ADVERTISEMENT A German citizen has been shot dead in an exchange of gunfire near the border with Canada.
Both he and his companion Teresa Youngblut, a US citizen, had been under surveillance by the FBI for several days.
The passenger, German citizen Felix B., and a United States Border Patrol officer were shot and killed in the exchange of gunfire.
The officer and the German were shot in the ensuing exchange of fire, the driver was injured.
At least one Border Patrol agent shot at Youngblut and Felix B., but authorities have not specified whose bullets hit whom.
As fighting between the M23 and government troops has escalated, hundreds of men, women, and children have been hurt and transported to hospitals in and around Goma.
Six more U.N. peacekeepers were wounded, and three were killed while fighting alongside M23. No. stated, as the rebels encroach on the city of Goma in the mineral-rich eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
M23 has surrounded Goma, a city of about two million people and a regional center for humanitarian and security operations, after making major territorial gains in recent weeks.
Fighting with the rebels in the town of Sake over the last two days has injured the peacekeepers, the U.S. N. said in a statement on Friday, the peacekeeping force in Congo.
The town, which is just 27 kilometers west of Goma and one of the last major routes into the provincial capital still under government control, fell to the rebels on Thursday, the U.S. “N.”. Chief.
There are roughly 100 armed groups fighting for control of the country’s mineral-rich east, including M23.
The rebels also won a victory when they assassinated Maj., the governor of North Kivu province. Gen. Peter Cirimwami. When he was hurt on Thursday, he was visiting soldiers on the front line in Kasengezi, about 13 kilometers from Goma, where he had led army operations in the unrest-plagued North Kivu.
According to officials, he passed away in the hospital.
One of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world has been brought on by decades of fighting along the Rwandan border.
In 2012, the rebel group took over Goma and held it for more than a week.
Since 2021, the government of DR Congo and its allies—including Burundian troops and U.S. No. M23 has been prevented from entering Goma by troops.
DR Congo, the US, and the U.S. N. Experts charge Rwanda with supporting M23, an ethnic Tutsi-led group that split from the Congolese army more than ten years ago.
Although the Rwandan government disputes the claim, it acknowledged last year that it maintains troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to protect its security, citing an increase in Congolese forces close to the border.
U. N. Up to 4,000 Rwandan troops are thought to be present in Congo, according to experts.
Since the year began, the M23 advance in eastern Congo has forced over 400,000 people to flee their homes, the U.S. N. . refugee agency, worsening “desperate conditions” in overcrowded displacement centers in and around Goma, and causing cholera cases to rise.
In a gunfight close to the Canadian border, a German national was shot and killed. For a number of days, the FBI had been monitoring him and his companion, Teresa Youngblut, a US citizen. On Monday, Youngblut, who was shot, will appear before a federal judge in the United States.
Approximately 32 kilometers south of the border, the driver of the vehicle opened fire on US Border Patrol officers who were conducting a vehicle check on Interstate 91.
The traveler, Felix B., is a German national. were shot and killed during the gunfight, as was a member of the US Border Patrol.
The female driver of the car got out, took out a handgun, and suddenly started shooting fifteen minutes after the car was pulled over, according to court documents. 3. tried to pull a gun but was shot.
In the ensuing gunfight, the driver was hurt and the officer and the German were shot. An investigation into the identity of the shooter is still ongoing.
The German is Felix B., the FBI says. was in the United States with a valid tourist visa. Youngblut faces two charges: assaulting a U.S. military facility while using a deadly weapon. S. . firearm use and discharge during and in connection with that assault by a Border Patrol agent. The Border Patrol agent’s murder has not yet resulted in any charges being brought.
The 21-year-old Youngblut is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday to face formal charges.
Youngblut and Felix B were shot at by at least one Border Patrol agent. Authorities have not, however, identified who was struck by the bullets.
Youngblut and Felix B had been “regularly monitored” by investigators. ever since Jan. 14, when a hotel staff member saw that Youngblut was carrying a weapon and that she and B did. wore tactical gear that was black.
The couple claimed they were in the area looking for real estate when questioned by federal agency officers. “More detailed questioning” was declined. The FBI claims that there was no basis for arresting them based on the interview.
Investigators saw B around two hours prior to the shooting. bringing two packages of aluminum foil out of a Newport Walmart. He was seen wrapping unidentifiable objects while seated in the passenger seat, per the FBI’s court filings.
The FBI reported that when police searched the vehicle following the shooting, they discovered ammunition, respirators, night-vision goggles, a ballistic helmet, and cell phones wrapped in foil. Additionally, they discovered radios, a dozen or so “electronic devices,” travel and lodging information for multiple states, a package of gun range targets, some of which had already been used, and what appeared to be a diary.
