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Tag: democratic republic of congo

  • More than 200 killed in mine collapse in DR Congo

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    More than 200 people have been killed in a mine collapse in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, rebel authorities have said.

    The mine, in the town of Rubaya, gave way on Wednesday due to heavy rains, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesman for the North Kivu region’s rebel governor, told reporters. At the time, the death toll remained unclear.

    Women and children were among those mining coltan – a mineral used to manufacture electronics such as smartphones and computers – at the time.

    A former supervisor of the mine told the BBC the site was not properly maintained, making accidents more likely and hampering rescue efforts when they occur.

    He added that the fragile nature of the soil made the situation worse.

    Women, children and artisanal miners – those not officially employed by a mining firm – are among those killed in the collapse. Around 20 survivors are said to be receiving treatment in hospital.

    A source whose cousin died in the landslide expressed shock, saying it was “a big loss” for the family and community.

    “I didn’t believe he could pass away in such circumstances,” the source, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC, describing his cousin as a “courageous” and “ambitious” man whose main goal was to provide for his wife and two children.

    “I didn’t believe [he was dead] because investigations were still ongoing. His body wasn’t found after the accident, so I did have hope that he could be found alive. Unfortunately, some hours later, his body was discovered.”

    Governor Erasto Bahati Musanga, who was appointed by M23 rebels after seizing swathes of territory in North Kivu, visited survivors of the incident on Friday.

    Rubaya is one of a number of towns across North Kivu under the control of the M23, who international observers say are backed by neighbouring Rwanda.

    The mines in Rubaya hold about 15% of the world’s coltan supply and half of the DR Congo’s total deposits.

    The metallic ore contains tantalum, which is used to produce high-performance capacitors in a range of electronic devices, making it in high demand worldwide.

    When a BBC team visited the site in July 2025, they observed miners digging manually to source the precious mineral. Conditions at the site are very bad, with dangerous pits dotted around its vast expanse.

    Since 2024, the M23 rebels have been in control of the mines. The UN has accused the group of imposing taxes on the mining sector for their own benefit.

    The BBC has contacted the Congolese government in Kinshasa for comment.

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  • Rare mountain gorilla twins born in Africa’s oldest national park

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    A pair of twin mountain gorillas has been born in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo – a rare occurrence for the endangered primates, conservationists at Virunga National Park say.

    The community trackers, who discovered 22-year-old Mafuko hugging her newborns on Saturday, said the mother and her two baby sons all appeared to be well and healthy.

    Twin births are thought to account for about 1% of all mountain gorilla births, though exact data is not widely available.

    Virunga, situated in a conflict-prone part of DR Congo, is Africa’s oldest and largest national park and was set up 100 years ago to protect mountain gorillas of which there are fewer than 1,100 left in the wild.

    They are only found in the Virunga and in national parks over the border in Rwanda and Uganda, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles a Red List of threatened species.

    The last birth of mountain gorilla twins in Virunga National Park was in September 2020.

    Mafuko herself gave birth to twins in 2016, but they both died within a week.

    Young gorillas rely entirely on their mothers for care and transport – and are extremely vulnerable in what can be a dangerous environment where poachers and many armed groups operate.

    The authorities at the park say additional monitoring and protection measures have been put in place to ensure the twins’ survival during this critical period.

    Rangers would closely observe the young family and provide support if needed, they said.

    A gorilla’s pregnancy lasts for about eight-and-a-half months, and females usually give birth to one infant every four years.

    According to Virunga conservationists, Mafuko has had a remarkable history of survival herself.

    Born in 2003 into the Kabirizi family, she lost her mother to armed attackers when she was four years old.

    She joined the Bageni family when she was 10 – and to date has been pregnant and given birth five times.

    Conservationists at Virunga, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, say her latest offspring represent a significant boost for efforts to protect the endangered species.

    Thanks to anti-poaching patrols and community programmes – supported by the European Union and Unesco – mountain gorilla numbers in Virunga have slowly increased over the past decade.

    This success, which is documented by the IUCN and other partners, led to their status being upgraded from “critically endangered” to “endangered” in 2018.

    Virunga spans 7,800 sq km (3,000 sq miles) and is home to an astonishingly diverse landscape – from active volcanoes and vast lakes to rainforest and mountains.

    More about Virunga National Park from the BBC:

    [Getty Images/BBC]

    Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

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  • FACT FOCUS: With a truce in Israel, Trump now says he’s ended eight wars. His numbers are off

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    As Israel and Hamas traded hostages and prisoners on Monday, taking a first step toward peace, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, telling them he had ended his eighth war.

