congo

Armed groups target elephants in Congo park

Armed groups target elephants in Congo park

Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The eight suspected poachers stood under a tree, apparently unaware they were being tracked by 10 rangers from Congo's Garamba National Park. But as the rangers approached, gunfire rang out from the tall grass nearby, where other heavily armed men were hidden. The dragnet swiftly turned into a desperate fight for survival.

The shootout last month, in which three rangers and a Congolese army colonel were killed, highlights the challenge of protecting parks in a part of Africa plagued for decades by insurgencies, civil war, refugee flows and weak governments. It shows how some conservation efforts resemble a kind of guerrilla warfare in which rangers and soldiers stalk — and are stalked by — poachers who are slaughtering Africa's elephants and other wildlife.

Portugal’s radicals move to heart of power after debt crisis
government

Portugal’s radicals move to heart of power after debt crisis

Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Die-hard communists are poised to walk the corridors of power in Portugal, and a new generation of leftist radicals is right beside them.

The Portuguese Communist Party and the radical Left Bloc say they are hitching up with the bigger, moderate Socialist Party for what will likely be a successful — and controversial — gambit next week to unseat the country's center-right government just days after it was sworn in. The three parties then intend to take command of the country's fortunes for the next four years in a bold power play that just a few weeks ago was unthinkable.

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