Democratic Republic

EPULU, Democratic Republic of Congo - I awoke shortly after dawn to a natural orchestra of sounds drifting through the Congolese rain forest. Ten pygmies with razor-sharp arrows and bows were milling about outside my window. "Habari!" I greeted them in Swahili, a language native to none of us, but our only common ground. Smiles lighted up their weathered faces. My traveling companions and I, a mix of journalists, development workers, and a Congolese refugee, had come upon the small tribe of Mbuti pygmies a day earlier.

In honor of Mother's Day, Ben Affleck posted a video Friday on Facebook dedicated to the moms in his life, including his mother, Chris , and to the "sacrifices, selflessness, and courage" of women around the world. The video is drawn from Ben's recent trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and includes footage of the women and organizations working to help their families. (In 2009, Affleck founded Eastern Congo Initiative, which seeks to help the people of eastern Congo.)

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Congo's opposition leader yesterday declared himself winner of the presidential vote, despite placing second in official election results. The country's supreme court upheld incumbent President Joseph Kabila's victory a week ago, despite international observers' concerns about irregularities. Etienne Tshisekedi said at a news conference at his home that Kabila's government "is dismissed starting today. " "I consider myself from this time forward as the president elected by the Congolese people of the Democratic Republic of Congo," Tshisekedi said.

ECONOMISTS CALL it the "resource curse. " Poor countries with precious metals are often dragged into war over them. For more than a decade, unscrupulous militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo have fought for control over the eastern part of the country, where the earth is rich with tantalum and tungsten - rare metals that are used in cell phones, electronics, and laptop computers. In an effort to stop the militias, who have kept countless people in virtual slavery in the mines, a growing movement in the United States has been pushing companies to publicly...

In honor of Mother's Day, Ben Affleck posted a video Friday on Facebook dedicated to the moms in his life, including his mother, Chris , and to the "sacrifices, selflessness, and courage" of women around the world. The video is drawn from Ben's recent trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and includes footage of the women and organizations working to help their families. (In 2009, Affleck founded Eastern Congo Initiative, which seeks to help the people of eastern Congo.)

ECONOMISTS CALL it the "resource curse. " Poor countries with precious metals are often dragged into war over them. For more than a decade, unscrupulous militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo have fought for control over the eastern part of the country, where the earth is rich with tantalum and tungsten - rare metals that are used in cell phones, electronics, and laptop computers. In an effort to stop the militias, who have kept countless people in virtual slavery in the mines, a growing movement in the United States...

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent School uniforms may be the bane of some children's fashionable existence, but two women working to produce and distribute uniforms in developing countries hope new uniforms can offer a new chance at education for children around the world. Back Bay resident Megan Kelly and Natick resident Jessica Roy, founders of Tailored For Education , are providing uniforms to 11,110 children in five developing countries this year, a service they hope will help keep more children in school.

An Uruguayan official says a U.S. embassy official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has accused an Uruguayan army major stationed in the country with assault. The South American country has sent more than a thousand troops to Congo as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission. Uruguayan Col. Mario Stevenazzi says the United Nations and the Uruguayan government are investigating the alleged assault, which he says doesn't appear to be sexual in nature. Stevenazzi didn't identify either the Uruguayan army major or the female U.S....

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — A boat ferrying about 200 passengers to Congo’s capital capsized after hitting a mud bank. At least 80 people were confirmed dead, a government spokesman said yesterday, and news reports said as many as 60 more passengers were missing and feared dead. Rescuers were searching for missing people after the disaster on the Kasai River, a tributary of the Congo River. The boat, the HB Yedu, was heading to Kinshasa from the Kwilu district of Bandundu Province, on the western border of the country.

LONDON -- More than 600 children die every day in the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo and even more are displaced, sexually abused, or swept into the camps of combatant groups, a UNICEF report said yesterday. The report comes less than a week before the country's first democratic elections in more than 40 years, which UNICEF ambassador Martin Bell said could offer some hope to the country's child victims. "These elections may be the opportunity of their lifetime," said Bell, a former war correspondent who wrote "Child Alert: Democratic Republic of Congo.

EPULU, Democratic Republic of Congo - I awoke shortly after dawn to a natural orchestra of sounds drifting through the Congolese rain forest. Ten pygmies with razor-sharp arrows and bows were milling about outside my window. "Habari!" I greeted them in Swahili, a language native to none of us, but our only common ground. Smiles lighted up their weathered faces. My traveling companions and I, a mix of journalists, development workers, and a Congolese refugee, had come upon the small tribe of Mbuti pygmies a day earlier.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent School uniforms may be the bane of some children's fashionable existence, but two women working to produce and distribute uniforms in developing countries hope new uniforms can offer a new chance at education for children around the world. Back Bay resident Megan Kelly and Natick resident Jessica Roy, founders of Tailored For Education , are providing uniforms to 11,110 children in five developing countries this year, a service they hope will help keep more children in school.

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Congo's opposition leader yesterday declared himself winner of the presidential vote, despite placing second in official election results. The country's supreme court upheld incumbent President Joseph Kabila's victory a week ago, despite international observers' concerns about irregularities. Etienne Tshisekedi said at a news conference at his home that Kabila's government "is dismissed starting today. " "I consider myself from this time forward as the president elected by the Congolese people of...

KINSHASA, Congo - Voting materials arrived late or sometimes not at all in precincts throughout Congo yesterday, but elections went ahead, raising doubts about the legitimacy of a poll that already has seen at least nine people killed and could drag this enormous nation back into conflict. Country experts and opposition leaders had urged the government to delay the vote due to massive logistical problems. Some districts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has suffered decades of dictatorship and two civil wars, are so remote that ballot boxes had to be transported...

An Uruguayan official says a U.S. embassy official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has accused an Uruguayan army major stationed in the country with assault. The South American country has sent more than a thousand troops to Congo as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission. Uruguayan Col. Mario Stevenazzi says the United Nations and the Uruguayan government are investigating the alleged assault, which he says doesn't appear to be sexual in nature. Stevenazzi didn't identify either the Uruguayan army major or the female U.S. embassy official involved in the...

. ½ VIVA RIVA! Written and directed by: Djo Tunda Wa Munga Starring: Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Hoji Fortuna At: Kendall Square Running time: 98 minutes Unrated (as R: brutal beatings, graphic sex, language) In French and Lingala, with subtitles ‘Viva Riva!’’ has its cake and eats it, too. Shoots it to pieces, actually. The first film from the Democratic Republic of Congo to make it to these shores is a slick, propulsive crime drama whose influences include rap videos, the 1972 cult classic “The Harder They Come,’’ and every Warner Brothers gangster movie...

KINSHASA, Congo - Voting materials arrived late or sometimes not at all in precincts throughout Congo yesterday, but elections went ahead, raising doubts about the legitimacy of a poll that already has seen at least nine people killed and could drag this enormous nation back into conflict. Country experts and opposition leaders had urged the government to delay the vote due to massive logistical problems. Some districts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has suffered decades of dictatorship and two civil wars, are so remote that ballot boxes had to be transported across muddy trails...

DAKAR, Senegal — The central African nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been called the worst place on earth to be a woman. A study released yesterday by the American Journal of Public Health shows it is even worse than previously thought: 1,152 women are raped every day, a rate equal to 48 per hour. That rate is equal to 420,480 rapes per year, 26 times more than the previous estimate of 16,000 rapes in a year reported by the United Nations. Michelle Hindin, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University who specializes in gender-based violence, said the rate could be...