    “After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm. The guns are silent. The sirens are still. And the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace,” Trump said.

    He then upped the number of wars he claims to have ended in his first eight months in office, saying, “Yesterday I was saying seven, but now I can say eight.”

    But Trump’s claim is exaggerated. Much work remains before an end to the war between Israel and Hamas can be declared. That’s also true in other countries where Trump claims to have ended wars.

    Here’s a closer look:

    Israel and Hamas

    While the ceasefire and hostage deal is a major achievement, it is still an early and delicate moment in the path to a permanent end to the war, let alone a two state solution.

    The first steps of the agreement Trump brokered included the release of hostages in Gaza, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, a surge of humanitarian aid and a partial pullback by Israeli forces from Gaza’s main cities.

    But major elements remain to be worked out.

    After his stop in Israel, Trump gathered with other world leaders in Egypt for a “ Summit of Peace ” to discuss the ceasefire plan. Trump acknowledged that leaders had taken the “first steps to peace” and urged leaders to build on the breakthrough. Trump and other leaders signed a document that he said would “spell out a lot of rules and regulations and lots of other things, and it’s very comprehensive,” though details were not immediately available.

    The next phase of talks is expected to address disarming Hamas, creating a post-war government for Gaza, reconstruction, and the extent of Israel’s withdrawal from the territory. Trump’s plan also stipulates that regional and international partners will work to develop a new Palestinian security force.

    At least some, if not all, of those elements need to be worked out, and negotiations over those issues could break down. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that he and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were “already working” on implementation issues.

    Israel and Iran

    Trump is credited with ending the 12-day war.

    In June, Israel launched attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear program and military leadership, saying it wanted to stop Tehran from building a nuclear weapon. Iran has denied it was trying to do that.

    Trump negotiated a ceasefire after directing American warplanes to strike Iran’s Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites.

    Evelyn Farkas, executive director of Arizona State University’s McCain Institute, said that Trump should get credit for ending the war.

    “There’s always a chance it could flare up again if Iran restarts its nuclear weapons program, but nonetheless, they were engaged in a hot war with one another,” she said. “And it didn’t have any real end in sight before President Trump got involved and gave them an ultimatum.”

    Lawrence Haas, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the American Foreign Policy Council who is an expert on Israel-Iran tensions, agreed the U.S. was instrumental in securing the ceasefire. But he characterized it as a “temporary respite” from the ongoing “day-to-day cold war” between the two countries that often involves flare-ups.

    Egypt and Ethiopia

    This could be described as tensions at best, and peace efforts, which do not directly involve the United States, have stalled.

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River has caused friction between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan since the power-generating project was announced more than a decade ago. In July, Ethiopia declared the project complete. It was inaugurated in September.

    Egypt and Sudan oppose the dam. Although the vast majority of the water that flows down the Nile originates in Ethiopia, Egyptian agriculture relies on the river almost entirely. Sudan fears flooding and wants to protect its own power-generating dams.

    During his first term, Trump tried to broker a deal between Ethiopia and Egypt. He could not get the countries to agree and suspended aid to Ethiopia over the dispute. In July, he posted on social media that he helped the “fight over the massive dam (and) there is peace at least for now.” But the disagreement persists, and negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have stalled.

    “It would be a gross overstatement to say that these countries are at war,” Haas said. “I mean, they’re just not.”

    India and Pakistan

    The April killing of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir pushed India and Pakistan closer to war than they had been in years, but a ceasefire was reached.

    Trump has claimed that the U.S. brokered the ceasefire, which he said came about in part because he offered trade concessions. Pakistan thanked Trump, recommending him for the Nobel Peace Prize. India has denied Trump’s claims, saying there was no conversation between the U.S. and India on trade in regards to the ceasefire.

    Although India played down the Trump administration’s role in the ceasefire, Haas and Farkas believe the U.S. deserves some credit for helping stop the fighting.

    “I think that President Trump played a constructive role from all accounts, but it may not have been decisive. And again, I’m not sure whether you would define that as a full-blown war,” Farkas said.

    Serbia and Kosovo

    The White House lists the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo as one Trump resolved. But there has been no threat of a war between the two neighbors during Trump’s second term or any significant contribution from the Republican president this year to improve relations.

    Kosovo is a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Tensions have persisted since, but never to the point of war, mostly because NATO-led peacekeepers have been deployed in Kosovo, which has been recognized by more than 100 countries.

