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African Bloggers
Bloggers in Africa fight government censorship to go above and beyond the role of mainstream journalists.
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Gorilla Murders, Tuesday July 1st.
National Geographic Explorer investigates the execution-style murder of six mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park. Their search reveals corruption and how Virunga has become one of the most dangerous places on earth.
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National Geographic
(comcast San Francisco: 273)
above link for NG channel link.
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also, Terry Gross interviewed the photographer Brent Stirton on 07/24
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91...
National Geographic Explorer investigates the execution-style murder of six mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park. Their search r... more -
Space cameras to monitor forests
Plans to use a state-of-the-art camera on board a satellite to monitor deforestation levels in Africa's Congo Basin have been unveiled.
The high resolution RALCam3 camera, designed and built by UK scientists, will provide the first detailed view of the area's rate of forest cover loss.
The project is part of the Congo Basin Forest Fund, a £108m joint-initiative by the UK and Norwegian governments.
The fund aims to curb climate change by preventing deforestation in the region. Plans to use a state-of-the-art camera on board a satellite to monitor deforestation levels in Africa's Congo Basin have been unveiled... more -
Video: The Rugendo Family Massacre
From the report: On July 22 of last year unknown assailants crouched in the forest, preparing to execute a family of gorillas. Hidden on a side slope of the Mikeno volcano in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, armed with automatic weapons, the killers had hunted down the twelve-member rugendo family, well-known among tourists and well loved by the rangers of Virunga National Park. From the report: On July 22 of last year unknown assailants crouched in the forest, preparing to execute a family of gorillas. Hidden ... more
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Africa's Congo Basin forest aided by satellite tree felling survey
A project to map every place in the world's second-largest tropical forest where trees have been cut down will be announced today.
A purpose-built camera will be sent into space to record every clearing and logger's track in the Congo Basin in Africa to determine how much of the forest is left.
The camera will be fixed to a satellite and should be operational by the end of 2010 as part of an initiative to save the Central African tropical forest from being chopped down.
At twice the size of France, the Congo Basin forest is exceeded in extent only by the Amazon but it is estimated that loggers, many of them illegal, destroy an area the size of 25,000 football pitches every week.
Forests absorb huge quantities of carbon but it is released when they are cut down and their preservation is regarded as one of the biggest challenges by those trying to slow the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.
Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, will announce extra funding to save the forest today when he explains the camera project. It will record the forest in more detail than before.
A project to map every place in the world's second-largest tropical forest where trees have been cut down will be announced today. ... more -
UN envoys back Congo's Kabila against Rwandan rebels
"U.N. envoys met Congo President Joseph Kabila on Saturday and backed his plans to disarm and expel Rwandan rebels behind years of strife, and to refocus the biggest U.N. peace force on rebuilding his shattered nation.
The ambassadors reassured Kabila the peacekeepers who have backed his army's efforts to control almost daily clashes with local militias and Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern areas since a 1998-2003 war would not simply pack their bags and leave."It will not happen very soon," French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, who is leading the Security Council delegation on what has become an annual trip around Africa's trouble spots, said after the meeting.
"It should not happen abruptly. There should be of course a transition, in which to pass from security re-establishment to the development of the country and that the U.N. could do something else than only sending troops for security purposes."
He said Kabila wanted the peacekeeping mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, to shift its priorities from security to development as Congo tries to rebuild an economy ruined by decades of kleptocracy and violence.
An estimated 5.4 million people have been killed as a result of conflict since 1998, mostly through hunger and disease.
Fighting has been concentrated in the east of the vast country where Rwandan Hutu rebels known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) fled after their country's 1994 genocide of some 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates.
Their presence has triggered invasions in 1996, when Rwanda and Uganda helped Kabila's father Laurent march across the country to oust late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, and again two years later, when those countries fell out with their protege.
Joseph Kabila became president after his father was assassinated in 2001 and five years later he won the country's first free elections in more than 40 years."
By Louis Charbonneau "U.N. envoys met Congo President Joseph Kabila on Saturday and backed his plans to disarm and expel Rwandan rebels behind years of str... more -
Yellow fever hits Congo deportees
Yellow fever is sweeping through the thousands of Congolese expelled from Angola, a local official says.
At least 10 people have already died, says the mayor of Lutembo in south-west Democratic Republic of Congo. The town's hospital, which is chronically short of medicines, is struggling to cope.
More than 20,000 Congolese diamond miners have been expelled from Angola in recent weeks. The UN is trying to reach the remote region by helicopter.
Previous mass expulsions in the area were halted by an agreement between the two countries but with Angola preparing for elections later this year, correspondents say the authorities are keen to rid the area of foreigners. Yellow fever is sweeping through the thousands of Congolese expelled from Angola, a local official says. ... more -
"We must kill all Tutsis"
Thousands of people were massacred during the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. Now, in the crucible of the ensuing war in neighbouring Congo, the fugitive killers are training their children to carry on the Hutu mission of extermination. Thousands of people were massacred during the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. Now, in the crucible of the ensuing war in neighbouring Cong... more
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Congo's Bloody Coltan
The war beginning in 1998 that pitted the armies of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola against those of Uganda and Rwanda induced the largest humanitarian disaster since World War II, with an estimated four million Congolese lives lost.
Congo’s first national elections since 1965 have taken place, but true peace and democracy remain elusive goals. The population continues to be caught in a deadly whirlpool fueled by weapons transfers, infrastructure breakdown, ineffective leadership, and insecurity.
