DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ The Impossible Decisions That Faced Those Trapped in the Buffalo Blizzard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Douglas Belkin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

On Friday afternoon, Abdul Sharifu left his house in Buffalo, N.Y., to go to the market to buy milk for his two young children. He hadn’t gotten far when his car got stuck in one of the deadliest blizzards in the history of the city. Mr. Sharifu, a 26-year-old refugee from Congo, sat in his Toyota RAV4 with a dwindling supply of gas in his tank and called a friend to explain his plight, said Erieckson Kiza, a leader in the Congolese community. Mr. Sharifu, clad only in a thin tracksuit, told the friend he feared he would freeze when his gas ran out and the heat cut off. Waiting at home for his return was his wife who was nine months pregnant.

☆ The Impossible Decisions That Faced Those Trapped in the Buffalo Storm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Douglas Belkin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MONTREAL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A United Nations summit approved on Monday a landmark global deal to protect nature and direct billions of dollars toward conservation but objections from key African nations, home to large tracts of tropical rainforest, marred the final passage. 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. "The parties which are developed nations should provide resources to parties which are developing," the Congolese representative said through a translator. The deal, which contains 23 targets in total, replaces the failed 2010 Aichi Biodiversity Targets that were intended to guide conservation through 2020. Investment firms focused on a target in the deal recommending that companies analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.

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.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. Russia got the jailed arms dealer back from the United States on Thursday after exchanging imprisoned U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for him at Abu Dhabi airport. His notoriety was such that his life helped inspire a Hollywood film, 2005’s Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer loosely based on Bout. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

☆ 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.

☆ African leaders agree on ceasefire in east Congo from Friday
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KINSHASA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - African leaders have declared a ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo starting Friday, which is aimed in particular at stopping attacks by the M23 rebel group, they said in a statement. The declaration was issued by the leaders of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Angola, and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, after a summit in Luanda on Wednesday aimed at finding solutions to the east Congo crisis. Eastern Congo is facing an insurgency by the M23, a Tutsi-led rebel group which the Congolese government claims is supported by neighbouring Rwanda. In addition to the ceasefire, the statement said the M23 must withdraw from its occupied territories or face intervention by regional forces. "If M23 does not withdraw the East African Community (EAC) heads of states shall authorize use of force to compel the group to comply," it said.

☆ Heaviest Fighting in Years Breaks Out in Congo as Rivals Seek Control of Minerals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nicholas Bariyo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Long-simmering ethnic tensions in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo—fed at times by its neighbors—have erupted into the most intense clashes in a decade as warring militias fight for control of the region and its mineral riches. In recent days, the M23 rebel group has advanced to within 12 miles of the city of Goma, pushing United Nations-backed Congolese government forces from several surrounding towns. More than two million people are suffering shortages of food and fuel as a result of the fighting.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who could be swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Russia wants the jailed arms dealer back in Moscow and is discussing a prisoner swap with the United States that could see him exchanged for Americans imprisoned in Russia including basketball star Brittney Griner. Reed was ultimately freed in return for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot jailed in the United States on drug trafficking charges. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. In interviews, Bout has said he attended Moscow's Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

☆ How small-town Maine embraced a family that fled the Taliban
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Elyse Lightman Samuels | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +36 min

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — Last November, at about midnight, Omid was lying in bed in his new home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine — exhausted, but unable to sleep. On this night, and on many nights during Omid's first few months in Maine, Nasir was soon at his door. Omid's family arrived in Maine just before Halloween in 2021 and recently celebrated one year in Maine. Catholic Charities, the local refugee-resettlement organization in Maine, was working with Omid's family to help them resettle. After Omid's family escaped Kabul, members of his extended family came by to collect some of their more precious items, and gave other things away.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans' majority will be smaller than expected, but they're eager to use their new oversight powers and pass a spate of bills to draw contrasts with Democrats and give the Biden administration heartburn. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joined by Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., left, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in Washington on July 21, 2021. A growing number of Republicans say they have their sights set on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, bashing his handling of the border surge. LegislationDemocrats still occupy the White House, so any legislation Republicans pass on a partisan basis won’t be signed into law by Biden. But House Republicans say they will waste no time showing the parties’ stark differences as they battle for control of the White House in 2024.

☆ Congo expels Reuters reporter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAKAR, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo expelled a French journalist working for Reuters after her application for journalistic accreditation was not approved. Sonia Rolley applied in September for accreditation to take up an assignment coordinating Reuters news coverage in Congo. At 5:25 pm on Tuesday, a government official sent a WhatsApp message to another journalist working for Reuters saying, "Are you aware of the expulsion of Sonia by the services? "We are offering Sonia Rolley assistance and urgently seeking information from the Congolese authorities," Reuters said in a statement. "Reuters will continue to report from Congo in an independent and impartial way, as we do around the world."

☆ Civilians attack U.N. peacekeeping convoy in eastern Congo
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Civilians attacked a United Nations peacekeeping convoy in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday evening, injuring two people, the U.N. mission said on Wednesday. The convoy was attacked when it stopped at an army checkpoint near an internally displaced persons site in Kanyarutshinya, 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the city of Goma. A crowd assembled and threw stones at the convoy, setting fire to at least one truck, the U.N. mission, MONUSCO, said on Twitter. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi 1 2 3Frustration has grown in the region this year with the U.N. mission, which civilians accuse of failing to protect them from worsening militia violence. Earlier on Tuesday, the U.N. announced a "strategic and tactical" withdrawal of 450 peacekeepers from Rumangabo, located further north, near Virunga Park.