    During his first term, Trump negotiated a wide-ranging deal between the countries, but much of what was agreed on was never carried out.

    Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Trump has played a key role in peace efforts between the African neighbors, but he is hardly alone and the conflict is far from over.

    Eastern Congo, rich in minerals, has been battered by fighting with more than 100 armed groups. The most potent is the M23 rebel group. It is backed by neighboring Rwanda, which claims that it is protecting its territorial interests and that some of those who participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide fled to Congo and are working with the Congolese army.

    The Trump administration’s efforts paid off in June, when the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers signed a peace deal at the White House. The M23, however, was not directly involved in the U.S.-facilitated negotiations and said it would not abide by the terms of an agreement that did not involve it.

    The final step to peace was meant to be a Qatar-facilitated deal between Congo and M23 that would bring about a permanent ceasefire as well as a final agreement to be signed separately between Congo and Rwanda as facilitated by the administration. However, talks have stalled between the different parties amid setbacks, and deadly fighting continues in eastern Congo.

    Armenia and Azerbaijan

    In August, Trump hosted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House, where they signed a deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the signed document a “significant milestone.” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hailed Trump for performing “a miracle.”

    The agreements were intended to reopen key transportation routes and reaffirm Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s commitment to signing a peace treaty. The treaty’s text was initialed by the countries’ foreign ministers at that meeting, which indicated preliminary approval. But the two countries have yet to sign and ratify the deal.

    Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in a bitter conflict over territory since the early 1990s, when ethnic Armenian forces took control of the Karabakh province, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh, and nearby territories. In 2020, Azerbaijan’s military recaptured broad swaths of territory. Russia brokered a truce and deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers to the region.

    In September 2023, Azerbaijani forces launched a lightning blitz to retake remaining portions. The two countries have worked toward normalizing ties and signing a peace treaty ever since.

    Cambodia and Thailand

    Officials from Thailand and Cambodia credit Trump with pushing the Asian neighbors to agree to a ceasefire in this summer’s brief border conflict.

    Cambodia and Thailand clashed in the past over their shared border. The latest fighting began in July after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Tensions had been growing since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thai politics.

    Both countries agreed in late July to an unconditional ceasefire during a meeting in Malaysia.

    Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim pressed for the pact, but there was little headway until Trump intervened. Trump said on social media that he warned the Thai and Cambodian leaders that the U.S. would not move forward with trade agreements if the hostilities continued. Both countries faced economic difficulties and neither had reached tariff deals with the U.S., though most of their Southeast Asian neighbors had.

    According to Ken Lohatepanont, a political analyst and University of Michigan doctoral candidate, “President Trump’s decision to condition a successful conclusion to these talks on a ceasefire likely played a significant role in ensuring that both sides came to the negotiating table when they did.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Michelle Price, Chinedu Asadu, Melissa Goldin, Jon Gambrell, Grant Peck, Dasha Litvinova, Fay Abuelgasim, Rajesh Roy, and Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report. ___

    Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

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  • Trump says he’s ended 6 or 7 wars. Here’s what the record shows.

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    In recent weeks, President Trump has repeatedly claimed he deserves credit for ending six or seven wars during his first months in office, arguing that he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

    “I stopped seven wars, and they were, they’re big ones too,” Mr. Trump said Friday. 

    “I’ve settled six wars, and a lot of people say seven because there’s one that nobody knows about,” he said in an August 19 interview.

    A White House official provided a list of seven conflicts the president is referencing: Israel and Iran, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Thailand and Cambodia, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Serbia and Kosovo.

    “There has been more progress towards peace than ever before because of this President’s leadership,” the official wrote.

    The recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace prize is expected to be announced next month. 

    Over 100 people have received the award since the 19th-century chemist Alfred Nobel created the prize to honor a “person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” 

    Four U.S. presidents have been past laureates, most recently Barack Obama who received the prize for supporting nuclear nonproliferation and international diplomacy.

    Foreign policy experts say that while Mr. Trump has helped broker ceasefires, including one between Israel and Iran, several of the foreign conflicts cited by the administration were not full-scale wars — and many remain unresolved. The White House did not respond to a request for clarification on why the president has repeatedly labeled all seven conflicts as settled wars.

    Some of these peace efforts involved limited U.S. involvement, and in other instances, it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump’s role was decisive. 

    Here’s a look at the conflicts:

    Israel and Iran 

    After Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, a 12-day conflict resulted in the deaths of  about 28 Israelis and hundreds of Iranians before a ceasefire was reached with U.S. and Qatari involvement. Mr. Trump claimed credit, saying he had ordered U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s uranium enrichment sites and pressed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back from further strikes.

    Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at Brookings, said Mr. Trump deserves some credit for this ceasefire. “He managed to use a combination of a good relationship with Netanyahu, but also a willingness to put a little pressure on Netanyahu that I think contributed to the at least temporary cessation of hostilities,” O’Hanlon said.

    But other foreign policy experts said tensions between the nations are far from resolved, and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in early July that the Defense Department estimated the U.S. strikes likely delayed Iran’s nuclear program by “one to two years.”

    Larry Haas, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council said, “I very strongly disagree with the notion that the president brought peace to Iran and Israel. We may be in a quiet period in terms of direct confrontation, but Iran right now is trying to regroup.”

    Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo 

    In June, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo announced a peace deal after multiple days of talks in Washington mediated by President Trump and Qatar.

    The deal aimed to end three decades of fighting over Congo’s mineral reserves. Yet the violence has continued, with both sides accusing each other of violating peace terms. Human Rights Watch reported that M23, an armed group that U.S. officials believe is backed by Rwanda, killed over 140 civilians in eastern Congo in July.

    “It’s a premature declaration of success, when in fact we are just getting to the starting line,” O’Hanlon said.

    Armenia and Azerbaijan 

    In August, Mr. Trump helped negotiate an agreement aimed at normalizing relations and  reopening transportation routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have spent decades fighting for control of the Karabakh region. 

    O’Hanlon and Haas agreed the Trump administration pushed the deal forward in part by inviting both leaders to the White House. Leaders of both countries also credited Mr. Trump for the agreement, saying he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

    But the deal is not a formal peace agreement and requires ratification. One remaining sticking point is that Azerbaijan wants Armenia to remove any mention of territorial claims to Azerbaijan’s land from its constitution before officials sign a final deal.  Armenia’s prime minister has expressed willingness to change the constitution but has not specified a date for a referendum. 

    Thailand and Cambodia

    In late July, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a ceasefire after an outbreak of fighting killed at least 35 people. President Trump said that he had pressured both sides to come to the table by threatening trade consequences. 

    The U.S. is a top importer for both counties, and foreign policy experts CBS News spoke to said Mr. Trump’s tariff threats played a significant role in securing a ceasefire. “He helped move things along with economic pressure,” Haas said. 

    The border dispute is continuing, though, with Thai officials accusing Cambodia of laying new landmines. Cambodia denied doing so. 

    India and Pakistan 

    India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire in May after weeks of cross-border missile and drone strikes. The deal ended the latest flare-up in their long-running dispute over Kashmir, which both nuclear-armed nations claim as their territory.

    Pakistan credited the Trump administration’s efforts in U.S.-led talks, and nominated him for the Nobel Peace prize. But India insisted its own pressure on Pakistan, not U.S. diplomacy, drove the deal. 

    Josh Kurlantzick, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it’s a stretch to call the dispute over Kashmir settled.

    “There is no real ending to this conflict,” he said, noting that future negotiations could be complicated by Mr. Trump’s decision to impose steep tariffs on India, a key partner. 

    Egypt and Ethiopia

    Mr. Trump also claims he brokered peace between Ethiopia and Egypt, which have disagreed about Ethiopia’s decision to construct a hydroelectric dam in the Nile. 

    During his first term, Mr. Trump tried to broker a deal between the countries and suspended some aid to Ethiopia because of a lack of progress. In June, the president mentioned the dispute on Truth Social, writing, “There is peace, at least for now, because of my intervention, and it will stay that way!”

    No deals have been announced, however. Ethiopia still plans to officially open its dam in September over Egypt’s objections that it will restrict the flow of water to its country. And while Egypt previously threatened to go to war over the dam, this conflict has remained a diplomatic one.

    O’Hanlon said of the dispute, “I would not call the Egypt-Ethiopia interaction a war.” 

    Serbia and Kosovo 

    In 2020, President Trump helped negotiate a deal between Serbia and Kosovo to help normalize economic ties, but progress stalled afterwards. 

    Talks have continued with European leaders, but no breakthroughs have emerged. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, which Serbia still does not recognize.

    “His deal-making, to the extent that it existed, actually occurred in his first term, and he really hasn’t stopped what’s going on,” Haas said. 

    Laura Doan

    Laura Doan is a fact checker for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and social media.

