News of the night: U.S. accuses Sudan's RSF of genocide; Carter's body in DC

• Firefighters are battling a brush and tree fire in Pacific Palisades, a Los Angeles neighbourhood filled with celebrity residences. On Tuesday, the fire spread over 500 hectares within a few hours. Approximately 30,000 residents were ordered to evacuate due to life-threatening conditions.

• The casket containing the body of former President Jimmy Carter was transported from Georgia to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, where it was placed in the Capitol building. The body will remain there until the funeral ceremony on Thursday. The casket, wrapped in the American flag, was transported on Tuesday from Atlanta, where it rested at the Carter Center, to Washington, D.C. Before Carter's body was placed in the Capitol Rotunda, a horse-drawn carriage drew the casket through the streets of the capital as part of a solemn procession that included soldiers, police, a military band, and members of the former president's family. The ceremony echoed Carter's inaugural parade, in which he and his wife walked.

• The first planes landed in Damascus. The activity of the international airport in the capital of Syria was restored on Tuesday after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad's regime on 8th December last year.
• A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot shot down six Russian cruise missiles in one combat flight. According to the media, this is the first time in history. The pilot used four air-to-air missiles and the fighter's cannon to achieve this unprecedented feat, reported the Ukrainian Air Force through social media.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of genocide, alleging systematic killing of civilians and children from specific ethnic groups. Washington also imposed sanctions on the RSF leader and supporting companies from the United Arab Emirates.

Source: PAP/Reuters/WP