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☆ Congolese artists wear costumes made of trash to shine a light on Kinshasa’s pollution problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Flo Cornall | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Artist Junior Mungongu made an interactive costume from plastic bottles and lids to raise awareness of the city’s lack of action on single-use plastics. Walking around the city in his elaborate creation, he engages with his audience by asking people to screw plastic bottles onto the lids. Artist Junior Mungongu wears a costume made out of plastic bottles and lids. Colin Delfosse“Giving echo”Brussels-based photographer Colin Delfosse has created “Fulu Act,” a portrait series featuring some of the KinAct artists. It is estimated that Kinshasa’s inhabitant, known as “Kinois,” produce around 9,000 tons of garbage daily, including 1,500 tons of plastic waste which clogs rivers, contributing to flooding.

Persons: Junior Mungongu, “, ”, Colin Delfosse, Jean Precy Numbi, ” salvages, Samba, ” Jean Precy Numbi, Delfosse, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Sony Locations: Democratic Republic of Congo’s, Kinshasa, Colin Delfosse Belgium, Congolese, DRC, Lingala, Europe, Africa, Brussels

☆ Reaction: Biden, McCarthy debt ceiling deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy have reached a tentative deal to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, ending a months-long stalemate. DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE TED LIU"Tonight, I have been informed that there is an agreement in principle between the White House and House Republicans. This was a House Republican manufactured crisis. REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE BOB GOOD "I am hearing the 'deal' is for a $4 trillion increase in the debt limit. "If we didn't reach a deal … the average American person would clearly see a hit ... we had to reach some kind of conclusion here."

☆ Fulgence Kayishema: Rwanda genocide suspect appears in South African court
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Wendell Roelf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

We are sorry to hear what was happening," he responded, coming up from holding cells at Cape Town Magistrates' Court. REFUGEES[1/7] Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema holds up a Christian book, as he appears in the Cape Town Magistrates Court, in Cape Town, South Africa May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Nic BothmaAccording to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, Kayishema faces five charges in South Africa, including two of fraud. Then two years later to eSwatini and then in the late 90s he ended up in South Africa," Brammertz said. The prosecution persuaded a small number of former Rwandan soldiers with false identities living in South Africa as refugees to provide information on Kayishema's whereabouts, he added.

☆ Opinion | If You’re Reading This, You’re Probably ‘WEIRD’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +83 min

You’re probably very weird, and not just for all the obvious reasons you’re thinking of. Because, obviously, there’s going to be some overlap in the curve here. How you’re going to behave with your professor is quite different than how you’re going to behave with your friends. But it’s really kind of faceless, and you’re not really helping anybody you know. I think things are dynamic, and directions are changing, and that sort of thing.

CNN —At least 400 people have died after floods and landslides hit the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province last week, officials told CNN. “We have 401 deaths in Bushushu and Nyamukubi villages in Kalehe territory,” Kasi said. Congolese Red Cross volunteers and residents of Nyamukubi wrap in blankets the bodies of people who died in heavy flooding in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on May 6, 2023. People are crossing the lake, another danger.”This aerial photograph taken on May 6, 2023 shows a landslide that engulfed Nyamukubi village, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. People walk next to a house destroyed by the floods in the village of Nyamukubi, South Kivu province, in Congo, Saturday, May 6, 2023.

☆ India population will surpass China, UN says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Manveena Suri | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New Delhi, India CNN —India is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation, with almost 3 million more people by the middle of this year, data released by the United Nations on Wednesday showed. Based on the projections, India’s population by mid-year will reach 1.4286 billion, compared to China’s 1.4257 billion – 2.9 million fewer – according to the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) “State of World Population Report” for 2023. But the UN has been unable to determine a date this shift will take place, due to “uncertainty” about the data coming from China and India. By mid-year, the global population is estimated to hit 8.045 billion, the UN report said. And by 2050, eight countries will account for half the projected growth in global population: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

