The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the ​Democratic Republic of Congo now exceeds 5,000, ‌government data showed late on Tuesday, as health officials warn that response efforts are failing to ​contain the deadly disease. Congo’s 17th Ebola epidemic ​turned into the biggest in the country’s ⁠history in terms of number of ​cases in late July and over the weekend ​the death toll hit 2,378, the public health institute said, surpassing the previous worst outbreak in 2018-2020. The institute ​has so far logged 5,021 cases, according ​to its latest situation report, making it the second-worst outbreak ‌globally, ⁠behind only the 2014 to 2016 epidemic in West Africa in both infections and deaths. The ongoing outbreak is caused by the ​Bundibugyo species of ​Ebola, which ⁠has no approved vaccines or treatments. It has gained momentum since it ​was declared on May 15, as ​weak ⁠health infrastructure, community resistance, instability and protests by response workers hinder efforts to identify and ⁠respond ​to cases. (Reuters)

At least 36 humanitarian workers and contractors have been killed in South Sudan since January, surpassing the 31 killed in all of 2025, as violence persists in the country that’s one of the most dangerous for aid workers, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator there said Wednesday. “These are not just statistics,” Ramanathan Balakrishnan said in a statement marking World Humanitarian Day, adding: “Every killing must be investigated, and those responsible held accountable. The continued loss of humanitarian personnel, overwhelmingly South Sudanese nationals, is unacceptable.” More than 450 incidents of violence against humanitarian workers and assets were reported between January and July, more than double the number recorded during the same period last year, according to the U.N. Mission in South Sudan. Renewed fighting between government forces and opposition fighters has forced aid organizations to relocate from some areas, further restricting access to vulnerable communities in a country of about 12 million people that has struggled with both conflict and the effects of climate change since independence from Sudan in 2011. (AP)

More than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes across Sudan’s greater Kordofan region since late 2025, driven by intensifying clashes and targeted strikes on critical infrastructure, the International Organization for Migration reported on Wednesday. In North Kordofan’s state capital of El Obeid, heavy fighting and drone strikes on the city’s main electrical transformer caused prolonged power outages, paralyzing municipal water pumping systems, hospitals, and telecommunications networks. The escalating violence has triggered a 25 per cent surge in displacement across Sheikan locality alone over the past eight months, pushing regional displacement figures past the 200,000 mark as families flee collapsing basic services. Across Sudan, the total number of internally displaced persons has reached 8.6 million, with compounding crises in the Darfur and Blue Nile regions alongside heavy seasonal floods that destroyed over 1,300 homes in North Darfur last week. IOM Director General Amy Pope warned that families fleeing the violence are facing critical shortages of water, electricity, and medical care, while global shipping delays through the Red Sea and falling shelter funds continue to hamper relief operations. (Sudan Tribune)

Last week, after protracted negotiations and various plot twists, Canadian mining company Allied Gold sold a minority stake in its assets to China’s Zijin Gold International. … This is the latest, most significant development in a saga that involves investment from the United Arab Emirates, nearby Ethiopian army bases supporting Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and a large stretch of Ethiopian land on the Sudanese border that could now be mined extensively for gold. The agreement, which is worth just under $300m, grants Zijin, a private company with at least three Chinese state-owned corporations among its leading shareholders, partial ownership of a portfolio that includes mining sites in Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and the Kurmuk concession in western Ethiopia. The Kurmuk site is in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region, which hosts at least one army base used by the paramilitary RSF, which is supplied by the UAE, currently also the main buyer of Ethiopian gold. … The regional capital of Asosa is, as MEE revealed earlier this year, home to a major logistics hub used by the UAE and Ethiopia to train and arm fighters from the RSF, which has been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023. The site is also about 100km away from Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile river. (Middle East Eye)