Matthew Mpoke Bigg
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East Africa bureau chief, New York Times @nytimes
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Articles by Matthew Mpoke Bigg
A town left to fight Ebola alone
A burial team carries the body of seven-year-old Josue Ddirokpa toward a cemetery in Mangala, on Sept 6. What happened in Mangala, where residents were left with little outside support, helps explain how this outbreak became the worst seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo. — Arlette Bashizi/The New York Times ON a hilltop in eastern Congo, work has begun on a new Ebola centre to help contain the virus in Mangala and surrounding villages. Local health workers say it is too late.
Market Drone Strike Kills at Least 150 as Sudanese Fighters Hit Civilians
Market Drone Strike Kills at Least 150 as Sudanese Fighters Hit Civilians Struggling against each other on the battlefield, the sides in Sudan’s civil war are relying on drones to strike across vast distances, inflicting huge tolls on civilians in the process. VideoMore Than 150 Killed After Drone Strikes Disputed Sudanese Town A drone strike on a market in Abyei, a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, killed at least 153 people on Monday, a local official said.
Nigeria Announces First Case of Ebola in Current Outbreak
Nigeria Announces First Case of Ebola in Current Outbreak - The New York Times
Cult Leader Convicted of Mass Murder by Court in Kenya
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Cult Leader Convicted of Mass Murder by Court in Kenya Paul Nthenge Mackenzie told his doomsday followers in a remote forest to fast for salvation. He faced trial after hundreds of bodies were exhumed. Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a doomsday cult leader, at the Shanzu Law Courts in Mombasa, Kenya, in January.
D’alliées à ennemies, l’Éthiopie et l’Érythrée au bord de la guerre
L’Éthiopie et l’Érythrée ont autrefois fait front commun dans une guerre contre le Front de libération du peuple du Tigré, un puissant parti politique du nord de l’Éthiopie. Il y a quelques années à peine, des centaines de milliers de personnes ont été tuées dans les sanglants combats qui ont ravagé le Tigré. Des organisations de défense des droits de la personne ont accusé l’Éthiopie et l’Érythrée d’avoir commis des massacres, des agressions sexuelles et des actes de nettoyage ethnique.
Kenya Announces Its Second Ebola Infection Original
Kenya Announces Its Second Ebola Infection The case is likely to raise alarms in the country and increase scrutiny of the government’s surveillance measures. A nurse gestures inside Nairobi Hospital, where an Ebola patient was isolated immediately upon arrival and treated at the hospital’s East Wing Isolation Facility. The patient later died.Credit...Monicah Mwangi/Reuters Oct.
From Allies to Enemies: Ethiopia and Eritrea Edge Toward War
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. From Allies to Enemies: Ethiopia and Eritrea Edge Toward War The two nations fought alongside each other during a brutal conflict in Tigray that left hundreds of thousands of people dead just a few years ago. Now they are on the brink of fighting each other.
A booming business in Ebola-ravaged city
Two apprentice carpenters wrapping finished coffins before delivery in Bunia. — Arlette Bashizi/The New York Times AMID a cloud of sawdust and the whine of a buzz saw, Djo Limayo, a carpenter in Congo, was at work building another coffin. Business has been strong for Limayo since an Ebola outbreak hit the city of Bunia in May. More than a dozen carpentry workshops line the streets. All of them appear to be focused on coffin-making.
Kenya Records Ebola Case for First Time
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Kenya Records Ebola Case for First Time The authorities said that the virus had been diagnosed in a man arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo and that they were taking measures to prevent any spread. The Kenyan cabinet secretary for health, Aden Duale, at a news conference in Nairobi on Tuesday.
‘No help’: Aid arrived too late as Ebola spread in a Congolese town
MANGALA, Congo — On a hilltop town in eastern Congo, work has started on a new Ebola center. When completed, it will anchor an effort to contain the virus in the town and its surrounding villages. Local health workers say the center is too late. Many lives could have been saved, the health workers say, had a sustained effort to combat the virus started in the town of Mangala in June.
‘No Help’: Aid Arrived Too Late as Ebola Spread in a Congolese Town
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. On a hilltop town in eastern Congo, work has started on a new Ebola center. When completed, it will anchor an effort to contain the virus in the town and its surrounding villages. Local health workers here say the center is too late.
