Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo stories: 33 news summaries

1 - 20 of 33 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

(AP) - Hillary Clinton traveled to war-ravaged eastern Congo today, where the nation's top diplomat demanded an end to the sexual violence that has claimed at least 200,000 victims. Clinton came to Goma aboard a UN plane over the objections of some top aides who were concerned about security and logistics... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hillary Clinton • Africa • rape • civil war • Democratic Republic of Congo • sexual violence • Goma • Congo • women's issues

 Baby Gorilla 
 Stashed in 
 Smuggler's Bag 

Had been inside for 6 hours; 'is responding to treatment'

Apr 28, 09 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - A live baby gorilla was found at the bottom of a smuggler’s plastic bag in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a 3-month undercover smuggling probe, MSNBC reports. The female eastern lowland gorilla, which has a street value of up to $20,000, had been in the bag for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
wildlife • Democratic Republic of Congo • gorilla • smuggler • Eastern Lowland gorillas • smuggling

Amid Congo's Violence,
a Gorilla 'Baby Boom'

Population of tame gorillas up 12.5%

Jan 27, 09 2:21 PM CST
(Newser) - The Democratic Republic of Congo has seen unspeakable violence, but one population has managed to thrive: the endangered mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park. The population of gorillas considered tame grew to 81 from 72 over the past year, Bloomberg reports. The gorilla population has boomed even as rangers entrusted... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • Africa • Democratic Republic of Congo • gorilla • Congolese • mountain gorillas • Virunga Park • Congo

Int'l Criminal Court Opens With Congo Trial

In first case, warlord pleads not guilty to using child soldiers

Jan 26, 09 6:15 AM CST
(Newser) - The International Criminal Court in The Hague began its first trial today, as a Congolese militia leader pleaded not guilty to charges of using child soldiers. The court's prosecutor accused Thomas Lubanga of using hundreds of boys as young as nine "to kill, pillage, and rape" in the Democratic... More »

MORE ABOUT:
war crimes • The Hague • child soldier • Democratic Republic of Congo • Congo • International Criminal Court • war crimes tribunal • Thomas Lubanga

Nations Try
to Block Iran's Nuclear Supply

US, Europe think
Tehran is nearly
out of uranium

Jan 24, 09 11:28 AM CST
(Newser) - Iran is running out of uranium, and Western countries are stepping up diplomatic efforts to keep Tehran from replenishing its supply, the Times of London reports. Iran, which may be out of uranium in months, has so far pursued its nuclear ambitions with a stockpile acquired from South Africa... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iran • nuclear weapons • uranium enrichment • Kazakhstan • Democratic Republic of Congo • uranium • Uzbekistan • nuclear energy • yellow cake

 Rwanda Nabs 
 Congo Rebel Leader 

Nkunda arrested by country once accused of supporting him

Jan 23, 09 5:31 AM CST
(Newser) - Fearsome rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, the head of a movement that has destabilized the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been arrested over the border in Rwanda. Hundreds of Rwandan troops converged on a mountain village last night inside Congo where the general was stationed, but he crossed the border into... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Democratic Republic of Congo • Rwanda • Tutsi • rebel fighters • Congo • Laurent Nkunda

 Congo Militia 
 Kills Gorilla 
 Protector 

Rangers fought off rebels for hours

Jan 12, 09 4:11 AM CST
(Newser) - Rebels have killed a ranger stationed in a Congo national park to protect endangered gorillas from the surrounding civil unrest, CNN reports. Safari Kakule was one of seven men attacked. Another ranger was injured and a rebel captured in fighting that lasted for hours. It's unclear why the militia attacked... More »

MORE ABOUT:
death • militia • Democratic Republic of Congo • gorilla • mountain gorillas • Congo • Eastern Lowland gorillas

Angola Closes Border With Congo to Block Ebola

Outbreak has allegedly killed 13, infected 40

Jan 5, 09 2:51 PM CST
(Newser) - An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has caused Angolan authorities to close part of their border with the country, Reuters reports. Angolans will be forbidden to travel to the DRC from the northeastern province of Norde Lunde. The Ebola outbreak is suspected of infecting 40 and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Africa • disease • war • Democratic Republic of Congo • Ebola • Angola • Congo

Surgeon Amputates
Using Texted Instructions

Phone helps save Congolese teen

Dec 3, 08 5:11 PM CST
(Newser) - A volunteer surgeon in a Congolese war zone followed texted instructions to perform an amputation that saved a 16-year-old boy's life. The teen's badly injured and infected arm required that his collar bone and shoulder blade be immediately removed, but Dr. David Nott had never conducted such a procedure. He... More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • cell phones • surgery • Democratic Republic of Congo • text message • Doctors Without Borders • Rwanda • amputation • rebel fighters

 Anarchy Rules 
 Desperate Congo 

In country's east, rebels and army abandon citizens

Nov 19, 08 5:55 AM CST
(Newser) - Bewildered residents in eastern Congo talk of the "front line" separating rebel territory from areas controlled by the army. But no such line exists—only a jumble of unstable, chaotic territories with no checkpoints or fortifications, reports the New York Times. While a ceasefire between the two sides seems... More »

MORE ABOUT:
refugee camp • Democratic Republic of Congo • refugee • Congo • Laurent Nkunda

