July 14, 2026 9:22 AM

US to block citizens in Congo from immediate travel home, citing Ebola

The Trump administration on Monday said it is blocking American citizens in the Democratic Republic of Congo from traveling to the U.S. on commercial flights, according to a White House official.   The order, which is being taken under a transportation authority known as Title 49, will place U.S. citizens in Congo or those who have recently left on a “do-not-board” list until they have spent at least 21 days in a third country, the person said.   The new restrictions come amid a wideni...

May 17, 2026 11:59 AM

WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo, Uganda an emergency of international concern

The World Health Organization on Sunday declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a "public health emergency of international concern", posing risks to neighbouring countries. The WHO said the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency but that countries sharing land borders with the DRC are at high risk for further spread. The U.N. health agency said in a statement that 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-...

April 8, 2026 11:05 PM

Thousands of small fish defy gravity to climb Congo waterfall

A species of small fish has been observed by the thousands climbing a vertical waterfall 15 metres (50 feet) tall in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a behaviour that illustrates the surprising and ingenious ways animals can adapt to extreme environments. The researchers documented how this species of shellear fish, whose scientific name is Parakneria thysi, scales the Luvilombo Falls in the upper Congo Basin, a vast river system spanning Central Africa and home to the world's second-largest...

February 3, 2026 6:41 PM

UN to deploy ceasefire monitoring mission in Congo, Qatar says

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo will send its first team to monitor a ceasefire between Congo’s government and the AFC/M23 rebel group in the coming days, Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Monday after hosting talks in Doha. Qatar said the team would be deployed to Uvira, a strategic city in eastern Congo that AFC/M23 fighters captured in December during a rapid offensive, and which Congolese forces and allied militias re‑entered last month, restoring government control af...

December 16, 2025 3:26 PM

Rwanda-backed M23 group says it will withdraw from seized Congo town after US request

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have said they would withdraw from the eastern Congo town of Uvira at the request of the U.S. administration, which had criticised seizure of the town last week as a threat to mediation efforts. The rebels entered Uvira, on the border with Burundi, less than a week after the presidents of Congo and Rwanda met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington and affirmed their commitment to a peace deal known as the Washington Accords. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...

December 5, 2025 9:27 AM

Trump puts his own name on US Institute of Peace ahead of Rwanda-Congo peace deal

President Donald Trump's name has been affixed to the United States Institute of Peace building in Washington, D.C., nearly nine months after his Department of Government Efficiency seized the nonprofit organization and all but closed it. The change came ahead of Trump hosting the presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo inside the building on Thursday for the signing of a U.S.-brokered peace deal. Trump's State Department said it renamed the building, adding Trump's name abov...

September 3, 2025 11:15 AM

US peacekeeping cuts could limit UN ability to protect civilians, says UN

United Nations peacekeeping missions are under severe financial pressure and U.S. cuts could limit their ability to protect civilians in places like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a U.N. peacekeeping spokesperson said on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump last week unilaterally canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid authorized by Congress. This includes some $800 million in peacekeeping funding appropriated for 2024 and 2025, according to a Trump administration message to Con...

May 28, 2025 11:32 AM

Operation Sindoor outreach: Indian delegation thanks Congo for unequivocal condemnation of terrorism

An all-party Indian parliamentary delegation led by Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde has successfully concluded its diplomatic mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), emphasising India's firm stand against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism and garnering the African nation's support for its anti-terror stance. The visit marks a significant outreach in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 innocent tourists were killed. On Tuesday, the India...

March 24, 2025 4:57 PM

Angola to end east Congo conflict mediation role, presidency says

Angola will step down from its position as a mediator between parties involved in an escalating Rwanda-backed rebel offensive in eastern Congo, the presidency said on Monday, with another African state set to lead efforts to get peace talks back on track. The ethnic Tutsi-led M23 escalated their long-standing rebellion this year, seizing east Congo's two biggest cities since January and encroaching into territory rich in minerals such as gold and tantalum. As the current rotating African Union...

February 18, 2025 11:18 PM

Congo army retreat from Bukavu leads to clashes with allied militias

Government forces and local militias have clashed south of the provincial capital of Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as troops fall back in the face of an advance by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, military sources and townsfolk say. The troops and their militia allies were meant to pull back from Bukavu - a trading and mining industry hub - to avoid urban battles with the rebels and to dig in elsewhere to stall the rapid offensive. The militias wanted to stand and fight. By the time...