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  • Congo prison escape attempt in Kinshasa leaves almost 130 dead, mostly in stampede, officials say

    Congo prison escape attempt in Kinshasa leaves almost 130 dead, mostly in stampede, officials say

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    Kinshasa, Congo — An attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison in the capital left at least 129 people dead, most of them in a stampede, authorities said Tuesday. A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were shot dead by “warning” gunshots as they tried to escape from the overcrowded Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa early Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the social platform X.

    “There are also 59 injured people taken into care by the government, as well as some cases of women raped,” he said, adding that order has been restored at the prison, part of which was burned in the attack.

    Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary with a capacity for 1,500 people, holds over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report. The facility has recorded previous jailbreaks, including in 2017 when an attack by a religious sect freed dozens.

    makala-prison-congo.jpg
    A security guard stands next to a hole in the perimeter wall of the Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sept. 2, 2024, after authorities said almost 130 people were killed during an attempted escape that led to stampede.

    Reuters/Handout/Congolese Interior Ministry


    Gunfire inside the prison started around midnight on Sunday into Monday morning, residents said. A senior government official earlier said only two deaths were confirmed during the incident, a figure disputed by rights activists.

    Videos that appeared to be from the prison showed bodies lying on the ground, many of them with visible injuries. Another video showed inmates carrying people who appeared to be dead into a vehicle.

    There were no signs of forced entry into the prison, which is located in the city center, 3 miles from the presidential palace.

    The attempted escape was plotted from inside the prison by inmates in one of the wings, Mbemba Kabuya, the deputy justice minister, told the local Top Congo FM radio.

    In the hours that followed the attack, the road to the prison was cordoned off while authorities convened a panel to investigate the incident.

    Makala — among other prisons in Congo — is so overcrowded that people often die from starvation, activists say. Scores of inmates have been released this year as part of efforts to decongest the prisons.

    makala-prisoners-congo.jpg
    A July 27, 2024 file photo taken from video shows prisoners inside the Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    Reuters


    Justice Minister Constant Mutamba called the attack a “premeditated act of sabotage,” adding that those who “instigated these acts of sabotage… will receive a stern response.”

    He also announced a ban on the transfer of inmates from the prison and said authorities will build a new prison, among other efforts to reduce overcrowding.

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  • Mpox

    Mpox

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    Geneva — The mpox outbreak is not another COVID-19, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, because much is already known about the virus and the means to control it. While more research is needed on the Clade 1b strain which prompted the United Nations agency to declare a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the spread of mpox can be reined in, the WHO’s European director Hans Kluge said.

    In July 2022, the WHO declared a PHEIC over the international outbreak of the less severe Clade 2b strain of mpox, which mostly affected gay and bisexual men. The alarm was lifted in May 2023.

    “Mpox is not the new COVID,” Kluge insisted. “We know how to control mpox and, in the European region, the steps needed to eliminate its transmission altogether,” he told a media briefing in Geneva, via video-link.

    “Two years ago, we controlled mpox in Europe thanks to the direct engagement with the most affected communities,” he said. We put in place robust surveillance; we thoroughly investigated new cases contacts; and we provided sound public health advice. Behavior change, non-discriminatory public health action, and mpox vaccination contributed to controlling the outbreak.”


    Advocates use end of Pride Month to warn about mpox

    02:42

    Kluge said the risk to the general population from the virus was low.

    “Are we going to go in lockdown in the WHO European region, [as if] it’s another COVID-19? The answer is clearly no,” he said.

    Kluge said the predominant route of transmission remained close skin-to-skin contact, but he said it was possible that someone in the acute phase of mpox infection, especially with blisters in the mouth, could transmit the virus to close contacts by droplets, in circumstances such as in the home or in hospitals.

    “The modes of transmission are still a bit unclear. More research is required,” he said.

    WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the agency was not recommending the use of masks.

    “We are not recommending mass vaccination. We are recommending to use vaccines in outbreak settings for the groups who are most at risk,” he added.

    Mpox surge in Central Africa exposes awareness gap
    Internally displaced women listen to Nathalie Kipenzi, a hygiene promoter, during an awareness campaign for mpox, an infectious disease that causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever, at the Muja camp for the internally displaced in Nyiragongo territory, near Goma in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 19, 2024.

    Arlette Bashizi/REUTERS


    The WHO declared an international health emergency on August 14, concerned by the rise in cases of Clade 1b in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its spread to nearby countries.

    The WHO declaration came after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreaks of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths attributed to the disease, and called for international help to stop it spreading.

    “This is something that should concern us all,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time. “The potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.”

