congo

Congo is the name applied to two states, the much larger Democratic Republic of Congo (also known as Congo-Kinshasa, after its capital, and formerly known as Zaire) and the Republic of Congo, whose capital is Brazzaville. They are in Central Africa, on either side of the Congo River, with their capitals only a few miles apart.

The Republic of Congo was a French colony until 1960, while the DRC was a personal possession of the Belgian King Leopold II, who oversaw a regime of notable savagery. It was then a colony of the Belgian state from 1908 to 1960, and after independence soon descended into conflict.

Since the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide spilled across its border in 1994 Congo-Kinshasa has endured two invasions and a civil war. After that discord officially ended in 2002, in 2008 an estimated 45,000 people a month were still dying as a result of internal conflict.  Unicef says that one in five children dies before the age of five, and 13 of every thousand pregnancies ends in death for the mother.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “congo”

• Let’s Go Congo!

  
  Lakers-Fan.com — Authority: 119
  Mr. Dacos has put together a nice string of games as a starter, completing his first triple double last night, with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Let’s go Congo! Free Dacos every night Mbenga has a double double! That should be the new rule.
  7 hours ago

• Kimberly Abbott: Working together, NGOs and journalists can create stronger international reporting

  
  Nieman Journalism Lab — Authority: 733
  [This is the first essay in our series examining the evolving relationship between NGOs and journalism, produced with Penns Center for Global Communication Studies. Kimberly Abbott of the International Crisis Group leads off by exploring the pros and cons of established news organizations relying on NGOs for ...
  17 hours ago

• Children Can Surprise You But They Are Predictable

  
  Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo — Authority: 426
  It was amazing!  It all happened in a matter of minutes.  What was amazing? The number of children that heard about the candy give-away.  Typically, we always take a few bags of candy to pass out to the Congolese children.  American sweets!  Within a matter of a five minutes hundreds of children were ready for ...
  21 hours ago

• Rare virus poses new threat to troops

  
  Question Everything — Authority: 140
  EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troopsWashington Times | Sara A. CarterKANDAHAR, Afghanistan | U.S. military officials sent a medical team to a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan this week to take blood samples from members of an Army unit after a soldier in the unit died from an Ebola-like virus.Dr. ...
  1 day ago

• “Friends” Get Together To Help Women In Congo

  
  Charities Blog — Authority: 98
  They were the best of friends in the long running TV show Friends, and they are really close friends in real life as well. I am sure you know the people I am talking about – Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox. These girls have taken their friendship to great lengths, and now, they are getting together to extend a ...
  1 day ago

• £8 Billion Foreign Aid Budget Untouched, But £350 Million Cut off British Youth Training

  
  The British National Party — Authority: 650
  The Government’s austerity measures include a £5 billion reduction in spending in Britain. This includes a £350 million cutback in job training for young British people — while the £8 billion foreign aid budget remains untouched. According to newspaper reports, official Government documents show that the ...
  1 day ago

• Military Operations Begin on Venezuela’s Western Border to Fight Drug Trafficking

  
  Net News Publisher — Authority: 155
  Venezuela has announced the expansion of military operations along its western border in order to fight drug trafficking and protect a recently discovered reserve of coltan from illegal mining. In what is titled Operation Blue Gold, 15,000 Air Force, Army, and Navy personnel will protect the coltan reserve, which ...
  1 day ago

• Hospitals and Health Clinics Improve the Survival Rates during Childbirth

  
  Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo — Authority: 426
  There are so many things that can go wrong during childbirth.  Quite often, it goes wrong for the mother or for the children.  And sometimes, it goes bad for both of them. Giving birth in a Congolese hospital or health clinic minimizes the many problems for the mother and baby.  A Congolese hospital provides the ...
  1 day ago

• Help Nat Geo Pick Next Explorer Expedition

  
  Sierra Blogging Post — Authority: 432
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  2 days ago

