Kremlin optimistic ahead of Putin–Aliyev meeting in Dushanbe
The Kremlin says it is optimistic about talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, due to take place in Du...
A record 28 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo face acute hunger, driven by escalating conflict and economic instability, the UN warns. With food insecurity worsening, humanitarian agencies struggle to respond amid funding cuts.
Twenty-eight million people face acute hunger in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a record for the country, driven by an escalating conflict between the government and Rwandan-backed rebels in the east, the United Nations said on Thursday.
A longstanding humanitarian crisis in Congo has been aggravated by the conflict, with 2.5 million more people becoming acutely hungry since the most recent surge of violence in December, the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a joint statement.
Those facing acute hunger are classified as Phase 3 or higher in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Of the 28 million in Congo, 3.9 million are Phase 4, meaning they are experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
Phase 5 indicates famine. The country has a population of more than 100 million.
Fighting between the government and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels has escalated since the start of the year into eastern Congo's biggest conflict in decades and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes.
“The current situation is dire for the population, as harvests are lost, food prices soar, millions of people face acute food insecurity and are increasingly vulnerable,” said Athman Mravili, the interim FAO representative in Congo.
More than 10 million of those facing acute hunger are in eastern Congo, which has experienced near-constant insecurity since wars in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide left millions dead and spawned dozens of militia groups.
Elsewhere in the country, inflation and the depreciation of the Congolese franc have made it difficult for many to get enough to eat, the statement said.
Cuts by the U.S. and other leading donors to their foreign aid have left humanitarian agencies struggling to respond to the impacts of conflict, natural disasters and climate change.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 9th of October, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Russia’s central bank has ruled the state violated minority shareholders’ rights in seized assets, signalling rare pushback against nationalisation.
A newly elected German mayor survived multiple stab wounds in a family attack.
Cristiano Ronaldo has become football’s first billionaire player, according to Bloomberg, which tracks the world’s richest individuals.
Germany has ended its fast-track citizenship programme, reflecting a shift in public attitudes toward migration and integration.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment