High-Voltage Power Cable Snaps in Congo’s Capital, Killing 26

^{PHOTO: PEOPLE TRANSPORTING VICTIMS' BODIES INTO AMBULANCE PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND VICTIMS' BODIES}

INTERNATIONAL: Twenty-six people have died after a high-tension power cable snapped and fell on houses and a market on the outskirts of the capital Kinshasa on Wednesday ,February 2, local authorities have confirmed.

The victims included 24 women and two men, and another two people were seriously injured. A statement from the national electricity company has said the line fell during heavy rain on Wednesday morning. The company has offered its condolences to the families.

Women and men lost their lives by electrocution this morning in a terrible accident at the Matadi-Kibala market following the severing of a phase conductor caused by bad weather.

The government had already taken steps to relocate the market following a January 7 cabinet meeting, where President Felix Tshisekedi has said its location was snarling traffic along the road between Kinshasa and the port city of Matadi.

Russian TU-95 Nuclear Capable Bombers Fly Over Atlantic Northeast

^{PHOTO: RUSSIAN STRATEGIC BOMBERS IN AIR ABOVE NEUTRAL WATERS IN NORTH-EAST ATLANTIC}

Russian nuclear-capable aircraft has performed drills over the Atlantic neutral waters on Thursday, February 3. In a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defence, the military aircraft has performed air refueling and conducted training for enemy submarine search.

Moscow's military moves are being closely watched by the West as the build-up of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border has sparked fears of an invasion. Russia has also moved around 30,000 of troops and military hardware to Belarus, which also borders Ukraine, for the February 10-20 joint drills, saying it will withdraw them afterwards.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in Belarus on Thursday to inspect Russian and Belarusian troops' preparations for joint drills this month and will also meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Moscow has denied it plans to attack Ukraine, while also demanding guarantees from the United States and NATO that Kyiv would not be allowed to join the military alliance.

US Confirms ISIS leader Quraishi Kills Himself During Syria Raid

^{PHOTO: EMERGENCY CREW SIFTING THROUGH DEBRIS ON ROOF OF BUILDING WHERE ISLAMIC STATE LEADER, ABU IBRAHIM AL-HASHEMI AL-QURAISHI, WAS KILLED DURING U.S. RAID / INTERIORS SHOWING DAMAGE INSIDE BUILDING} 

Emergency workers on Thursday,February 3, were sifting through the rubble of a building where the U.S. has said Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi blew himself up during an overnight military raid.

U.S. forces were closed in on Quraishi in northwestern Syria when he triggered a blast that also killed members of his own family, including children, the U.S. administration has confirmed.

Footage from inside the three-storey building showed bloodstained rooms that were damaged in the raid and the explosion, which U.S. officials have said was so big it hurled bodies outside and into the surrounding streets in the town of Atmeh.

Ten people, including children were evacuated from the raid area, the Pentagon has said.

The Quraishi led Islamic State since the death in 2019 of its founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was also killed when he detonated explosives during a raid by U.S. commandos.