Mvemba Phezo Dizolele traveled through Congo to cover one of the most under-reported conflicts in the world today.
"Congo's Bloody Coltan" is a quick glimpse at the way Coltan, a substance used to make electronics such as cellphones and computers, has played a role in Congo's civil war.
Produced by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in association with Azimuth Media.
To learn more about this issue, visit www.pulitzercenter.org The war beginning in 1998 that pitted the armies of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola against those of Uganda and Rwanda induced the... more -
Penis theft panic hits city
Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.
Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.
Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.
Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.
"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings... You see them covered in marks after being beaten," Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have since been released.
"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke," Oleko said.
"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'how do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'," he said.
Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.
"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station. Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of pan... more -
Penis theft panic hits city
Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises.
OMG
look out!!!!!
"beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings." Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises. OMG ... more -
Congolese Police Try To Control Pubic . . . I mean Public, after Alleged Penis The...
Congolese Police arrested 27 men after accusations began to circulate that some of the men had used sorcery to shrink or steal other men's genitals.
The police arrested both the alleged magicians and the alleged victim hoping to prevent the lynchings similar to those that occurred 10 years ago in Ghana after similar accusations. Congolese Police arrested 27 men after accusations began to circulate that some of the men had used sorcery to shrink or steal other m... more -
DC-9 airplane crashes in populated Congo neighborhood
Government officials say there are only six known survivors out of the 85 people who were onboard a DC-9 plane that crashed in eastern Congo.
The governor of the province where the plane crashed says there were 79 passengers and six crew members on the flight headed to Congo's capital.
Julien Mpaluku says the crash site in Goma is engulfed in flames and it isn't clear if the bodies found are those of passengers or people in the neighborhood where the plane went down. Government officials say there are only six known survivors out of the 85 people who were onboard a DC-9 plane that crashed in eastern... more -
Eastern Congo Faces Pit of Ethnic Divide
Ethnically-based manipulation by fighting factions, recruiting child soldiers and waging abuses on civilians prevent a return to peace in the mineral rich region, despite international attention.
Ethnically-based manipulation by fighting factions, recruiting child soldiers and waging abuses on civilians prevent a return to peace... more -
THE SUN KEEPS RISING
Congolese's president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, paid tribute to Savorgnan de Brazza.Sacrilege and sceptical, Congo decides to honour a pioneer, a sourdough, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, the one who brought Central Africa to the French sphere.
The legend says that he founded Brazzaville in 1880. Therefore, in order to celebrate the centenary of his death, the Congolese authorities built a 15 million-euro mausoleum, co-financed by France and Gabon. A gigantic monument made of marble. Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza will be re-buried with his family on the shores of river Congo.
To this political foolishness is added the State' sacrilege.
During this time, life goes on with an assortment of happiness and cruelty.
Congolese's president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, paid tribute to Savorgnan de Brazza.Sacrilege and sceptical, Congo decides to honour a pi... more -
Still a Congo Crisis
In eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 370,000 people have fled their homes since last December. The conflict centers around fighting between a Tutsi renegade commander, Rwandan rebels, and the Congolese National Army. If the fighting continues, UN officials say it will be one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world. In eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 370,000 people have fled their homes since last December. The conflict ... more
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5.4 Million Killed in Congo Conflict
A new International Rescue Committee survey has found that 5,400,000 people have died from war-related causes in Congo since 1998 ? the world?s deadliest documented conflict since WW II. The vast majority died from non-violent causes such as malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition?easily preventable and treatable conditions when people have access to health care and nutritious food.
There is a ray of hope the conflict may soon come to an end as the Democratic Republic of Congo and armed groups are now sitting down together and are lurching forward to sign a peace agreement.
The sheer level of devestation and death that has taken place over the last 10 years is remarkable. The International Rescue Committee President George Rupp said the loss of life was equivalent to the entire population of Denmark, or the state of Colorado, dying within a decade.
To read the full report, check it out on blogflict. A new International Rescue Committee survey has found that 5,400,000 people have died from war-related causes in Congo since 1998 ? th... more -
War in Congo continues to kill 45,000 each month
The deadliest conflict since the second world war is that which continues today in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This survey reports that 5.4 million Congolese have been killed in less than a decade, and at present, about 45,000 people die each month -- half of them small children. While not all of the reported deaths are directly related to combat, the preventable diseases and starvation that have been aggravated by conflict are claiming many thousands of lives.
"Congo is one of 11 countries where 20% of children die before the age of five, according to a Unicef report released yesterday."
The deadliest conflict since the second world war is that which continues today in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This survey repor... more -
Congo: Fighting army looting with Human Resources
EUX.TV Videojournalist Raymond Frenken travels to Congo and finds himself in a refugee camp near Goma - in the heart of the war-torn Kivu province. The camp was looted by army soldiers just a few days earlier.
Back in Brussels, it turns out that the European Union has set up a mission in Kinshasa to combat exactly such abuses by making sure the Congolese soldiers are paid properly. The EUSEC mission is only a drop in the ocean, but one that's warmly welcomed by NGO's working in the Mugunga camp.
The Mugunga camp images were filmed on 23 and 24 November 2007. EUX.TV Videojournalist Raymond Frenken travels to Congo and finds himself in a refugee camp near Goma - in the heart of the war-torn K... more
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