• Kimo not well

  
  Cooler Choice — Authority: 161
  Dear All, I today will update on one of the little chimps of our Refuge: Kimo. Not so long ago, baby Kimo was with us at home because of severe bronchiolitis. Back at the Refuge, Kimo settled in slowly as his friend PASA had gain in strength and had in some way become the “boss” of the baby group Link: Kimo ...
  2 days ago

• Walt Disney Co., enviro groups to fund $7M conservation efforts

  
  Cooler Choice — Authority: 161
  ClimateWire : The Walt Disney Co. and several conservation groups will put up $7 million to protect thousands of acres of forestlands in the Congo and Amazon basins and in two U.S. regions, Disney announced on Tuesday. Four million dollars will go toward forest protection projects on reserves in the eastern Democratic ...
  2 days ago

• What To Do When The Sun Shines In

  
  Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo — Authority: 426
    When the rain washes the mud from between the sticks, the sun shines in.  Also, the rain and wind comes in.  The noises distract the students, too. Without the mud between the sticks, the integrity of the building is weaken.  The mud needs to be replaced to save the walls. Most rural schools in Congo are in ...
  2 days ago

• AFI Fest 2009: Reporter

  
  Row Three — Authority: 514
    Director: Eric Daniel Metzgar Producers: Ben Affleck, Mikaela Beardsley, Steven Cantor, Ann Derry Starring: Nicholas Kristof Year: 2009 Country: United States Running time: 90min.   ****~ (4/5)   The best documentaries do something more than just depict a subject or situation; rather, ...
  2 days ago

• Mazembe ´hide´ ahead of African final

  
  Soccer News Info — Authority: 156
  Democratic Republic of Congo club Tout Puissant Mazembe have gone into hiding ahead of the African Champions League final in Lubumbashi Saturday. And there was no sign of Nigerian opponents Heartland either in the southern Congolese mining city ahead of the second leg that will decide who scoops a record ...
  3 days ago

• EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops

  
  Count Us Out — Authority: 149
  via UnslaveMeeBy Sara A. Carter 11/6/09KANDAHAR, Afghanistan | U.S. military officials sent a medical team to a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan this week to take blood samples from members of an Army unit after a soldier in the unit died from an Ebola-like virus.Dr. Jim Radike, an expert in internal medicine ...
  3 days ago

• Friends Jennifer Aniston and Cox joins forces to front OmniPeace charity

  
  Buzz Beyotch — Authority: 129
  Friends Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston are lending their faces for a charity’s campaign to stop violence against woman. The pair have agreed to front Mary Fanaro’s humanitarian fashion brand OmniPeace, which seeks to ‘Stamp Out Violence Against Women & Girls of the Congo’. Fanaro said: “They are ...
  3 days ago

• Kimberley Process: Zimbabwe Action Mars Credibility

  
  AlertNet Newsdesk — Authority: 719
  Source: Human Rights Watch (Johannesburg) - The credibility of the worlds "blood diamond" monitoring group has been damaged after its failure this week to suspend Zimbabwe despite overwhelming evidence of serious ...
  3 days ago

• Kenya Airways Launches Direct Flights to Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

  
  Net News Publisher — Authority: 155
  Kenya Airways has launched direct flights to Kisangani; the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The airline will operate three weekly flights every Monday, Thursday and Friday to the Bangoka International Airport. The introduction of flights to Kisangani brings to 47 the number of destinations that Kenya Airways flies ...
  3 days ago

• Point-of-View Video: Kayaking the Congo

  
  Wend Blog — Authority: 574
  Click here to view the embedded video. Andy Maser of Rivers in Demand is the man. Not only is he a National Geographic Young Explorer, but he’s the one who organized Portland’s 350.org kayak event on the Willamette River a few weeks ago. He’s also one of Wend’s Global iWend Ambassadors . In fact, he ...
  3 days ago

• Jobs & Opportunities

  
  Democracy Digest — Authority: 434
  Rights & Democracy’s International conference on Sharia and family law reform Rights & Democracy, the Canadian democracy assistance group, is searching for two speakers to present papers at an international conference on Sharia and family law reform in Muslim countries that we are hosting next February in ...
  3 days ago

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