☆ Apple to use only recycled cobalt in batteries by 2025
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 13 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said on Thursday it would use only recycled cobalt in batteries by 2025 as a part of its efforts to make all its products carbon neutral by the end of the decade. Magnets in Apple devices will use recycled rare earth elements, and in-house designed printed circuit boards will use recycled tin soldering and gold plating, the company said. Apple is pushing to become carbon neutral through its entire supply chain and the life cycle of every product by 2030. A quarter of all cobalt used in Apple products came from recycled material in 2022, up from 13% a year earlier, Apple said. It now sources over two-thirds of all aluminum, nearly three-quarters of all rare earths, and more than 95% of all tungsten in its products from recycled material.

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - The problems around artisanal cobalt mining in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will take "a coalition to solve", according to Microsoft (MSFT.O). Yet the West still needs Congo's cobalt and everyone agrees that formalisation is the solution to the high human and economic costs of artisanal mining. ETHICAL DILEMMAThe ethical dilemma facing Western cobalt users, which is just about everyone with a mobile phone, is headline news again after the publication of "Cobalt Red" by Siddarth Kara. Mutoshi's artisanal miners have lost their collective pricing power and their cobalt is once again flowing down opaque channels into the industrial supply chain, the report claims. Most of the country's estimated 150,000-200,000 cobalt miners have never even had the chance of formalisation.

☆ Fact Check-Video purporting to show Kenya protests on March 20 dates to at least August 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video of clashes between a large group of people is circulating online as showing a March 20 cost-of-living protest in Kenya that left one person dead. However, Reuters traced the clip to August 2022 when it featured in a report about a football tournament in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Reuters dated the video back to at least August 2022 when it was shared in relation to a football tournament in DRC. According to a local report, clashes erupted during the competition, and one person fainted after being hit by projectiles (here ) (here ). Video does not show protests in Kenya but dates to at least August 2022 and has been shared in relation to clashes during a football tournament in DRC.

☆ 8 passengers and 2 crew were hurt when a plane hit severe turbulence and sent carts flying during a meal service, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

10 people were injured when a Lisbon-bound plane hit turbulence, Novo Jornal reported. Eight passengers and 2 cabin crew were injured and were checked by medical staff, per CNN Portugal. The turbulence eventually abated five hours into the eight-hour journey, according to Novo Jornal. Eight passengers and two flight attendants were injured, with one needing aid from a doctor on board, Novo Jornal and CNN Portugal reported. TAAG told Novo Jornal in a statement that "adverse weather conditions" were to blame.

☆ Vaccine-derived poliovirus detected in Burundi, Congo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Health officials in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have detected cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus, the World Health Organization and Global Polio Eradication Initiative said. Five other samples from environmental surveillance of waste water confirmed the presence of circulating poliovirus type 2 in Burundi, the WHO added in a statement. Circulating poliovirus type 2 is different to wild poliovirus, with infections occurring when a weakened strain of poliovirus contained in the oral polio vaccine circulates among under-immunized populations for long periods. The detections are significant as they are the first linked with the use of a new vaccine, the novel oral poliomyelitis vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), which was developed specifically to reduce this risk. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said in a statement that circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was found in six children in the DRC's eastern Tanganyika and South Kivu provinces.

☆ Glencore Subsidiary Sentenced, Ordered to Pay $30 Million to Medical Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Dylan Tokar | Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

A Glencore lawyer on Tuesday said the company now expects to pay as much as $1.5 billion in total penalties, up from the $1.2 billion it initially agreed to pay last year. Glencore faced several restitution claims after agreeing to its settlement last year, including from Petróleos Mexicanos SA de CV, or Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company. The negotiated monetary penalty paid by the Glencore subsidiary is lower than what is called for under federal sentencing guidelines, a reflection of Glencore’s cooperation, Judge Schofield said at Tuesday’s sentencing. Glencore gave prosecutors more than a million documents, including from overseas, where prosecutors lack subpoena power, the judge said. The company also agreed to overhaul its compliance program and will be under an independent monitorship for three years, she said.

