3 congolese people dead in clashes between FARDC and a group of MAIMAI in bunyuka

Three  people died in clashes between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and a group of Mai-Mai militiamen, in the Bunyuka group, in the Bashu chiefdom, in Beni-Territory ( North Kivu) this Thursday, August 13, 2020. The information is reported  by the New Congolese Civil Society (NSCC), territorial coordination of Beni. She explains that the people who died in the fighting included 2 Mai-Mai militiamen and a Congolese soldier. “It was early in the morning around 6 am that the clashes between FARDC and militiamen broke out. It was since yesterday that we had alerted the authorities to the circulation of this rebel movement and, early in the morning, the army met them on their way. On the attacking side, there were 2 deaths and war materials were recovered. On their passage, we also found traces of blood. And on the FARDC side, there was one death, ”said Moïse Kiputulu, coordinator of the said citizen structure. He also adds that these clashes created a psychosis in the head of some inhabitants who, for the most part, moved to other entities of the Bashu chiefdom before returning there on the evening of Thursday. Eastern and northeastern DRC still face rebel activism. Not long ago, the 3 governors of the east pleaded with the National Assembly in Kinshasa for the acceleration of the disarmament process of armed groups still active in the two Kivus as well as in Ituri. 

4 Congolese civilians killed in an alleged ADF ambush

4 civilians living in Oicha were killed in an ambush by the suspected ADF rebels, this Thursday, August 13, 2020, in Makele-Kithevya, an agglomeration located more or less 10 km from Oicha, capital of the territory of Beni, in the province of North Kivu. According to Nicolas Kikuku, bourgmestre of the commune of Oicha, who confirmed the nrws., the inhabitants who went to this region for community work (Salongo), this Thursday fell into the hands of the attackers. The information is confirmed by local civil society. For his part, Philippe Bonane speaks of the ambush which targeted civilians in order to discourage them from returning to their homes. The bodies of the victims, he continues, were deposited in the morgue of the Oicha referral hospital. It affirms so that a lively tension is observed in the major part of Oicha.

Rwanda and DRC have strengthened a joint management of the national parks in the Virunga mountains

Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda want to further strengthen their existing cooperation in the tourism sector. This strengthening involves joint management of the Virunga massifs that they share. This is the gist of the exchange on Wednesday August 12, 2020 between the Rwandan ambassador in the DRC, Vincent Karega and the Congolese Minister of Tourism, Yves Bunkulu Zola in Kinshasa.
For the Rwandan diplomat, this management will protect mountain gorillas, an endemic species currently on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“These cooperation talks will strengthen the existing cooperation and take it further in the field of tourism. The joint management of the heritage of the Virunga massifs which are home to mountain gorillas, rare animals that exist only there all over the world, ”said the Rwandan ambassador stationed in the DRC.
The strengthening of cooperation between the two countries will facilitate investments in the tourism sector in particular.
“When you are a tourist in Rwanda or Congo, you can have the ease of crossing over the border. Also when you are an investor in the tourism sector in one of the countries, have the possibility to go and invest in the other. It is in order to achieve a network more supplied with tourist products that the countries work together in the protection of flora and fauna, ”added Vincent Karega.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, security in protected areas, particularly Virunga Park, remains a major challenge following the activism of armed groups. Some Congolese gorillas had even fled insecurity to live in Rwanda. These animals have no boundary limits in the Virunga massifs. Traveling to countries in the region does not change their belonging to the country of origin.
The Virunga massifs are shared between the DRC (Virunga Park), Rwanda (Volkano national park) and Uganda (Bwindi national park).

Gorvenors of north kivu and ituri nzanzu kasivita and jean bamanisa wants the DRC gorvenment to put much efforts in control of COVID19 and other diseases

The Technical Secretary of the Multisectoral Unit for the Response to Covid-19 (CMR / Covid-19), Prof. Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, received this Wednesday August 12 in Kinshasa, Carly Nzanzu Kasivita and Jean Bamanisa Saidi, respectively governors of North Kivu and Ituri on a work mission in the capital. These two politico-administrative authorities presented to Dr Muyembe their wishes to have, among other things, laboratories in the provinces, not only for COVID-19 but also for other viral diseases.
“The teacher went through Bunia, not long ago, we must also say that in Ituri we did not have cases for a very long time and we had contamination which was made, and we are at more than 74 cases, there are a few hundred contact persons. And since the borders will be open soon, and trafficking will resume, we want to have INRB support within the province to detect in time and stop the disease in time. We would also like to have a laboratory in Bunia, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, as is done in Goma. Laboratories are needed to deal with the multiple diseases that are rife in the world, including Ebola, HIV, Covid-19, as well as so many other diseases of viral origin, "asked Governor Jean Bamanisa.
On August 5, Dr Jean Jacques Muyembe, CEO of the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), launched in Goma, the laboratory responsible for monitoring the diagnosis of Covid-19, Ebola and other diseases.
For her part, Carly Nzanzu Kasivita sees this visit to the INRB as an opportunity to obtain support to defeat the coronavirus, particularly in North Kivu where there are 498 confirmed cases.
“Back home in North Kivu province, we have 498 confirmed cases, and we need the doctor’s support as coordinator of the response. We came to visit the laboratory, to present some of the difficulties that we have in terms of supplying our munis laboratories, which we have in the provinces. We exchanged views on control strategies, as you know, this disease is new, we are adapting every day to strategies that can prevent us from having an outbreak, but what is known, all of us as authorities politico-administrative, we are engaged in awareness raising so that we can wrest community engagement, we would like everyone to be aware of the dangerousness of the disease, ”said the governor of North Kivu.

