Congo

Ben Affleck's Personal Essay On His Travels Through The Congo To Understand The Humanitarian Crisis There, On ABC News' "Nightline"

Monday, June 23, 2008 -- Actor, writer, producer, director Ben Affleck has traveled to Africa's Congo region three times over the last eight months to understand one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. "Nightline" producer Max Culhane and photographer Doug Vogt joined Affleck on his most recent trip to document his journey as he made his way through refugee camps, hospitals, clinics, meetings with warlords, relief workers, child soldiers and members of parliament in an effort to better understand the place where more than four million people have died in the deadliest conflict since World War II.    » read more »

03 February 2008 -- Two strong earthquakes rocked parts of Rwanda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday morning, killing at least 39 people and injuring nearly 400 others.

Local officials say many people were at Sunday church services when the quakes hit the western Great Rift Valley, a seismically active area.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the first quake at magnitude 6. It jolted Bukavu, n Congo's South Kivu province, where at least five people died.

The second shock hit Rwanda a few hours later with magnitude 5 force, killing at least 34 people.    » read more »

October 26, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) made the following statement on the meeting of President Bush and President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).    » read more »

October 11, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressing his concerns about the growing number of systematic sexual assaults against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since armed conflicts erupted again there six weeks ago. Obama asked Secretary Rice to answer a series of questions about the situation in the DRC and what the United States government is doing to help curb this violence against women.    » read more »

02 October 2007 -- A new report by the London-based watchdog group Global Witness says a Democratic Republic of Congo government review of mining contracts is inadequate and lacks transparency. Congo government ministers say the process is being done correctly.

Global Witness analyst Carina Tertsakian describes the group's report.    » read more »

20 September 2007 -- The World Health Organization says it has found typhoid in an area of the Democratic Republic of Congo where health experts are working to fight an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

Last week, DRC officials ordered a quarantine in central Kasai Occidental province, after the U.N. health agency said five people there tested positive for the Ebola virus. Now, WHO officials say they have discovered five cases of typhoid in the same area.

WHO spokesman, Greg Hartl tells Reuters news agency that one of the typhoid cases also tested positive for Ebola.    » read more »

04 September 2007 -- Fresh clashes erupted in eastern Congo Monday between government forces and renegade troops, forcing large numbers of civilians to flee.

A United Nations spokeswoman in the provincial capital, Goma, Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg expressed concern over the renewed violence.

Reuters news agency quoted the Congolese army as saying it killed 28 fighters loyal to former General Laurent Nkunda, but the claim could not be verified.

Government troops launched the assault on Nkunda's forces late Sunday in Nord-Kivu province and the fighting ended early Monday.    » read more »