Hard Numbers: Donetsk shelled, AfD faces ban, Tshisekedi sworn in, North Korea tests submarine drone
27: At least 27 people were killed and 25 injured in a Ukrainian strike on the Russian-held city of Donetsk on Sunday. The attack came the same weekend as a drone attack on the Russian Ust-Luga gas terminal near St. Petersburg, resulting in a large fire but no injuries. Described as a “special operation” by Kyiv's SBU security service, the strike was aimed at disrupting fuel exports and supplies for Russian troops.
300,000:Germany is debating whether to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany party after its senior members attended a meeting where mass deportations of immigrants were allegedly discussed. While AfD's leadership denied the accusations and claimed they were being targeted with “Stasi-like” tactics, 300,000 protesters took to the streets Saturday to protest the party and its growing influence in German politics.
70: After a disputed election last December, Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in for his second term as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tshisekedi obtained over 70% of the vote, but opposition politicians claimed that many polling stations failed to open or lacked materials, and voter turnout was only 40%. Tshisekedi’s first inauguration in 2019 marked Congo's first democratic transfer of power since achieving independence from Belgium in 1960.
3: North Korea claimed to have tested a “nuclear-capable” underwater drone for the third time in response to US and South Korean naval drills on Friday. South Korean intelligence cast doubt on the claimed capacities of the drone, but with North Korea’s bellicose rhetoric in recent weeks, perhaps discretion is the better part of valor.