North kivu records the highest number of new Covid19 cases again

As of confirmed tests on wednesday,51 new confirmed cases (26 in North Kivu, 13 in Kinshasa, 7 in Ituri, 3 at Kongo Central, 1 in Upper Ulle and 1 in North Ubangi) out of 413 tested samples, 59 new people cured (42 in Kinshasa and 17 in the other provinces), 9 deaths.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, the cumulation of cases has been 9.589, including 9.588 confirmed cases and 1 probable cases:
• Kinshasa: 7.793 cases
• North Kivu: 498 cases
• Kongo-Central: 427 cases
• Haut-Katanga: 314 cases
• South Kivu: 295 cases
• Lualaba: 88 cases
• Ituri: 80 cases
• High Ulle: 40 cases
• Tshopo: 26 cases
• North Ubangi: 7 cases
• Kwilu: 6 cases
• Ecuador: 5 cases
• South Ubangi: 5 cases
• Haut-Lomami: 1 cases
• Kasai: 1 cases
• Kasai-Central: 1 cases
• Kwango: 1 cases

The US could soon have a fieldable hypersonic weapon if tests on the B-52’s ability to carry the ARRW continue to be successful

What could be the final test for the US Air Force’s B-52 Stratofortress bomber to field the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) was carried out in California on Saturday. The next step will be to test-fire the hypersonic missile from the huge bomber, which could come later this year.
The US could soon have a fieldable hypersonic weapon if tests on the B-52’s ability to carry the ARRW continue to be successful. An August 8 test flight off the coast of California “verified system integration with the B-52 launch platform and telemetry while practicing concepts of operations that will be utilized during its first Booster Test Flight later this year,” the Air Force said in a news release .
During the test, the AGM-183A IMV-2 (Instrumented Measurement Vehicle) slung underneath the B-52’s huge wings successfully transmitted telemetry and GPS data back to ground stations at Point Mugu Sea Range, a vast testing range that extends off the coast of California near Los Angeles.
“This is a major milestone for the program, the team and our Air Force,” Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, Air Force program executive officer for weapons, said in the release. “ARRW is the first step in bringing game-changing hypersonic capabilities to our Warfighters.”
The first ARRW captive-carry test happened in June 2019, and if the ARRW’s test firings are successful, the missile could be declared operational in late 2022..
The Air Force chose to continue development of Lockheed Martin’s ARRW over its competitor design, the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW) by the same firm, back in February. The missile is reportedly capable of reaching speeds of Mach 20 , or roughly 15,300 miles per hour - too fast for the vast majority of air defense systems to detect and intercept.
The US lags behind the international hypersonic arms race , as both Russia and China have already developed and fielded hypersonic weapons in recent years
looked to its huge size as an asset by seeking to turn the B-52 into a “missile truck” capable of hauling dozens of cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles, both conventionally armed and nuclear-tipped, up into the skies. A similar future is envisioned for the Air Force’s B-1B Lancer fleet.
However, not all these tests have gone successfully: another test back in June of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) being developed by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) saw the hypersonic weapon fall off the B-52 in mid-flight . That test, like this one, was flown out of Edwards Air Force Base.

USA deploys B-2 stealth bombers in indian ocean

The deployment of the bombers comes as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is scheduled to hold naval manoeuvres in the waters off the Zhoushan Islands on 16-17 August, according to the country's Maritime Safety Administration.
US B-2 stealth bombers have arrived at the Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia located in the Indian Ocean after a 29-hour flight "to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific", Pacific Air Forces announced on Wednesday in a press release.
The B-2s were dispatched from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri earlier this week to support Pacific Air Forces’ Bomber Task Force missions, the press release adds.
"We are excited to return to this important location. [Diego Garcia] puts the 'INDO' in INDOPACOM", the Pacific Air Forces quoted Lt. Col. Christopher Conant, BTF commander, as saying, "This Bomber Task Force is our National Defence Strategy in action. We are sharpening our lethality while strengthening relationships with key allies, partners, and our sister-service teammates. Despite a global pandemic, the Airmen of Whiteman Air Force Base and Air Force Global Strike Command stand ready to support INDOPACOM and the Department of Defence in achieving our nation’s strategic objectives".
The move comes as China intends to hold two military drills near Zhoushan, an archipelago some 550km north of Taiwan, according to China's Maritime Safety Administration.
The United States and China have been engaged in a spat over a wide range of issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong's new security law, and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Tensions were further heightened after US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar paid a visit to Taiwan, marking the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official to the territory since 1979, when Washington switched its official recognition to Beijing and established formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.