East.

“China sees that the Trump administration is focused on other theaters and calculates that this is the time to turn the ratchet up in East Asia while America is distracted elsewhere,” said Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.

“Beijing is following a familiar pattern of gradual escalation,” Powell said.

“Its goal is to normalize its aggressions at ever-greater levels, so that over time they become accepted and discounted as the normal cost of doing business in contested areas.”

Adm. Samuel Paparo, the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, told a forum in Hawaii last week that China is using similar “gray zone” tactics around the democratic island of Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing, and which Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to bring under the Communist Party’s control.

Numerous Chinese military aircraft and maritime vessels operate around Taiwan daily.

“Their aggressive maneuver around Taiwan right now are not exercises, as they call them. They are rehearsals. They are rehearsals for the forced unification of Taiwan to the mainland,” Paparo told the Honolulu Defense Forum last week.