☆ Overcrowded stadium crush kills 11 people in Congolese capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KINSHASA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Eleven people were killed on Saturday, including two police officers, in a crush at an overcrowded stadium concert in Kinshasa headlined by Congolese singer Fally Ipupa, the interior minister said. Police have recorded "11 deaths including 10 as a result of suffocation and the crush, and 7 hospitalisations," said Minister Daniel Aselo Okito in a statement. The eventual number of attendees inside the stadium vastly exceeded the number state and private security personnel present could control. In 2020, French police evacuated the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris after people started fires nearby in unrest ahead of a planned Ipupa concert. Reporting by Paul Lorgerie, Justin Makangara and Stanis Bujakera Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Congo expels Rwanda ambassador as M23 rebels capture strategic town
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The rebel group, which Congo authorities accuse Rwanda of backing but Rwanda denies, seized the town of Kiwanja in eastern Congo on Saturday, effectively cutting North Kivu's capital Goma off from the upper half of the province. The army has conducted strategic retreats from populated areas to move fighting away from towns and protect civilians. Neither General Sylvain Ekenge, the army's national spokesman, nor Colonel Ndjike Kaiko, the army's spokesman for North Kivu, immediately responded to calls and messages requesting comment. Unrest in North Kivu has broken months of relative calm in eastern Congo after the resumption of clashes between the army and the M23 militants. read moreWhen it formed in 2012, M23 was the newest in a series of ethnic Tutsi-led insurgencies to rise up against Congolese forces.

☆ Medical Company Seeks $50 Million From Glencore Over Congolese Bribe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

A company founded by a South African husband and wife to provide medical care for Congolese miners asked a federal judge in Manhattan for $50 million in restitution for the harm it said it suffered from a bribery scheme involving Glencore PLC. Glencore, an Anglo-Swiss commodities company, in May agreed to pay about $1.2 billion to resolve long-running investigations by U.S., U.K. and Brazilian authorities into bribery and market-manipulation misconduct. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. After a dispute over the appointment of a manager to oversee those contracts, Kamoto terminated the agreements, according to Crusader Health. The bribe, which was described in settlement documents between Glencore and the U.S. government, ultimately forced Crusader Health to shut down, the company said.

☆ The Columbus, Ohio, Warehouse Boom: How warehouses brought stifling dust and diesel fumes — and a chance for refugees to grab the American dream
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

What binds them, despite different nationalities, immigration stories, and languages, are warehouse jobs. As Columbus' warehouse development begins encroaching into residential areas, a consensus is gathering here — as it has elsewhere — that warehouses make for poor neighbors. Tariq Tarey for InsiderIn Canal Winchester, Halstead's efforts to put the question of warehouse development before voters were stymied. The town council bypassed her group's referendum by declaring a state of emergency to approve the warehouse development. There aren't clear lines between the winners and losers of Columbus' warehouse boom.

☆ Congolese NGOs decry mining in main refuge of 'Africa's unicorn'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Erikas Mwisi Kambale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Industrial activities are supposed to be banned in the 13,000 square kilometers of the reserve in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo. Aerial photo evidence shows mining has persisted, the civil society groups said at a joint news conference to mark the international day of the okapi. The NGOs blamed a Chinese company called Kimia Mining, which has previously been accused of flouting a ban on river-dredging in Ituri province and other mining regulations, according to a 2016 report by a UN Group of Experts. There was no available contact information to reach Kimia Mining for comment. Congo is currently at loggerheads with conservationists and scientists over its plan to open other parts of its rainforest and peatlands to oil and gas drilling.

CNN —Uganda declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case of the relatively rare Sudan strain was confirmed in the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. “This is the first time in more than a decade that Uganda is recording the Ebola Sudan strain,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said. “We are working closely with the national health authorities to investigate the source of this outbreak.”Uganda last reported an outbreak of Ebola Sudan in 2012, the WHO said. Uganda’s last outbreak was in 2019 when it confirmed the Zaire Ebola strain, which led to the death a of 9-year-old Congolese girl near the border with the DRC. According to the WHO, vaccination has been approved against the Zaire strain but inoculation against the Sudan strain hasn’t been tested.

☆ Eastern Congo attacks kill civilians, hit major power plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DAKAR, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Suspected rebels have killed civilians and damaged a major hydropower plant under construction in Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the park operator said on Wednesday. Tuesday's attack, which included the use of artillery, came from the direction of positions held by the M23 rebel group, the park service said in a statement. It is just one of many armed groups fighting in eastern Congo over minerals and land. It was not clear how many people died in the Virunga Park attack, which also appeared to target a 28-megawatt hydropower plant at Rwanguba, which the park says will be the largest energy project in eastern Congo when it comes online in two years. A generator and concrete structures inside the plant were hit, but at this stage the construction timeline is not in jeopardy, the park said.

Search resuls for: "Congolese"

22 mentions found