The FBI was looking into the couple for serious crimes, according to local CBS station WCAX. The special agent in charge of the FBI was in charge of criminal hacking, fraud, and computer crime.
Four scenarios, ranging from the best to the worst, are presented for fisheries and marine ecosystems by 2050 in the new Fishers of the Future report released by the European Commission on January 14.
The report’s more hopeful forecasts are called into question by those of us who are aware of the condition of our seas today, who see that the worst-case scenarios are already materializing.
We have vast areas of the seabed that are scarred and barren, the result of unchecked exploitation, and marine ecosystems that are in freefall due to the effects of climate change, rather than thriving seas, sustainable practices, and equitable livelihoods.
A sustainable fishing industry is anticipated as a result of market changes, technology breakthroughs, and small-scale policy changes in the more optimistic scenarios.
Nevertheless, these presumptions are based on an impractical basis. Important components of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) have not yet been put into practice, and subsidies are still supporting the industrial processes that are causing ecological collapse.
disobeying lived experiences.
Unrestrained quota privatization—the distribution or transfer of fishing rights to private individuals or corporations, frequently through market-based mechanisms—pushed fishermen to the breaking point in affected communities like Thorupstrand, Denmark.
Destructive industrial fishing was sustained at the expense of small-scale operations due to harmful subsidies that make it artificially profitable despite its inefficiency and high environmental costs, as well as fuel tax exemptions.
Despite these lived experiences, the report’s optimism runs the risk of postponing necessary action.
The report doesn’t address how NGOs, coastal communities, and small-scale fishermen are excluded from decision-making processes, which perpetuates unequal resource distribution.
Even in purported Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which are areas of the ocean where human activity is controlled or limited to protect ecosystems, bottom trawling—a destructive fishing technique in which heavy nets are dragged along the seabed—continues to destroy seabeds and biodiversity.
The majority of areas remain unprotected because only two member states have taken action to outlaw bottom trawling in MPAs, despite the EU’s promises.
The numerous legal actions filed by environmental organizations before national courts in France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands last year serve as evidence of the lack of enforcement and regress in fisheries governance that exacerbate these shortcomings.
The stakes are five million livelihoods.
Europeans are paying a price for improper MPA management because, in addition to biodiversity and climate resilience, well-protected MPAs free from destructive fishing offer a wide range of economic benefits by promoting artisanal fishing, tourism, and leisure activities in many EU coastal regions.
Examples like Torre Guaceto MPA (Italy), Os Miñarzos Marine Reserve (Spain), and Kosterhavet Marine National Park (Sweden) have all had positive socioeconomic effects throughout Europe.
Nearly 5 million people are employed in the EU’s blue economy sector, and providing efficient MPAs is essential to sustaining significant industries like fishing, boating, diving, and angling that depend on MPAs.
The time to make a difference is running out. Whether the EU’s fisheries can weather the current crisis will be decided over the next five years. The CFP must be strictly enforced, bottom trawling must be prohibited in all MPAs, and subsidies must be redirected to low-impact fisheries as part of immediate action.
The report doesn’t address how NGOs, coastal communities, and small-scale fishermen are excluded from decision-making processes, which perpetuates unequal resource distribution.
Traditional fishermen are facing dwindling access to resources as industrial fleets, who frequently receive the majority of quota distributions and subsidies, control the industry.
Although it emphasizes the financial benefits of sustainable practices, it ignores the current sector’s financial instability.
Despite its ecological damage and economic inefficiency, industrial bottom trawling continues because it is artificially supported by subsidies, such as exemptions from fuel taxes. A thorough analysis of the advantages of switching to low-impact fishing techniques versus the expenses of industrial fishing is desperately needed.
We can’t continue to ignore the situation.
Change’s window is closing. The ability of EU fisheries to withstand the current crisis will be determined over the next five years. Enforcing the CFP strictly, prohibiting bottom trawling in all MPAs, and rerouting subsidies to low-impact fisheries are all urgent measures that must be taken.
In the absence of these steps, the report’s worst-case scenarios will materialize well before 2050.
With proper management, fisheries can support local communities and produce nutritious food while protecting the marine environment. Europe has all the resources necessary to accomplish this, and in fact, where the CFP’s regulations have been properly applied, fish stocks have recovered, providing fishermen who depend on them with profitable returns.
Fisheries still have a bright future — one in which ocean ecosystems are restored, coastal communities are empowered, and sustainable fisheries flourish.
Policymakers need to pledge to uphold this legacy now, not tomorrow. We will never succeed if we refuse to acknowledge the truth of our circumstances.
Dr. Monica Verbeek is executive director of Seas At Risk, and Pascale Moehrle is vice president and executive director of Oceana in Europe.