 Thousands 
 Flee as Congo 
 Ceasefire Fails 

Heads of state meet as army, rebels kill dozens

Nov 7, 08 8:30 AM CST
(Newser) - The ceasefire in eastern Congo crumbled yesterday as Tutsi rebels and Hutu militias did battle, leaving dozens of bodies lying in the streets of a town near the Rwandan border and forcing 35,000 residents to flee, the Guardian reports. Hutu residents have accused the rebel army of Laurent Nkunda... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Democratic Republic of Congo • Rwanda • Tutsi • rebel fighters • Goma • Ban Ki-Moon • Congo • Laurent Nkunda

 UN Boss Jets 
 to Congo Amid 
 New Fighting 

Fears of a wider conflict grow as rebel leader threatens to take Goma

Nov 5, 08 4:32 AM CST
(Newser) - UN chief Ban Ki-Moon is traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo to press for a peace deal just as new fighting breaks out, the Guardian reports. The Congolese government has rejected peace talks with the rebels, who have vowed to attack the provincial capital of Goma and continue a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Nations • peacekeeping force • Democratic Republic of Congo • humanitarian crisis • Rwanda • Ban Ki-Moon • Congo • Laurent Nkunda

 Congo's Crisis 
 at Breaking Point 

EU, African Union scramble to broker peace deal as Nkunda attacks

Nov 3, 08 7:27 AM CST
(Newser) - European and African officials held crisis talks last night to avert a complete meltdown in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the civil war risks degenerating into genocide. The diplomatic push came as Laurent Nkunda, the Tutsi general, led 10,000 rebels into battle in a province bordering Rwanda, which... More »

MORE ABOUT:
David Miliband • civil war • Democratic Republic of Congo • humanitarian crisis • refugee • Rwanda • Tutsi • Laurent Nkunda

 Ceasefire Calms Congo 

10 dead as fleeing refugees run into brutal government soldiers

Oct 31, 08 6:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has eased after rebels declared a cease-fire, reports the Los Angeles Times. As paramilitary forces moved through the countryside, refugees flooded into the eastern city of Goma—only to face assault, rape and murder at the hands of the Congolese army. UN officials... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Africa • Democratic Republic of Congo • Tutsi • Goma • Congo • Laurent Nkunda

 UN Pleads for Troops 
 as Congo Battle Rages 

Peacekeepers overwhelmed as rebels advance against government troops

Oct 29, 08 8:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The overwhelmed United Nations peacekeeping force in eastern Congo is urgently calling for reinforcements, the AP reports. A surge in fighting between Congolese government troops and forces led by a renegade general has sent tens of thousands fleeing. The UN currently has only 6,000 troops in North Kivu, where... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Nations • peacekeeper • Democratic Republic of Congo • Rwanda • Hutu • Tutsi • Kivu • Goma • Congo • Laurent Nkunda

Congo Probes Witchcraft Stampede Deaths

13 killed after accusations of sorcery provoke fighting, panic

Sep 16, 08 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Accusations of witchcraft led to a deadly stampede at a soccer game in the Congo, the BBC reports. Fighting broke out between rival teams after players from one team accused the rival team's goalkeeper of casting spells. Police intervened but were pelted with rocks by the crowd. They fired tear... More »

MORE ABOUT:
soccer riots • soccer • Democratic Republic of Congo • Kivu • witchcraft • stampede • Congo

 Congo's Gorillas
 Victims in War
 Over Charcoal 

Corruption, poverty, unrest combine for conservationists' nightmare

Jun 23, 08 2:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Who murdered seven mountain gorillas in the Congo last year? Perhaps, National Geographic finds, the question should be how any of the magnificent apes stay alive at all. A three-way military standoff—a holdover from neighboring Rwanda’s haunted past—enveloping Virunga National Park has left gorillas, people, and the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
murder • Democratic Republic of Congo • Rwanda • Hutu • Tutsi • mountain gorillas • charcoal trade • Virunga Park

 UN Troops Traded
 Guns for Gold 

Pakistani, Indian troops armed rebels in Congo, BBC finds

Apr 28, 08 9:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - UN peacekeeping troops sold weapons to guerrilla fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a BBC investigation claims, charging that the UN suppressed the story for political reasons. Pakistani and Indian troops, part of the UN's largest peacekeeping force of 17,000, are said to have traded munitions for gold.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Nations • Pakistan • India • peacekeeping force • Democratic Republic of Congo • rebel fighters • arms trafficking

 Congo Plane Crash Kills 75 

Apr 15, 08 1:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Congolese jetliner carrying around 85 people failed to take off today from an airport in Goma, crashing at high speed into a busy market neighborhood at the end of the runway. Local officials said dozens of bodies—as many as 75 people—were pulled from the wreckage. More »

MORE ABOUT:
plane crash • Democratic Republic of Congo • disaster • Goma

Nations Unite to Save Gorillas

10-year effort is the first to help dying species

Feb 25, 08 5:00 AM CST
(Newser) - Three African nations where the world's last 720 wild mountain gorillas live are finally working together to save the critically endangered animal, the Guardian reports. Until the 10-year plan was announced last week, mistrust and conflict had kept Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo from collaborating as another 10 apes were... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • conservation • poaching • Democratic Republic of Congo • gorilla • Rwanda • Uganda • mountain gorillas • charcoal trade • rebel fighters • Central Africa • Virunga Park

1 - 20 of 33 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


from our news partners