☆ Why our electronics aren't really conflict-free
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jeniece Pettitt | Katie Brigham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWhy there are still conflict minerals in our electronicsThe minerals tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are found in most consumer electronics, and are mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which contains an estimated $24 trillion in untapped mineral resources. Yet the DRC remains one of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world, and mining these metals can help fund armed conflict in the region. Despite international attention and widespread regulations, it's still hard to know exactly where our minerals are coming from.

☆ How conflict minerals make it into our phones
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Katie Brigham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

All of these minerals are found in our electronics and all are considered conflict minerals, due to their potential origin in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a smartphone, for example, tin is used to solder metal components together, while tantalum is used in capacitors, which store electrical energy. Tungsten is used in the components that make a phone vibrate, and gold is used in circuit board connectors. But consumers still can't be sure if the minerals in their electronics are fully conflict-free, or if the mines where they originated are dangerous, environmentally destructive, or use child labor. So while companies like Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Tesla put out extensive reports on conflict minerals every year, usually stating that there is no reason to believe the minerals they source help to support armed groups, corruption and instability at mine sites means there are no guarantees.

☆ Dogs hit the catwalk at New York Fashion Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Humankind's best friends stole the show at Elysian Impact's Inaugural CatWalk FurBaby fashion show on Friday during New York Fashion Week. The event brought together designers, models, and rescue animals for a day of fashion and fundraising for animal welfare organizations. [1/3] A dog walks on the runway during the CatWalk FurBaby show during the New York Fashion Week in New York, U.S., February 10, 2023. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon 1 2 3Dr Christina Rahm, CEO of DRC Ventures, the event's lead sponsor - who has three dogs and a cat - manages various brands including a couture luxury pet and human fashion line. So we did a couture line as well," she said backstage ahead of the show.

☆ Microsoft calls for 'coalition' to improve Congo's informal cobalt mines
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Congo accounts for three-quarters of the world's mined cobalt supply. "In practice it is virtually impossible for them to completely exclude artisanal cobalt, especially when it is sent to smelters and refiners in DRC and China." Microsoft declined to reply to Reuters' questions about the visit or about its strategy on artisanal cobalt. The issues around artisanal mining are an existential threat to the cobalt industry, according to Marina Demidova, head of communications at the Cobalt Institute. Entreprise Generale du Cobalt, a unit of state mining company Gecamines, was granted a monopoly on artisanal cobalt by government decree.

☆ Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] Pope Francis attends the Vespers prayer service to celebrate the conversion of St. Paul at St. Paul's Basilica in Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pope Francis starts a trip on Tuesday to two fragile African nations often forgotten by the world, where protracted conflicts have left millions of refugees and displaced people grappling with hunger. Both countries are rich in natural resources - DRC in minerals and South Sudan in oil - but beset with poverty and strife. DRC is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985, when it still was known as Zaire. Trott, a former ambassador in South Sudan, said he hoped the three Churchmen can convince political leaders to "fulfil the promise of the independence movement".

☆ Rwanda shoots at Congolese military jet over alleged airspace violation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A video shared widely on Congolese social media showed a projectile shooting towards an airborne military plane, before exploding in the air near the plane, which continued to fly. Congo denied Rwanda's accusation that the jet had been in Rwandan airspace - the latest dispute between the two countries whose relationship has been strained by a rebel insurgency. Earlier the Rwandan government said Rwandan forces had fired at the jet after it violated Rwandan airspace in Rubavu - the same area as previous alleged violations, "prompting the government to take defensive measures." Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said last week that the rebels had not fully withdrawn from those areas. In December, Rwanda said another fighter jet from Congo had briefly violated its air space.

