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The Yellow-crested Helmetshrike was ready for what might be its first-ever closeup - Matt Brady, University of Texas at El Paso ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No-one has seen the Yellow-crested Helmetshrike for about 20 years. That changed when researchers embarked on a six-week expedition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and captured the dramatic-looking yellow-topped bird in its first-known photo. With nearly 70% of the planet's wildlife populations having declined since the 1970s, there are not often stories worth cheering for when it comes to global animal welfare. But a new find in the remote Itombwe Massif in the Congo is certainly...

A bridge in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) collapsed as officials gathered to inaugurate it, according to local Khaama Press news agency. Videos of the accident are circulating on social media where people are mocking the construction quality. The small bridge was built to help locals cross a river during the rainy season. The temporary structure that was there before the bridge used to break frequently, the news agency said in its report. One of the videos shows officials standing on the bridge to formally inaugurate it during an official event. The inauguration would have been complete with the cutting...

The president’s son was part owner of a venture involved in the $3.8 billion purchase by a Chinese conglomerate of one of the world’s largest cobalt deposits. The metal is a key ingredient in batteries for electric vehicles. An investment firm where Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was a founding board member helped facilitate a Chinese company’s purchase from an American company of one of the world’s richest cobalt mines, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. Biden and two other Americans joined Chinese partners in establishing the firm in 2013, known as BHR and formally named Bohai Harvest...

Days after a deadly eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in Democratic Republic of Congo, the threat of another eruption forced the evacuation of much of the city of Goma. But that ended up in a traffic chaos… Tens of thousands of residents tried to escape the major city in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, after authorities issued an evacuation order warning that Mount Nyiragongo could erupt again. People jammed highways, crowded boats and set off on foot to flee this major African city on Thursday, seeking an escape from the rumbling threat of Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s...

Scientists discovered an undescribed species of truffle, thanks to bonobos, who savor the mushrooms. Credit: Alexander Georgiev ================================================================================== Mushroom-munching bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have introduced scientists to a new species of truffle. Commonly used by Congolese communities to bait traps for small mammals, Hysterangium bonobo is also savored by bonobos, an endangered species of great ape. Scientists say the truffle hints at vast reserves of undescribed fungal diversity in the region. "Truffles aren't just for gourmet chefs—they're also for our closest relatives," said Matthew Smith, an associate professor in the University of Florida department of plant...

“According to witnesses at the scene, these militiamen wanted all the expatriates to go home because according to them, Ebola does not exist in Butembo,” Dozens of rebel groups are active in eastern Congo. There also has been some community resistance to Ebola containment efforts in a traumatized, wary region that had never faced an outbreak of the virus before This month could see the highest rate of Ebola transmission yet, Kitchen said, adding “the trajectory of this outbreak is alarming.”

President Trump announced that U.S. troops will be sent to Gabon, in anticipation of “violent” demonstrations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) if and when the results of the December 30 presidential election are announced...The Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC is still growing, but not as quickly as had been feared. The outbreak total is 613 cases, including 565 confirmed and 54 suspected cases. Health officials are still investigating 54 suspected infections.

GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — At least 14 civilians were killed on Saturday in a six-hour attack by rebels on the town of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials told Reuters, warning the unrest may hamper efforts to quash an Ebola epidemic in the area. The latest outbreak of the deadly disease has been focused in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which have been a tinder box of armed rebellion and ethnic killing since two civil wars in the late 1990s. Militants believed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group active in...

Congo Crowd Kills Man, Eats Him After Militant Massacres: Witnesses A crowd stoned to death a young man in northeast Congo on Friday before burning and eating his corpse, witnesses said, in apparent revenge for a series of attacks by Ugandan rebels. The incident in the town of Beni followed a number of overnight raids in the area blamed on the Islamist group ADF-NAUL, who are thought to have massacred more than 100 people this month, using hatchets and machetes to kill their victims.

BENI Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - A crowd stoned to death a young man in northeast Congo on Friday before burning and eating his corpse, witnesses said, in apparent revenge for a series of attacks by Ugandan rebels. The incident in the town of Beni followed a number of overnight raids in the area blamed on the Islamist group ADF-NAUL, who are thought to have massacred more than 100 people this month, using hatchets and machetes to kill their victims. Witnesses said the man, who has not been identified, aroused suspicion on a bus when passengers discovered he could...

KAMPALA, Uganda At least 1,700 Congolese M23 rebels, including the top commander, have surrendered to Ugandan authorities following their defeat by Congolese troops, a Ugandan military official said Thursday. Gen. Sultani Makenga, M23's military commander, and his fighters were being held by the Ugandan military in Mgahinga, a forested area near the Congo border, the official said. The rebels had been disarmed and were being registered by Ugandan officials, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give this information. This week the rebels lost control of all the territory they once held...

New York, US - UN agencies on Friday expressed alarm at the increasing rate of human rights violations in the Central African Republic (CAR), following reports of burnt and abandoned villages, massive displacement, as well as looting and torture. PANA in New York reported that members of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), along with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), travelled last week to the town of Paoua, 500 kilometres north of the capital, Bangui. They found seven villages burnt to the ground and deserted and the eighth partially burnt with...

Blasts rocked the capital of the Republic of Congo on Sunday, after a weapons depot caught fire, officials said, killing at least 206 people and pinning countless others underneath collapsed buildings, including a church. A morgue in Brazzaville took in 136 bodies Sunday afternoon, as more continued to arrive. A local hospital reported at least 237 patients wounded in the blasts. Didier Boutsindi of the presidential office said untold numbers of people were trapped in St. Louis church, which collapsed. "Many of the faithful are trapped in the debris of the church," he said. "Several of the dead have been...

The eruption of a volcano in Virunga National Park near Goma is seen at night. Volcano fanatics will have to pay $300...The eruption of a volcano in Virunga National Park near Goma is seen at night. Almost three weeks after a fissure opened amidst dense flat forest, the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park has seen an increasing number of tourists seeking to be guided on treks to witness the Nyamulagira volcano spewing geysers of lava into the night.