Tragedy Strikes DRC Coltan Mine as Over 200 Perish in Collapse
More than 200 people were killed this week in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said. The Rubaya mine, located in North Kivu, produces approximately 15% of the world's coltan, a mineral processed into tantalum and used in mobile phones, according to The Guardian.
The collapse has brought international attention to the DRC mining industry.
In other international news, a five-year-old boy and his father, who were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota, have returned home after being released. Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, announced on Sunday that Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were released from the Dilley detention center in Texas and had traveled back to Minneapolis. Castro said, "Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack." The detainment of the pair had sparked protests outside the detention facility where they were being held, and led to national attention, according to BBC World.
The controversy surrounding ICE also impacted French technology giant Capgemini, which announced it will sell its US subsidiary after its work locating people for the immigration enforcement agency sparked outrage, according to BBC Business. Capgemini had come under pressure from French lawmakers over a contract its subsidiary signed with ICE, amid international scrutiny over the methods used by the agency's agents in Minnesota. The fatal shooting of US citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis had sparked protests across the US and led to increased scrutiny of the agency, BBC Business reported.
Meanwhile, tensions are rising between Israel and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Israel is moving to ban MSF from working in Gaza after the medical charity refused to hand over a list of its staff in the territory, according to BBC World. The Israeli government had ordered 37 organizations to submit documents about their local and international workers in Gaza, claiming some in MSF had links to armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. MSF announced on Friday that it would not share a list of its Palestinian and international staff with Israeli authorities as it had not secured "assurances to ensure the safety of our staff," according to BBC World. In response, Israel said it was "moving to terminate the activities" of MSF in Gaza.
In Switzerland, the death toll from a New Year's Eve bar fire in a Swiss ski resort has risen to 41 after a teenager who was injured in the blaze died in hospital, according to BBC World. The local public prosecutor announced that "an 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31." The fire at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, a venue popular with a younger crowd, had already claimed the lives of 40 people.
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