☆ World leaders want to protect a third of the Earth's land and water to save wildlife from extinction. There's a climate connection, too.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nearly 200 countries agreed to protect 30% of Earth's land and water at a UN biodiversity meeting. The meeting, known as COP15, also underscored the link between nature and the climate crisis. Indigenous peoplesFor the first time, the biodiversity framework acknowledged the role of Indigenous people in protecting and restoring land and water. But world leaders didn't designate their land and territory as a separate category of conservation, which groups including Amnesty International and Greenpeace called for. Countries didn't achieve any of the targets to slow biodiversity loss by 2020 included in a previous framework, known as the Aichi targets.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, reflecting the joint leadership of China and Canada, is the culmination of four years of work toward creating an agreement to guide global conservation efforts through 2030. A Congolese representative argued that developed nations should provide more resources to nature conservation efforts in developing countries. [1/6] The leadership of the U.N.-backed COP15 biodiversity conference applaud after passing the The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 19, 2022. Developed countries will provide $25 billion in annual funding starting in 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030. The agreement, which contains 23 targets in total, replaces the 2010 Aichi Biodiversity Targets that were intended to guide conservation through 2020.

☆ DRC floods kill at least 120 in Kinshasa
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Amy Cassidy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —More than 120 people have died in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa after torrential rains caused severe flooding in the city, according to a government statement issued Wednesday. Severe damage could be seen in video obtained by news agency Reuters, with roofs and roads collapsed and people walking knee-deep in water. “On the National Road 1, there is a big hole. A car is seen stuck after heavy rains caused floods and landslides, on the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo December 13,2022. At least 39 people died in Kinshasa in 2019 when torrential rain flooded low-lying districts and some buildings and roads collapsed.

It could also negatively impact African nations that produce battery materials. The United States has a Free Trade Agreement in place with only one African country, Morocco. Battery materials and trade are set to be a focus at next week's U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington where President Joe Biden will meet presidents of African countries including Congo. Under IRA, U.S. carmakers will get tax credits if they source at least 40% of battery materials domestically or from American free-trade partners. His is one of many projects across sub-Saharan Africa aiming to produce battery materials like lithium, nickel and graphite.

☆ Pentagon fears Viktor Bout, the so-called 'Merchant of Death' the US swapped for Brittney Griner, could restart his old arms business
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was released from US custody on Thursday. He gained notoriety during the 1990s for fueling deadly conflicts in various African countries. The Pentagon is concerned that with his release, he could return to his old business. Now, US officials worry the arms dealer could return to fueling deadly conflicts around the world. Bout fueled widespread death & destruction by arming UN-sanctioned regimes & groups in the #DRC, #Liberia, #SierraLeone, & beyond."

☆ Congolese government ups toll in massacre to 272 civilians
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Paul Lorgerie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Arlette BashiziKINSHASA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's government on Monday said 272 civilians were killed in a massacre in the eastern town of Kishishe last week, raising the death toll from a previous estimate of 50. It also said the rebels were backed by members of the Rwandan army, a frequent accusation by the Congolese government which Rwanda has consistently denied. Congo's army and the M23, a Tutsi-led militia, have been locked in fighting for months in the country's east. The death toll was announced by Congolese industry minister Julien Paluku, speaking at a press briefing with government spokesman Patrick Muyaya. "The United States urges Rwanda to honor commitments made in Luanda, including ending Rwanda's support to M23," Blinken said on Twitter.

Reuters reported in August that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, elected as Brazil's president at the end of October, would seek a partnership with the two other leading rainforest nations to pressure the rich world to finance forest conservation. The rapid destruction of rainforests, which through their dense vegetation serve as carbon sinks, releases planet-warming carbon dioxide, imperiling global climate targets. "South-to-south cooperation - Brazil, Indonesia, DRC - is very natural," the Democratic Republic of Congo's Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba said prior to the signing. In the agreement, the alliance said that countries should be paid for reducing deforestation and maintaining forests as carbon sinks. Talks on the alliance to protect rainforest until now had foundered due to "institutional difficulties," Teixeira said.

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