Its soldiers are underpaid and underarmed. Its ranks are riddled with factions pursuing their own interests. And successive presidents are said to have kept it weak for fear of a coup. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has appeared too weak and dysfunctional to stop a militia that has swept through the eastern part of…
Unidentified illnesses have killed more than 50 people in north-western Congo’s Equateur province over the past five weeks, with nearly half of the victims dying within hours of falling ill. Notably, ‘crying’ is also one of the symptoms reported by patients.Health officials report 419 cases and 53 deaths since the outbreaks began on January 21…
A rapidly spreading and unidentified illness has claimed the lives of more than 50 people in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks, sparking urgent investigations by international health organisations. The outbreak, which began after three children reportedly consumed a bat, has raised concerns about a potential new zoonotic disease. The illness was first detected…
An unidentified illness has killed scores of people and infected hundreds in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization has reported, with preliminary investigations tracing the outbreak to three children who in January ate a bat and died. Fifty-three people in the country’s northwest had died from the disease, out of 431 reported…
In his first interview since an armed group backed by Rwanda seized swaths of his country’s territory this year, Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, offered the United States and Europe a stake in his country’s vast mineral wealth, a sector currently dominated by China. Congo is considered to be among…
On one side of the lake, lovers glide on canoes, friends ride jet-skis and families pose for pictures in the hazy sunset. On the other side, less than two miles away, dead bodies washed ashore while ammunition and discarded weapons littered the water. The shore of Lake Kivu in Rwanda offers leisure and relaxation. Across…
Numerous programs aimed at averting violence, instability and extremism worsened by global warming are ensnared in the effort to dismantle the main American aid agency, U.S.A.I.D. One such project helped communities manage water stations in Niger, a hotbed of Islamist extremist groups where conflicts over scarce water are common. Another helped repair water-treatment plants in…
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday entered the vital trading hub of Bukavu in the east of the country, according to the fighters and videos circulated by local residents. If confirmed, Bukavu would be the latest city to fall in a sweeping offensive that has revealed the weakness of the crumbling Congolese…
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday entered the vital trading hub of Bukavu in the east of the country, according to the fighters and videos circulated by local residents. If confirmed, Bukavu would be the latest city to fall in a sweeping offensive that has revealed the weakness of the crumbling Congolese…
Sexual violence against children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has soared in recent weeks, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Thursday, as disputes over land and mineral resources fuel fighting in the country. The organization, known as UNICEF, reported that health care facilities in the city of Goma and the surrounding areas…