Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Trump praises African leaders, who sign his deal as fighting continues

5 Dec 2025 - 4:44PM

US Institute of Peace renamed after ‘greatest dealmaker’ Trump

4 Dec 2025 - 1:25PM

Congo and Rwanda presidents to meet in US to sign peace deal

The Congolese government says its signing is conditional on Rwanda’s withdrawal of support for the M23 rebels fighting in eastern Congo.

29 Nov 2025 - 11:39AM

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the foreign ministers of Congo and Rwanda in the Oval Office of the White House in June to end the conflict between the two African countries. Photo: EPA

Switzerland

Red Cross to cut 2,900 jobs, slash budget as donors shift focus towards defence

Failure to prevent conflict and provide humanitarian relief risks ‘a world of ever more and greater suffering’, president warns.

21 Nov 2025 - 9:05PM

Opinion | Don’t blame China for America’s authoritarian turn

America’s authoritarian turn didn’t start with Donald Trump and has been decades in the making.

19 Nov 2025 - 9:30AM

Europe’s refugee crisis

UK toughens asylum policy as anti-immigration sentiment rises

Policy overhaul seeks greater control over who can remain in Britain as tens of thousands of people claim asylum.

18 Nov 2025 - 1:34PM

Migrants in Gravelines, northern France, walk in the water to board a small boat in an attempt to reach Britain. Photo: AP

At least 32 killed in DR Congo after bridge at mine collapsed

Authorities say overcrowding and panic - allegedly sparked by soldiers’ gunfire - caused the bridge to fall at the copper and cobalt mine.

17 Nov 2025 - 1:05PM

Climate change

The world has a decade to save the biggest tropical carbon sink

Report warns that further damage to Africa’s vast tropical forests risks undermining the world’s fight against climate change.

10 Nov 2025 - 2:59PMvideocam

Science

Science drives China’s westward expansion in Africa

Discoveries of large untapped mineral deposits in West Africa are behind Beijing’s push to invest heavily in exploration and mining.

26 Oct 2025 - 4:05PMvideocam

After almost three decades of false starts, Guinea’s massive Simandou iron ore mine is on track to deliver its first shipment this year, in a significant breakthrough for Chinese hopes of breaking its dependence on Australia and Brazil. Photo: Rio Tinto Simfer

DR Congo military court sentences ex-president to death for treason

Joseph Kabila, who ruled from 2001 to 2019, was convicted in absentia of crimes including collaborating with M23 anti-government rebels.

1 Oct 2025 - 1:19PM

Former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila. File photo: AP

US-China relations

US invests in Zambia project in bid to loosen China’s grip on critical minerals

USTDA will provide US$1.4 million grant to Metalex Africa to fund feasibility study on expanding the copper and cobalt mine.

19 Sep 2025 - 6:00PMvideocam

DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal outlines US role in minerals sector

Among regulatory initiatives and reforms, the deal calls for third-party inspections of mine sites and working with private sector partners.

14 Sep 2025 - 4:38PM

Dozens slaughtered in gun and machete attack at DR Congo funeral

Allied Democratic Forces rebels blamed for a deadly attack on residents at a village mourning ceremony.

10 Sep 2025 - 5:40PM

A charred wreckage of a truck following an attack by Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels. Photo: Reuters

In DR Congo, cash shortage forces rebel-held city to use damaged banknotes

Residents in Bukavu are using older, perforated banknotes put back into circulation, but some shopkeepers refuse to accept them.

9 Sep 2025 - 12:14AM

Perforated notes are seen in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, on August 29. Photo: AP

Israel-Gaza war

UN human rights chief slams Israel’s ‘mass killing’ of Palestinians in Gaza

Volker Turk expresses horror at the ‘genocidal rhetoric’ and ‘disgraceful dehumanisation’ of Palestinians by senior Israeli officials.

8 Sep 2025 - 7:47PM

China, US, Japan race to control African rail routes in critical minerals fight

Infrastructure is no longer just about moving ore, it is about shaping global supply lines, one analyst notes.

6 Sep 2025 - 2:00PMvideocam

New Ebola outbreak in DR Congo kills 15, prompting WHO response

The World Health Organization said case numbers were likely to increase as transmission was ongoing.

5 Sep 2025 - 1:32PM

A health worker puts on Ebola protection gear in 2019. DR Congo has recorded 15 outbreaks since the disease was first identified in 1976. File photo: AP

Middle East

Qatar joins Gulf neighbours in African funding game with US$103 billion pledge

Al-Mansour Holdings is looking to tap into six resource-rich sub-Saharan countries for minerals, oil and gas.

4 Sep 2025 - 3:17PMvideocam

Angola rail project not aimed at countering China, CEO says

The US has framed it as key to de-risking from China, but Nicholas Fournier says Lobito Atlantic Railway is ‘a purely commercial entity’.

23 Aug 2025 - 8:39PM

‘Extremely daring’: Chinese miners putting gold over their own lives in Africa

Gold miners from China are also more vulnerable to the wave of killings and kidnappings than their Western counterparts, observers say.

11 Aug 2025 - 5:26PMvideocam

Rwanda-backed rebels kill 80 in DR Congo as Qatar aims for peace

Fighting has continued amid allegations from Congolese authorities that the rebels are ‘engaged in the forced recruitment of young people’.

9 Aug 2025 - 7:34PM

An M23 soldier watches over a group of around one hundred Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Wazalendo and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) fighters, at the Stade de l’Unité, in Goma, DR Congo, on May 10. Photo: AFP

Opinion | Trump’s many victories will prove pyrrhic

The US president’s arrogance and bullying have given him short-term wins but also embedded long-term resentment and opposition.

31 Jul 2025 - 5:42PMvideocam

China faces off against US for domination of DR Congo’s critical minerals

China’s pushback includes envoy to Congo underlining Beijing’s commitment to supporting the central African country address its crises.

28 Jul 2025 - 6:16PM

War and conflict

34 killed in attack on DR Congo church by Islamic State-backed rebels

Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, said volunteers are preparing to bury the victims in a mass grave.

28 Jul 2025 - 11:01AM

People gather around the charred remains of a burned vehicle following a deadly attack in Komanda, Ituri province of eastern DR Congo on Sunday. Photo: UGC via AP

DR Congo, Rwanda-backed rebels sign ceasefire declaration in Qatar

The declaration establishes a ceasefire in eastern Congo and addresses M23 rebel withdrawal from seized territories.

19 Jul 2025 - 7:49PM

M23 soldiers are seen during a public gathering in February. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed armed group M23 signed a ceasefire deal on Saturday to end fighting that has devastated the country’s mineral-rich but conflict-torn east. Photo: AFP

Nobel Prize

My Take | Degraded Nobel Peace Prize standards could mean Trump deserves one

The awarding of the world’s most prestigious prize has been twisted and perverted by politics and often has nothing to do with peace.

13 Jul 2025 - 9:34PM