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  • Number of children killed in global conflicts tripled in 2023, U.N. human rights chief says

    Number of children killed in global conflicts tripled in 2023, U.N. human rights chief says

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    Global conflicts killed three times as many children and twice as many women in 2023 than in the previous year, as overall civilian fatalities swelled 72%, the United Nations said Tuesday. 

    Warring parties were increasingly “pushing beyond boundaries of what is acceptable — and legal,” U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    They are showing “utter contempt for the other, trampling human rights at their core,” he said. “Killings and injuries of civilians have become a daily occurrence. Destruction of vital infrastructure a daily occurrence.”

    “Children shot at. Hospitals bombed. Heavy artillery launched on entire communities. All along with hateful, divisive, and dehumanising rhetoric.”

    livesay-gaza-family-israel-hostage-raid.jpg
    Doctors treat 16-year-old Palestinian Moamen Mattar at a hospital in central Gaza for a gunshot wound his family says he sustained during Israel’s June 8, 2024 operation to rescue four hostages.

    CBS News


    The U.N. rights chief said his office had gathered data indicating that last year, “the number of civilian deaths in armed conflict soared by 72%.”

    “Horrifyingly, the data indicates that the proportion of women killed in 2023 doubled and that of children tripled, compared to the year prior,” he said.

    In the Gaza Strip, Turk said he was “appalled by the disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law by parties to the conflict” and “unconscionable death and suffering.”

    Since the war erupted after Hamas’s unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel, he said “more than 120,000 people in Gaza, overwhelmingly women and children, have been killed or injured… as a result of the intensive Israeli offensives.”

    “Since Israel escalated its operations into Rafah in early May, almost one million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced yet again, while aid delivery and humanitarian access deteriorated further,” he said.


    Israel continues Rafah offensive as fate of cease-fire deal uncertain

    01:38

    Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Tuesday that Israel’s military offensive on the besieged enclave had killed more than 37,372 Palestinians and wounded 85,452 since the war started. The ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties.

    Need for aid increasing, but funding is not 

    Turk also pointed to a range of other conflicts, including in Ukraine, the Democratic epublic of Congo and Syria.

    And in Sudan, in the grips of a more than year-long civil war, he warned the country “is being destroyed in front of our eyes by two warring parties and affiliated groups … (who have) flagrantly cast aside the rights of their own people.”

    Such devastation comes as funding to help the growing numbers of people in need is dwindling.


    Millions facing starvation in Sudan nearly a year after civil war broke out, U.N. says

    03:42

    “As of the end of May 2024, the gap between humanitarian funding requirements and available resources stands at $40.8 billion,” Turk said. “Appeals are funded at an average of 16.1% only,” he said.

    “Contrast this with the almost $2.5 trillion in global military expenditure in 2023, a 6.8% increase in real terms from 2022,” Turk said, stressing that “this was the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009.”

    “In addition to inflicting unbearable human suffering, war comes with a hefty price tag,” he said.

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  • More than 200 dead after Congo floods, with many more missing, officials say

    More than 200 dead after Congo floods, with many more missing, officials say

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    The toll from floods and landslides in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has risen to 203 people dead as more bodies are recovered, an administrative official said Saturday.

    The provisional death toll, announced late on Friday by the provincial governor, was at least 176 dead.

    “Here in Bushushu, 203 bodies have already been removed from the rubble,” said Thomas Bakenga, administrator of Kalehe territory, where the affected villages are located.

    APTOPIX Congo Floods
    Relatives gather to identify bodies in the village of Nyamukubi, South Kivu province, Congo, Saturday, May 6, 2023. 

    Moses Sawasawa via AP


    It was not possible to evaluate the full extent of the human losses and material damage, he told local media.

    Heavy rainfall in the Kalehe region of South Kivu province on Thursday caused rivers to overflow, causing landslides that engulfed the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi.

    The hillside also gave way at Nyamukubi, where the weekly market was held on Thursday, Bakenga added.

    In all, several villages were submerged, many houses washed away and fields devastated when rivers in the region burst their banks due to the heavy rains.

    Congolese doctor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, whose clinic is located in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, said Saturday he had sent a team of surgeons, anesthetists and technicians to the area to “provide the population with emergency medical aid.”

    Congo Floods
    People walk next to a house destroyed by the floods in the village of Nyamukubi, South Kivu province, in Congo.

    Moses Sawasawa via AP


    The disaster came two days after floods killed at least 131 people and destroyed thousands of homes in neighboring Rwanda.

