Democratic Republic of the Congo

The return of the Banyene family to Sake, a town in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was anything but a jubilant homecoming. If one expected a warm embrace from familiar walls, a comforting breeze whispering stories from childhood pasts, they would find only disappointment. What greeted the Banyenes in January was desolation—a crumbling wall, a sagging metal roof, and the cold, metallic remnants of violence. It seems absurd to refer to such a bleak tableau as 'home.' Their yard, now more battlefield residue…

At least 129 people were killed during an attempted prison break at the central Makala prison in the Congolese capital Kinshasa late Sunday. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo said the situation was now under control. In a statement published on X early Tuesday, Interior Minister Shabani Lukoo said a fire had also broken out in the prison's administrative building, its food depots and a hospital. About 59 people were injured, he added. "The mass escape attempt at Makala Central…