Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Rebels from an outlawed political-religious group attacked Kinshasa’s central prison on Wednesday, breaking out their leader and about 50 other prisoners, the Congolese government said. “Followers of the Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) attacked Makala prison at dawn and broke out around 50 prisoners including …
Read More »Nigeria says vigilant after DR Congo Ebola deaths
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria on Monday said it had stepped up health surveillance and vigilance was high at entry ports after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least three people. “The minister has directed the director of health services at the ports to …
Read More »EBOLA: The remoteness of the DRC outbreak will help contain the spread
Ebola in DR Congo’s isolated far north a logistical challenge Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | An Ebola outbreak in a remote region in DR Congo’s far north poses a logistical challenge for doctors and aid workers although the sheer remoteness could help limit its spread. The latest outbreak of …
Read More »Kabila under pressure, names new government under power-sharing deal
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Congolese President Joseph Kabila named an expanded new government on Tuesday, with almost all his old team retained, as part of power-sharing deal to end a crisis over his wish to remain in power. The presidential list of 60 ministers, read out on television, …
Read More »UN: 4,600 people flee their homes in DR Congo daily
UN worried about DRC. Up to 4,600 people flee their homes in DR Congo daily Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | An average of 4,600 people flee their homes every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN said Monday, warning of a dramatically deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country. A …
Read More »DRC bishops urge opposition supremo Katumbi’s return
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s influential Catholic bishops have urged authorities to allow prominent opposition politician Moise Katumbi to return from exile, calling his criminal conviction a “farce”. In a confidential report seen by AFP on Wednesday, the Congolese Episcopal Conference (CENCO) demanded that the government reverse …
Read More »Murders touch off riots in DR Congo’s gold-rich northeast
Kisangani, DR Congo | AFP | Protesters angered by a string of unsolved murders threw up roadblocks and mobbed government offices in three days of riots in the restive gold-rich Ituri region of Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials said Monday. The trouble erupted Saturday in the town of Mahagi …
Read More »SPECIAL FEATURE: DR Congo, home to a tenth of the world’s languages
There are 450 languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | “I haven’t once spoken my mother tongue Kilokele in the 62 years I’ve lived in Kinshasa. None of my nine children speak it,” says Charles Tongohala. Tongohala’s native tongue is one of 450 spoken …
Read More »CONGO: Militia clashes kill 29 in eastern DRC
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Twenty-nine people have been killed in three days of clashes between rival factions of a militia group in a village in Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive east, an official said Friday. The two factions are fighting for control of the village of Bweru in …
Read More »South Sudan ex-rebels release UN hostages in DR Congo
United Nations, United States | AFP | South Sudanese former rebels on Tuesday released 16 UN staff after holding them hostage for several hours in a camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN official said. About 530 former rebels from South Sudan are living in the Munigi camp, …
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