Democratic Republic of Congo

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All-Out War Looms as Congo Rebels Seize Goma
 All-Out War Looms in Congo 
Nov 21, 2012 1:30 AM CST

All-Out War Looms in Congo

Strategic city now held by M23

(Newser) - A rebel group believed to be backed by Rwanda seized the strategic provincial capital of Goma in eastern Congo yesterday in a development that threatens to spark a new regional war. Explosions and machine-gun fire rocked the city of more than a million people as the M23 rebels pushed forward...

World First: Gorilla Family to Be Released Into Wild

Male, 5 females, 5 offspring headed to Gabon

(Newser) - British conservationists are preparing to release a full family of 11 western lowland gorillas in Gabon, a feat they call a world first. The family includes a 30-year-old, 440-pound male who was rescued from poachers, as well as his five "wives" and their five offspring, who were raised in...

New Monkey Species Found
 New Monkey Species Found 
Sep 13, 2012 1:00 AM CDT

New Monkey Species Found

'Lesula' found in remote Congo jungle

(Newser) - A remote jungle in the Congo has yielded a new species of monkey, the first to be found in almost 30 years. Scientists discovered the lesula in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Lomami forest basin after spotting an unusual monkey being kept as a pet in a small forest...

US-Funded African Armies Slaughtering Elephants

Poaching is at its highest level in decades

(Newser) - Elephant poaching in Africa is at its highest level in decades, and American taxpayer dollars are helping to fund the frenzied slaughter, the New York Times finds. Soldiers from US-trained and funded armies in Uganda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been implicated in poaching and ivory...

Congo Massacres Claim Hundreds: Report

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calls killings 'beyond comprehension'

(Newser) - Hundreds of civilians, most of them women and children, appear to have been massacred by rival armed factions in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay revealed today. While Pillay said that reports were still being verified, she added that "the sheer...

SEC Moves to Stop ... Central African Bloodshed

New rule to require companies to disclose 'blood minerals' use, eventually

(Newser) - The SEC voted yesterday to impose a new rule forcing companies to reveal their use of so-called "blood minerals" ... eventually. The rule, which was mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, requires companies to disclose their use of gold, tin, tungsten, and tantalum mined in and near the Democratic...

60 Killed in Congo Mine Shaft Collapse

Landslide causes accident amid illegal operation

(Newser) - A mine shaft collapsed Monday in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 60 gold miners inside, officials tell Reuters today. "It was deep in the forest; there was a landslide," says a provincial mining official. The miners were working in an illegal operation, and at 327...

Rwanda, Congo OK Border Army to Hunt Rebels

African nations set differences aside at summit

(Newser) - Presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo mended fences today by agreeing on an international force to hunt down rebels in the Congo's chaotic borderlands, Reuters reports. Rwanda's Paul Kagame and the Congo's Joseph Kabila signed the surprising agreement at an African Union summit in...

Congo Warlord Gets 14 Years for Using Child Soldiers

ICC hands down first-ever sentence

(Newser) - Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, which is longer than many of the child soldiers in his rebel army had been alive when he commanded them in the country's civil war. The sentence was handed down by the International Criminal Court, which found...

New Neighbors Hold Black Man, Family at Gunpoint

They thought the Kalonji family was trying to break into newly purchased home

(Newser) - The Kalonji family got a nasty surprise when it tried to change the locks on its newly-purchased Georgia home last week: Their new neighbors threatened them with guns, called the police, and had them arrested, WSBTV reports. Jean Kalonji says a man and someone who might have been his son...

Congo Warlord First to Be Convicted by World Court

Lubanga guilty of recruiting child soldiers

(Newser) - The world's first permanent war crimes tribunal has recorded its first verdict, finding Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of recruiting child soldiers as young as 11 and sending them into battle. The International Criminal Court will sentence Lubanga, who led a militia during an ethnic conflict in the Democratic...

Explosions Rock Republic of Congo

But defense minister says fire, not war, is to blame

(Newser) - Blasts rocked the capital of the Republic of Congo this morning after a weapons depot caught fire, officials say. The explosions shook houses in Brazzaville and echoed across the Congo River to the capital of the neighboring country. Defense minister Charles Zacharie Boawo appeared on national television to urge calm...

Ben Affleck Lends Star Power on African Atrocities

He and 'Washington Post' columnist hear tales of LRA brutalities

(Newser) - Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army have been terrorizing central Africa for years, "but the net around him tightens," writes Michael Gerson in the Washington Post . Gerson accompanied Ben Affleck, who founded the Eastern Congo Initiative , to the region to hear first-hand the tales of atrocities...

Violence Roils Congo After Disputed Vote

Opposition leader says results fixed, declares himself victor

(Newser) - With opposition leaders rejecting yesterday's re-election win for Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila, fighting and unrest has broken out in Kinshasa and threatened to plunge the fragile African country back into war, reports Al Jazeera . Protesters burned tires and gunshots rang out last night in the capital,...

Congo Polling Stations Attacked

Violence mars start of elections

(Newser) - Today’s presidential and legislative elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo have gotten off to a violent start. Reuters reports that masked gunmen fired on one polling station in Lubumbashi, while locals burned down three others in a neighboring province. The AFP reports 15 burned polling stations in that...

$40K Baby Gorilla Saved From Poachers

But experts worry about ones they miss

(Newser) - A baby gorilla has been saved from poachers seeking $40,000 for the highly protected infant. But experts worry about how many more infants have been stolen from parents likely butchered by animal traffickers, reports MSNBC . The baby gorilla, hidden in a small backpack, was "extremely tense and stressed,...

1K Prisoners Escape in DR Congo Jail Break

Militia attacked prison to free leader

(Newser) - A militia attack on a prison in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo province of Katanga has led to nearly 1,000 prisoners escaping, reports the BBC . The militia aimed to free a leader of the group, Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga, who had been sentenced to death in 2009 for his...

Family Planning Is Pro-Life: Michael Gerson
 Family 
 Planning 
 Is Pro-Life 
OPINION
Aug 30, 2011 3:21 PM CDT

Family Planning Is Pro-Life

Congo women offer proof of benefits: Michael Gerson

(Newser) - The American debate over family planning may seem “like a culture war showdown.” But “close up, family planning is undeniably pro-life,” writes Michael Gerson in the Washington Post . To understand that, look to Bweremana, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where “the complications of childbirth...

UN: Congo Rape Victims Suffer Reprisal Attacks

Sexual assaults continue a year after mass attacks

(Newser) - The United Nations says survivors of a horrific mass rape attack in Congo last year have suffered reprisal attacks. A report issued today says a judicial inquiry into the Walikale rapes was suspended because of concerns about the attacks against victims. At least 387 people were raped in late July...

100+ Women Assaulted in Mass Congo Rape

(Newser) - More than 100 women were sexually assaulted and many more injured in a mass rape in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo two weeks ago, international aid workers said today. The attacks are believed to have been carried out by a group of 200 rebels who had been integrated into the...

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