Rwanda-backed rebels have occupied a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, the government said Sunday, as M23 rebels confirmed they were in the city to restore order after it was abandoned by Congolese forces.

The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes the M23, said in a statement that its fighters “decided to assist the population of Bukavu” in addressing its security challenges under the “old regime” in the city of 1.3 million people.

“Our forces have been working to restore the security for the people and their property, much to the satisfaction of the entire population,” alliance spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.

The rebels saw little resistance from government forces against the unprecedented expansion of their reach after years of fighting. Congo’s government vowed to restore order in Bukavu but there was no sign of soldiers. Many were seen fleeing on Saturday alongside thousands of civilians.

The M23 are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that’s critical for much of the world’s technology. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to the United Nations experts.

The fighting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Aid freeze could cause HIV patients to default

Millions of patients in South Africa affected by U.S. President Donald Trump’s global foreign aid freeze, raise worries about HIV patients defaulting on treatment, infection rates going up and eventually a rise in deaths.

The country counts more than 7.5 million people infected with the virus that causes AIDS — more than any other nation.

There are 5.5 million South Africans receiving antiretroviral treatment, whose funding is now in question after Trump suspended the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. It contributes more than $400 million a year to South Africa’s HIV programs and nongovernmental organizations, about 17% of the total funding, according to the Health Ministry.

Globally, PEPFAR is credited with saving at least 26 million lives since its inception in 2003, according to the U.N. AIDS agency.

Last week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift the funding freeze, while the U.S. Embassy in South Africa said PEPFAR projects would resume under a limited waiver. However, aid groups dealing with HIV have already shuttered with closure notices hanging at the entrances and PEPFAR-branded vehicles standing idle, with patients diverted to struggling health facilities.

Trump admin wants SCOTUS to permit firing

The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to permit the firing of the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers, according to documents obtained Sunday that would mark the first appeal to the justices since President Donald Trump took office.

The emergency appeal is the start of what probably will be a stream from lawyers for the Republican president and his administration seeking to undo lower court rulings that have slowed his second term agenda.

The Justice Department’s filing obtained by The Associated Press asks the conservative-majority court to lift a judge’s court order temporarily reinstating Hampton Dellinger as the leader of the Office of Special Counsel.

Dellinger has argued that the law says he can only be dismissed for problems with the performance of his job, none of which were cited in the email dismissing him.

The petition came hours after a divided appeals court panel refused on procedural grounds to lift the order, which was filed Wednesday and expires on Feb. 26.

The case began last week when Dellinger sued over his removal as head of the Office of Special Counsel, which is responsible for guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing. He was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term in 2024.

The administration argues that the order reinstating Dellinger for two weeks wrongly restricts what the president can do. The brief cites the Supreme Court decision that gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution and reflected a muscular view of executive power.

2 killed in crash of small plane near Atlanta

Two people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff late Saturday from a small airport east of Atlanta, authorities said.

The Rockwell Commander with two people on board crashed near Covington Municipal Airport around 11:40 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Police said responding officers found the aircraft and the two victims in woods just north of the runway in Newton County, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.

Investigators find 3rd victim in tunnel crash

A third victim was found Sunday in the wreckage from a fiery crash inside a Wyoming highway tunnel that involved 26 cars and trucks, officials said.

At least five people were seriously injured in Friday’s accident along Interstate 80 near the small town of Green River, Wyoming. The crash sparked a fire inside the tunnel that completely destroyed six commercial vehicles and two passenger vehicles.

Most of the wreckage had been removed by Sunday, with fewer than 10 vehicles still inside the tunnel, said Sgt. Jason Roascio with the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

But snow was slowing the work of federal and state investigators as they went vehicle by vehicle trying to reconstruct the scene and determine what happened, he said.

Wis. governor floats plan to close old prison

Wisconsin’s second-oldest prison, built in the 1800s and long targeted for closure, would finally be shuttered under a new plan from Gov. Tony Evers that proposes sweeping changes to the state’s troubled correctional system without building a new facility, as some lawmakers have long called for.

Evers presented his plan as the best and only option to address the state’s aging facilities, which have been beset with deaths of incarcerated people, assaults against staff including one that left a juvenile guard dead, lockdowns, lawsuits, federal investigations, criminal charges against prison staff, resignations and rising maintenance costs.

The roughly $500 million proposal that includes closing the prison in Green Bay, made public on Sunday, would be subject to approval by the Republican-controlled Legislature, which has backed some aspects in the past but also has repeatedly blocked initiatives by the Democratic governor.

Woman killed as Israeli forces fire on returnees

A woman was killed and several other people wounded Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire on a group of residents attempting to return to the village of Houla in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese state-run news agency reported.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident, which comes two days before the deadline for implementation of a ceasefire agreement that ended the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in late November. It includes a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.

The original deadline was in late January but Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend it to Feb. 18. Hours before they agreed to the extension on Jan. 27, hundreds of protesters attempted to enter villages still occupied by the Israeli army to demand its withdrawal, and Israeli forces opened fire in several locations, killing more than 20 people. Israel blamed Hezbollah for sending “rioters.”

Collapse of gold mine in Mali kills 42 people

A gold mine collapsed in eastern Mali, killing dozens of people and injuring many more, according to Malian television and officials in the Kéniéba district where the accident occurred. It is the second major accident this year in the French-speaking West African country, which is one of Africa’s top three gold producers.

Late on Saturday, Malian television announced the collapse of the site at Bilali Koto in the commune of Dabia, with a provisional death toll of 42 and many injured.

The prefect of Kéniéba, who represents the government in the locality, confirmed the incident. “The death toll of 42 should be definitive,” Mohamed Dicko told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“The accident happened yesterday, Saturday. It was a landslide at a site run by Chinese nationals,” said community leader Falaye Sissoko. Dicko said authorities were still trying to establish whether the mine was operating legally.

This is the second time in less than a month that such an accident has occurred in Mali. On Jan. 29, a landslide killed several gold miners, mostly women, in the Koulikoro region in the south of the country.

Stabbing suspect had ‘Islamic terror motive’

Austrian authorities said Sunday the stabbing of six people that left a 14-year-old boy dead was carried out by a man with possible connections to the Islamic State group who appeared to have acted alone.

The suspect, a 23-year-old Syrian, was arrested after the attack, which took place on Saturday afternoon in the center of the southern city of Villach, close to the main square. Police said he used a folding knife. Those wounded were two 15-year-old boys and men aged 28, 32 and 36. Two were seriously wounded and two others are also still receiving hospital treatment, while one was treated for minor injuries.

“This is an Islamist attack with an IS connection by an attacker who radicalized himself within a very short time via the internet,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters in Villach Sunday.

— From news services