Democratic Republic of Congo

February 24, 2026 5:40 PM

Congo lakes are releasing ancient carbon, raising climate concerns, study says

Two large lakes in the Democratic Republic of Congo are releasing carbon that has been locked away for thousands of years in surrounding peatlands, scientists said, in what could pose a threat to climate stability. Tropical peatlands, which play a crucial role in climate regulation, were assumed to keep their carbon securely stored for millennia, according to researchers from the ETH Zurich university who published their findings in Nature Geoscience. However, the researchers from ETH Zurich f...

November 14, 2025 10:00 AM

UN agency says 13.7 million people face severe hunger due to global aid cuts

Almost 14 million people in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan risk severe hunger due to cuts in global humanitarian aid, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday. The WFP's biggest donor, the United States, has slashed its foreign aid under President Donald Trump, and other major nations have also made or announced cuts in development and humanitarian assistance. "WFP's funding has never been more challenged. The agency ex...

November 7, 2025 6:42 PM

World Food Programme may have to pause food aid in c due to record low funding

The U.N. World Food Programme warned on Friday it may have to pause food aid to help millions of malnourished people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by February due to a major funding crisis. "We're at historically low levels of funding. We've probably received about $150 million this year," said Cynthia Jones, country director of the WFP for the DRC, pointing to a need for $350 million to help people in desperate need in the West African country. More than 3.2 million people are facin...

October 14, 2025 4:22 PM

Rajnath Singh urges enhanced collaboration in UN peacekeeping operations

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday called for Enhanced Consultation, Cooperation, Coordination and Capacity Building — the '4C formula' — as a guiding principle for United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. Speaking at the inaugural session of the UN Troop Contributing Countries (UNTCC) Chiefs’ Conclave in New Delhi, Singh said the approach is essential to address emerging challenges in global peacekeeping. Highlighting the growing complexities faced by peacekeepers, Singh note...

October 6, 2025 4:03 PM

UN Cultural Agency Votes for New Chief after US withdrawal

UNESCO will choose its next chief on Monday to lead the organisation after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it for a second time. While outgoing chief Audrey Azoulay has worked to diversify funding sources, the U.N. culture and education agency still receives about 8% of its budget from Washington. Once the withdrawal takes effect at the end of 2026, that funding will be cut. The White House described UNESCO as supporting "woke, divisive cultural and social causes" when...

August 8, 2024 12:05 PM

WHO to convene emergency committee to assess international risk from mpox outbreak

The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday an emergency committee will be convened to discuss whether the current mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo represents a public health emergency of international concern. The current mpox outbreak in Congo has already seen around 27,000 cases, and claimed more than 1,100 lives, most of them children, since the beginning of 2023. The WHO said that 50 more mpox cases had been confirmed and more were suspected in four countr...

June 25, 2024 5:19 PM

WHO, scientists warn on mpox strain in Congo

The spread of mpox in Africa needs to be addressed urgently, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, as scientists warned separately of the dangers of a new strain spreading in a hard-to-reach part of Democratic Republic of Congo. "There is a critical need to address the recent surge in mpox cases in Africa," said Rosamund Lewis, the WHO's technical lead for mpox, in a briefing note to journalists. In a separate briefing, John Claude Udahemuka of the University of Rwanda, who has been w...

September 16, 2024 6:14 PM

Protecting 1.2% of Earth would prevent most extinctions, study says

Setting aside an additional 1.2% of the world's land as nature preserves would prevent the majority of predicted plant and animal extinctions and cost about $263 billion, according to a study published on Tuesday. The world is racing to meet a goal to protect 30% of the world by 2030 to protect wildlife that is being decimated by climate change, pollution and habitat destruction. Global policymakers will meet at a United Nations summit in Colombia in October to discuss plans for reaching that ...