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday offered his condolences to the victims of the “catastrophic floods” in Rwanda and DR Congo.

    “This is yet another illustration of accelerating climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have done nothing to contribute to global warming,” he said during a visit to Burundi.

    Experts say extreme weather events are happening with increased frequency and intensity due to climate change.

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  • Macron lays out ‘new era’ for France’s reduced presence in Africa

    Macron lays out ‘new era’ for France’s reduced presence in Africa

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    French President Emmanuel Macron called on Monday for his country to build “a new, balanced relationship” with Africa, as the former colonial power seeks to reduce its military presence on the continent.

    “The objective of this new era is to deploy our security presence in a partnership-based approach,” Macron said in a speech in Paris, ahead of a tour that will take him to Gabon, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo later this week.

    In the future, French military bases on the continent will be “co-administered” with local personnel, the French president said, while there will be a “visible decrease” in the number of French troops stationed in Africa over the next few months.

    The news comes as France has faced increasing opposition from local governments over its continued military presence in several of its former colonies, and was forced to withdraw hundreds of troops from Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso over the past year. Around 5,000 French soldiers remain stationed on various bases throughout the continent.

    But Paris’ waning influence — particularly in the Sahel region — has also allowed Russia to expand its reach in Africa, including in the digital sphere through the use of disinformation campaigns, as well as on the ground with mercenaries from the Wagner group, who in some cases have replaced French soldiers.

    The French president said his country would steer away from “anachronistic” power struggles in Africa, saying African countries should be considered as “partners,” both militarily and economically.

    “Africa isn’t [anyone’s] backyard, even less so a continent where Europeans and French should dictate its framework for development,” Macron said.

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    Nicolas Camut

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  • Pope Francis attracts more than one million worshippers to DRC Mass | CNN

    Pope Francis attracts more than one million worshippers to DRC Mass | CNN

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    Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
    CNN
     — 

    More than one million people attended Pope Francis’ Mass in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Wednesday, the Vatican Press Office said, citing figures estimated by local authorities.

    Francis’ trip to the DRC – the first papal visit since 1985 – comes at a time the African nation is beset by armed fighting and a worsening refugee crisis.

    It is part of a six-day trip in the DRC and South Sudan – two countries where Catholics comprise about half of the population and the Church is a key stakeholder in health and education systems as well as in democracy-building efforts. Both countries have abundant natural resources, but are grappling with poverty and strife.

    Pope Francis celebrates a holy Mass at N'Dolo Airport in Kinshasa in the DRC on Wednesday.

    A CNN team on the ground witnessed crowds singing and dancing at N’Dolo Airport from the early hours of the morning, waiting for their first glimpse of the Pope, who toured the air field in an open Popemobile.

    Francis spoke to attendees in his homily about peace and directly challenged those who wield weapons.

    “May it be the right time for you, who in this country call yourself a Christian but commit violence,” Francis said. “To you the Lord says, ‘Put down your arms and embrace mercy.’”

    “We Christians are called to cooperate with everyone, to break the cycle of violence, to dismantle the machinations of hatred,” the Pope said.

    Francis said the population was suffering from “wounds that ache, continually infected by hatred and violence, while the medicine of justice and the balm of hope never seem to arrive,” according to Reuters.

    Decades of militia violence have taken grip of the DRC, as state forces struggle to curb rebel groups. Conflict between government troops and the M23 rebel group, which seeks control of the country from its stronghold in eastern DRC, has left many dead and displaced thousands.

    According to the UN World Food Programme, 26 million people in the DRC face severe hunger.

    Francis met with victims of violence from the east during his visit, and said he was “left without words” after hearing their harrowing stories.

    “We can only weep in silence,” the Pope said, as he thanked the victims for their courageous testimony.

    He is scheduled to leave Kinshasa Friday for South Sudan’s capital, Juba, where he will be joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

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  • Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations | CNN

    Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Pope Francis starts a trip on Tuesday to two fragile African nations often forgotten by the world, where protracted conflicts have left millions of refugees and displaced people grappling with hunger.

    The Jan. 31-Feb 5 visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, takes the 86-year-old pope to places where Catholics make up about half of the populations and where the Church is a key player in health and education systems as well as in democracy-building efforts.

    The trip was scheduled to take place last July but was postponed because Francis was suffering a flare-up of a chronic knee ailment. He still uses a wheelchair and cane, but his knee has improved significantly.

    Both countries are rich in natural resources – DRC in minerals and South Sudan in oil – but beset with poverty and strife.

