Over the years, Russia and the Republic of Congo have had good bilateral relations. Undoubtedly, there are still prospects for strengthening these relations, especially in the economic and security spheres, as underlined during the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Denis Sassou-Nguesso in the Kremlin.ce

Mireille Mbouaki farms in the village of Mboubissi, sixty kilometres southeast of Pointe-Noire, capital city of the Congolese department of Kouilou. This year the rains have been poor and irregular. Ms. Mbouaki is very worried. She has good reason to worry. In many coastal towns, cassava plants are suffering. Leaves are wrinkled and shriveled, plants are stunted, and roots are rotting. The changing climate has not been kind to Congolese farmers.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Congo-Brazzaville has said it is expecting more displaced people to pour in from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. The UNHCR said that more than 120,000 refugees are already crammed into camps in Congo-Brazzaville and Central African Republic.

The fourth and last phase of repatriation of Angolan refugees in Congo Brazzaville, that was to start on the 26th of September, has been postponed, due to technical reasons, a source with the Social Welfare Ministry (MINARS), announced. A MINARS press note delivered to Angop says that 112 Angolan citizens coming from that African country were expected today at Cabinda's Massaby border station. The organised repatriation of about 3.000 Angolan refugees living in Congo Brazzaville started in the middle of this year, in an operation that has already repatriated 286 national citizens, most of whom born in northern Cabinda province.

(S)he will manage the day-to-day activities of the project and ensure commodities are received, transported and stored properly and safely. Select schools and kindergartens for direct feeding and monetization assistance. Assure that an adequate distribution and monitoring system is in place and functioning. Manage monitoring function of Food for Education program. Evaluate projects/activities supported by monetization proceeds. Will draft semi-annual reports for IPHD/HQ. Will provide technical assistance at all levels of the MOE in school lunch program management and project.

Automatic weapons-fire and rocket explosions echoed across Republic of Congo's capital in an outbreak of fighting late Wednesday, officials said. It was not immediately clear who was involved in the clash, which appeared to be centred in the southern Bacongo neighbourhood of Brazzaville, government spokesman Alain Akoulat told The Associated Press. There were no reports of casualties. Two rebel factions in Brazzaville - a rebel group supporting former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas and another rebel group supporting renegade pastor Frederic Bitsangou - battled briefly in the same neighbourhood on Saturday.

The health ministry of the Republic of Congo reported last Thursday that the current Ebola acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome outbreak in the country's northwestern Cuvette Ouest Department was stabilising, with 29 deaths among 42 registered cases to date. According to Damaze Bozongo, director-general of the health ministry, since 2 December, no further deaths had been registered in either Mbomo or Mbanza, two villages that were among the worst-affected in Cuvette Ouest, 800 km north of the capital, Brazzaville.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriated last Thursday 197 Republic of Congo refugees from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), following assurances from Brazzaville authorities that their safety would be guaranteed.

At least 10,000 people have fled Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, following two days of fighting between government forces and Ninja militias that began on Friday, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office in the country reported. On Friday, it said, Brazzaville endured two sustained military attacks in the northeastern outskirts of the town. The first was against the military based near the international airport at Maya Maya, and the second targeted a police school and a station of the gendarmerie in the neighbourhood of Moukondo.

A direct telephone line was reinstalled on Wednesday between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighbouring Republic of Congo (ROC) after a 15-year hiatus, the director of the National Telecommunications and Post Office, Rene-Serge Blanchard Oba, said in the ROC capital, Brazzaville.

At least 15,000 people remained displaced in Pool region and perhaps 50,000 in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (ROC) on Wednesday as a result of panic provoked by continued fighting in various localities of the interior of Pool region and the Kinsoundi neighbourhood of Brazzaville, UN agencies reported on Thursday. They cautioned, however, that as most displacement sites cannot be reached due to insecurity, these numbers may be higher.

The World Health Organisation regional office for Africa begins its return to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on Tuesday after a four-year absence caused by civil war, the UN agency reported.

An apparent assassination attempt involving a 10-minute frenzy of grenades, rockets and gunfire against Itihi Ossetoumba Lekoundzo, defence minister of Congo-Brazzaville was reported to have taken place on Wednesday in Brazzaville, according to AP.