Democratic Republic of the Congo

Former Congolese vice president and militia leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was acquitted of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last year, is seeking nearly 70 million euros ($75 million dollars) in damages. Bemba’s lawyers on Monday said paperwork had been filed requesting compensation for unlawful detention, legal fees and losses due to the alleged mismanagement of assets seized by the court.

DR Congo's recently elected president, Felix Tshisekedi and his predecessor Joseph Kabila on Wednesday said they had decided to form a coalition government following talks. Despite Tshisekedi's election—the first peaceful transition of power since the Democratic Republic of Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960—the 55-year-old has found himself effectively having to share power since the presidential poll.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the deadly Ebola virus is likely to spread in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo because of deteriorating security in conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces. … International efforts to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in eastern DR Congo have hit a serious roadblock. The charity Doctors Without Borders has suspended its life-saving operations.

Armed assailants attacked an Ebola treatment center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, setting off a fire and becoming embroiled in an extended gun battle with security forces, health officials said. … Dozens of armed militia also regularly attack civilians and security forces in eastern Congo's borderlands with Uganda and Rwanda, which has significantly hampered the response to the disease.

Germany, Japan and Australia have increased their support against an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Human Rights Watch says police killed at least 27 people, some of whom were mutilated, during 2018 crackdown on gangs.

The former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila has made all the leaders of his political coalition pledge their allegiance to him. … The coalition was created ahead of the election and won most parliamentary seats. … The party leaders have now agreed to turn the coalition into a government.
This raises questions about how much power the new president, Felix Tshisekedi, actually wields.

At least 15 mass graves have been found in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo in the wake of three days of ethnic bloodshed in December, a spokeswoman for the U.N.'s MONUSCO mission in Congo said Tuesday.

Six hundred Congolese rebels whose conflict killed several thousand people in the restive Kasai region, have ended their war and surrendered their weapons in a sign of support for new President Felix Tshisekedi, local authorities said on Saturday.