    DRC, which is the second-largest country in Africa and has a population of about 90 million, is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985 when it was known as Zaire.

    Francis had planned to visit the eastern city of Goma but that stop was scrapped following the resurgence of fighting between the army and the M23 rebel group in the area where Italy’s ambassador, his bodyguard and driver were killed in an ambush in 2021.

    Francis will stay in the capital, Kinshasa, but will meet there with victims of violence from the east.

    “Congo is a moral emergency that cannot be ignored,” the Vatican’s ambassador to DRC, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, told Reuters.

    According to the U.N. World Food Programme, 26 million people in the DRC face severe hunger.

    The country’s 45 million-strong Catholic Church has a long history of promoting democracy and, as the pope arrives, it is gearing up to monitor elections scheduled for December.

    “Our hope for the Congo is that this visit will reinforce the Church’s engagement in support of the electoral process,” said Britain’s ambassador to the Vatican, Christ Trott, who spent many years as a diplomat in Africa.

    DRC is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985 when it still was known as Zaire.

    The trip takes on an unprecedented nature on Friday when the pope leaves Kinshasa for South Sudan’s capital, Juba.

    That leg is being made with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

    “Together, as brothers, we will live an ecumenical journey of peace,” Francis told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday address.

    The three Churches represent the Christian makeup of the world’s youngest country, which gained independence in 2011 from predominantly Muslim Sudan after decades of conflict and has a population of around 11 million.

    “This will be a historic visit,” Welby said. “After centuries of division, leaders of three different parts of (Christianity) are coming together in an unprecedented way.”

    Two years after independence, conflict erupted when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir clashed with those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar, who is from a different ethnic group. The bloodshed spiralled into a civil war that killed 400,000 people.

    A 2018 deal stopped the worst of the fighting, but parts of the agreement – including the deployment of a re-unified national army – have not yet been implemented.

    There are 2.2 million internally displaced people in South Sudan and another 2.3 million have fled the country as refugees, according to the United Nations, which has praised the Catholic Church as a “powerful and active force in building peace and reconciliation in conflict-torn regions”.

    In one of the most remarkable gestures since his papacy began in 2013, Francis knelt to kiss the feet of South Sudan’s previously warring leaders during a retreat at the Vatican in April 2019, urging them not to return to civil war.

    Trott, a former ambassador in South Sudan, said he hoped the three Churchmen can convince political leaders to “fulfil the promise of the independence movement”.

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  • Rwanda accused of ‘act of war’ as DRC fighter jet is hit mid-air | CNN

    Rwanda accused of ‘act of war’ as DRC fighter jet is hit mid-air | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday denounced Rwanda’s accusation that a Congolese fighter jet violated Rwandan airspace, alleging the aircraft was attacked by Rwandan forces in a “deliberate act of aggression that amounts to an act of war.”

    Rwanda’s government communications office released a statement on Twitter Tuesday which said: “Today at 5:03 pm, a Sukhoi-25 from DR Congo violated Rwanda airspace for the third time. Defensive measures were taken. Rwanda asks the DRC to stop this aggression.”

    The Congolese government later issued a statement disputing Kigali’s version of events, alleging the jet was “attacked while it was beginning its landing on the runway of Goma’s international airport.”

    “The Rwandan fire was directed at a Congolese aircraft, flying inside Congolese territory. It did not fly over Rwandan airspace. The aircraft landed without major material damage.”

    It continues to say “the Government considers this umpteenth attack by Rwanda to be a deliberate act of aggression that amounts to an act of war” with the “sole objective of sabotaging” ongoing efforts to restore peace in eastern DRC, where a rebel insurgency has fractured relations between the two countries.

    CNN cannot independently verify either version of events.

    A video shared widely on Congolese social media showed a projectile shooting toward an airborne military plane, before exploding in the air near the plane, which continued to fly. CNN could not immediately verify the video.

    Rwanda is accused by the Congolese government, the United Nations, and Western allies of supporting the notorious armed M23 rebel group in its violent insurgency in eastern DRC, which Kigali denies.

    Regional leaders brokered an agreement in November under which the Tutsi-led group was meant to withdraw from recently seized positions by Jan. 15 as part of efforts to end the fighting that has displaced at least 450,000 people.

    Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said last week that the rebels had not fully withdrawn from those areas.

    In December, Rwanda said another fighter jet from Congo had briefly violated its air space.

    An unarmed Congolese warplane also briefly landed at a Rwandan airport in November while on a reconnaissance mission near the border, in what Congo said was an accident.

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