Why Is Violence Flaring Up in Mineral-Rich Congo?

Why Is Violence Flaring Up in Mineral-Rich Congo?

Rebels backed by Rwanda are seizing huge tracts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rebels, known as M23, say they are protecting ethnic Tutsis, the minority group massacred in a 1994 genocide. But experts say the real reason is Congo’s rare minerals, which power our phones and devices. Ruth Maclean, New York Times West … Read more

A Spotted Hyena Turns Up in Egypt After a 5,000 Absence

A Spotted Hyena Turns Up in Egypt After a 5,000 Absence

The animal killed two goats belonging to residents of Wadi Yahmib, a village within the sparsely populated Elba Protected Area of Egypt. To protect their livestock, the villagers chased down the carnivore in a pickup truck and killed it. When Abdullah Nagy, a zoologist at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, received a video of the hunt … Read more

U.N. warns escalation in Congo war with M23 rebels bringing “summary executions” and gang rapes

U.N. warns escalation in Congo war with M23 rebels bringing "summary executions" and gang rapes

Geneva — The United Nations on Friday voiced alarm at rampant violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as the M23 armed group pushed deeper into the country, warning of summary executions and widespread rapes. The group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, earlier in the week was a dramatic … Read more

Where the Taxis Are Motorcycles, and the Drivers Are Women

Where the Taxis Are Motorcycles, and the Drivers Are Women

When her three children didn’t have enough to eat, Monica Atieno decided to apply for a job through a new program that was recruiting women to become motorcycle taxi drivers — a profession long dominated by men. At first, she kept her plan a secret from her husband, who was himself a motorcycle taxi driver … Read more

How the World Is Reeling From Trump’s Aid Freeze

How the World Is Reeling From Trump’s Aid Freeze

In famine-stricken Sudan, soup kitchens that feed hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in a war zone have shut down. In Thailand, war refugees with life-threatening diseases have been turned away by hospitals and carted off on makeshift stretchers. In Ukraine, residents on the frontline of the war with Russia may be going without firewood … Read more

Ebola kills nurse in Uganda’s capital Kampala, first death from virus since last outbreak ended in 2023

Ebola kills nurse in Uganda's capital Kampala, first death from virus since last outbreak ended in 2023

Kampala, Uganda — A nurse in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, has died of Ebola, a health official said Thursday, in the first recorded fatality since the last outbreak ended in 2023. Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of the health ministry, told reporters the 32-year-old male patient was an employee of Mulago Hospital, the main referral facility in … Read more

Pause on U.S. Funding Spreads Fear of H.I.V. Spike Across Africa

Pause on U.S. Funding Spreads Fear of H.I.V. Spike Across Africa

As he does every three months, Sibusiso traveled on Wednesday morning to a clinic in the capital of Eswatini, a tiny southern African nation, to get a refill of the H.I.V. medication he needs to save his life. When he arrived, the door was locked and about 20 other patients stood outside, baffled that the … Read more

State Department Permits Distribution of H.I.V. Medications to Resume — for Now

State Department Permits Distribution of H.I.V. Medications to Resume — for Now

The Trump administration on Tuesday issued a waiver for lifesaving medicines and medical services, offering a reprieve for a worldwide H.I.V. treatment program that was halted last week. The waiver, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seemed to allow for the distribution of H.I.V. medications, but whether the waiver extended to preventive drugs or … Read more

U.S. Halt to Foreign Aid Cripples Programs Worldwide

U.S. Halt to Foreign Aid Cripples Programs Worldwide

Treating H.I.V. across dozens of nations. Stopping the forced labor of Chinese workers. Training Mexican and Colombian police in anti-narcotics enforcement. Those are just a tiny sample of aid programs around the world operating with grant money from the U.S. government that could be permanently shut down under an executive order President Trump signed last … Read more

Rwanda, the West’s ‘Donor Darling,’ Seizes an Opportunity in Congo

Rwanda, the West’s ‘Donor Darling,’ Seizes an Opportunity in Congo

After Rwanda-backed rebels seized the Congolese city of Goma in 2012, powerful nations across the world registered their disapproval, announcing sanctions against Rwanda and other measures that led to the rebels’ defeat a year later. When those same rebels battled to capture Goma on Sunday, several nations once again voiced their criticism, but they have … Read more