Welcome to The Now

 

 

 " Look, look, Argentina is fighting for its life, young lady. You don’t know anything about it. You know what that means? They’re fighting for their life. Nothing’s benefiting Argentina. They’re fighting for their life. You understand what that means? They have no money, they have no anything, they’re fighting so hard to survive. If I can help them survive in a free world — I happen to like the president of Argentina, I think he’s trying to do the best he can. But don’t make it sound like they’re doing great. They are dying. "  -- President Trump's response to a reporter asking how bailing out Argentina benefits Americans specifically American farmers . " Experts assembled by the United Nations have detailed Rwanda’s illegal exploitation of Congo’s rare minerals. And now, with global attention focused elsewhere, Rwanda has escalated its aggression — seemingly knowing that no meaningful consequences are likely to follow. " -- Dr. Denis Mukwege of the Congo, who ...

 Eugene Puryear explains: 

 Margaret Kimberley talks with the Executive Director of Friends of the Congo about the recent development .

 Hakim has something to say about this:

 Black Agenda Report's Margaret Kimberly interviews Maurice Carney (Executive Director of Friends of the Congo ) about how issues in the Congo is impacting South Africa and Rwanda . 

BreakThrough News speaks with a member of the Center for Research of The Congo on this question: 

 

Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims . As to the "why:" Aid workers struggle to explain the sudden spike in male rape cases. The best answer, they say, is that the sexual violence against men is yet another way for armed groups to humiliate and demoralize Congolese communities into submission . It's sad that this is happening, and even sadder that people weren't paying attention when it was women being raped.

Oh wait; this really happened . KINSHASA (Reuters) – Rioting inmates raped around 20 female prisoners during a failed prison break in Democratic Republic of Congo's violence-ravaged east, the country's U.N. peacekeeping mission said. Two people were killed and 12 others were injured when prisoners detonated two grenades inside the central prison in Goma, capital of the eastern border province of North Kivu, during an overnight escape attempt that began late Sunday. "The group of mutinying soldiers ... raped around 20 female inmates," said the statement released late Monday by the U.N. mission, known as MONUC. Congolese police and military surrounded the prison, which holds a number of rebel and militia fighters, soon after the riots began, and no prisoners escaped. I wonder: will the same people who are screaming that we should do something about Iran take any stance on something like this?