What to Know About Fighting Between Ethiopia and Rebels in Tigray
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. What to Know About Fighting Between Ethiopia and Rebels in Tigray The conflict is raising fears of a regional war in the Horn of Africa, drawing in foreign powers including Eritrea, Egypt the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. A shattered window of Tigray Television Station after a drone strike in Mekelle, Ethiopia, last week.Credit...via Reuters Oct.
Tigray Region Mobilizes Forces Against Ethiopian Central Government
Tigray Region Mobilizes Forces Against Ethiopian Central Government Tigray People’s Liberation Front seized a key airport in the city of Mekelle, as fears grow of a possible return to a full-scale war. Members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in Mekelle, Ethiopia, on Wednesday, after Tigrayan forces seized control of airports in the region.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Sept.
Ethiopian Rebel Groups Join Forces Against the Government
Ethiopian Rebel Groups Join Forces Against the Government Half a dozen groups, accusing the prime minister of being dictatorial, announced the formation of a coalition in a country already scarred by war. Fighters with the Oromo Liberation Army, one of the rebel groups that say they have joined forces, during an orientation session in western Oromia, Ethiopia, last year.Credit...Associated Press Sept.
At Least 70 Die After Unofficial Gold Mine Collapses in Sudan Dozens more are missing after shafts collapsed on Sunday, according to a charity, which said that the chances of rescuing those trapped were “limited.” Sept. 16, 2026Updated 2:28 p.m. ET Scores of people died and dozens of others were missing after shafts collapsed at an artisanal gold mine in Sudan, a charity group said on Wednesday.
Las misteriosas últimas horas de un conductor ponen al descubierto los profundos temores del Congo ante el ébola
MARABO, Congo — El hombre muerto yacía en un charco de sangre, a pocos metros del camión que había estacionado en la aldea. Según testigos, el conductor se detuvo un viernes por la noche para reparar un neumático reventado, con la intención de continuar hacia el este al día siguiente por la carretera sin pavimentar que conecta las ciudades de Bunia y Kisangani en el Congo. Al día siguiente, lo vieron comprar jugo en un quiosco de la aldea de Marabo y sentarse sobre el neumático roto.
A Driver’s Mysterious Final Hours Expose Congo’s Deep Ebola Fears
The dead man lay in a pool of blood, a few yards from the truck that he had parked in the village. Witnesses said the driver had stopped on a recent Friday night to repair a burst tire, intending to continue east the next day along the unpaved highway that connects the cities of Bunia and Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The next day, they saw him buy juice from a kiosk in the village, Marabo, and sit down on the broken tire.
The Business of Coffin Making in a City Ravaged by Ebola
BUNIA, Congo — Amid a cloud of sawdust and the whine of a buzz saw, Djo Limayo, a carpenter in Congo, was at work building another coffin. Business has been strong for Limayo since an Ebola outbreak hit the city of Bunia in May. More than a dozen carpentry workshops line the streets. All of them appear to be focused on coffin making. The sight of the wooden boxes placed on tables or stacked in racks is a reminder of something that few people want to think about in Congo.
The Business of Coffin Making in a City Ravaged by Ebola
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Amid a cloud of sawdust and the whine of a buzz saw, Djo Limayo, a carpenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was at work building another coffin. Business has been strong for Mr. Limayo since an Ebola outbreak hit the city of Bunia in May. More than a dozen carpentry workshops line the streets. All of them appear to be focused on coffin making.
5 Americans are killed in helicopter crash in Kenya
A helicopter crashed on Wednesday at a tourist destination in northern Kenya, killing five Americans and a senior government official from Ecuador, authorities said. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said the crash happened about 9 a.m. at Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County, a rural and arid area that attracts tourists to its national park and wildlife conservancies.
El director de inteligencia de Ecuador y 5 estadounidenses mueren tras la caída de un helicóptero en Kenia Original
El director de inteligencia de Ecuador y 5 estadounidenses mueren tras la caída de un helicóptero en Kenia El Ministerio de Transporte de Kenia estaba investigando la causa del desplome, según la autoridad de aviación, cuyo comunicado no abordó el estado de la tripulación del helicóptero.
5 Americans Are Killed in Helicopter Crash in Kenya
5 Americans Are Killed in Helicopter Crash in Kenya Ecuador’s director of national intelligence was also among those who died in the crash. The search and recovery efforts were being hampered by a fire at the site and the difficult terrain, officials said. A photograph released by the Kenya Red Cross showing emergency response teams during a search and rescue operation after the helicopter crash near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu, Kenya, on Wednesday.Credit...Kenya Red Cross, via Associated Press Aug.
The Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has pounded the city of El Obeid in south-central Sudan with drones for months. Its goal: wresting it from the Sudanese Army. The State Department said in June that the paramilitary group was massing its forces around the city and that atrocities could occur if the R.S.F. took control.
The thin line against Ebola
A ROPE stretched across a bridge. That was all Uganda needed to show that its border with Congo was closed. Until recently, the bridge over the Lamia river bustled with activity.
A Thin Rope Holds the Line Against Ebola on Uganda's Border
BUNDIBUGYO, Uganda -- A rope stretched across a bridge. That was all Uganda needed to show that its border with Congo was closed. Until recently, the bridge over the Lamia river bustled with activity. Ugandan farmers crossed to tend their crops in Congo, where land is cheaper. Every morning, Congolese children in bright uniforms walked across the bridge to attend village schools in Uganda.
A Thin Rope Holds the Line Against Ebola on Uganda’s Border
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. A rope stretched across a bridge. That was all Uganda needed to show that its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo was closed. Until recently, the bridge over the Lamia river bustled with activity. Ugandan farmers crossed to tend their crops in Congo, where land is cheaper.
7 Americans are kept at a Kenya Ebola site as Trump travel ban issued
NAIROBI, Kenya — Seven American aid workers are being quarantined at a recently built U.S. facility on an air base in Kenya, their employer said Friday. They are the first Americans to be monitored at the site, and arrived at the facility even as the Trump administration announced a new Ebola-related travel ban this week.
7 Americans Sent to Kenyan Ebola Site as Trump Issues New Travel Ban
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. 7 Americans Sent to Kenyan Ebola Site as Trump Issues New Travel Ban The aid workers were on the frontline in the fight against the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and have shown no symptoms, their employer said.
Man Sought in Minnesota Fraud Case Returned From Somalia Original
Man Sought in Minnesota Fraud Case Returned From Somalia Abdikerm Eidleh, whom the authorities sought for nearly four years, faces charges in the state’s sprawling social services fraud case, which has drawn the Trump administration’s attention.
Arrest in Minnesota Covid Fraud Case Faces Extradition Hurdles Original
When the Department of Justice hailed the arrest of Abdikerm Eidleh in Mogadishu, Somalia, last month as a breakthrough in its efforts to root out fraud in American social service programs, it vowed that “the long arm of justice” would hunt down anyone stealing U.S. taxpayer money, even those who were halfway across the globe.
Ebola outbreak could become largest ever, Africa’s CDC warns
NAIROBI, Kenya — Africa’s top health agency offered a grim outlook on the Ebola crisis raging in eastern Congo on Thursday, warning that contact tracing was dangerously behind where it needed to be to end the spread.
Ebola Outbreak Could Become Largest Ever, Africa’s C.D.C. Warns
Ebola Outbreak Could Become Largest Ever, Africa’s C.D.C. Warns Most of the people testing positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo are not on health workers’ radar, suggesting that contact tracing is lagging dangerously behind.
Officials Shut Down Kenya’s Capital to Block Protest
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Officials Shut Down Kenya’s Capital to Block Protest The protest, an annual event, has become a showcase of the growing political power of Kenya’s youth.
A quarantine too far
An image provided by Vantor shows tents erected and vehicles at a new field hospital at Kenya’s Laikipia Air Base in Laikipia County, Kenya. — Vantor via The New York Times THE American plan to open an Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya was meant to help contain the outbreak by isolating American patients exposed to the virus. Instead, it caused an outbreak of violence and political rancour, with hundreds of Kenyans taking to the streets in protest.
‘I Like My Job Too Much’: Unpaid Teachers Fight to Save a Nation’s Schools
At first glance, the work life of Paul Santino, the headmaster of a school here in South Sudan, resembles that of many educators. He sits alone at a dark wooden desk in a room lined with books. Students and staff knock politely before entering. Every so often he makes his rounds, poking his head into classrooms, overseeing goings on around the schoolyard, chiding students for their uniform or behavior.
'I Like My Job Too Much': Unpaid Teachers Fight to Save a Nation's Schools
JUBA, South Sudan -- At first glance, the work life of Paul Santino, the headmaster of a school in South Sudan, resembles that of many educators. He sits alone at a dark wooden desk in a room lined with books. Students and staff knock politely before entering. Every so often, he makes his rounds, poking his head into classrooms, overseeing goings on around the schoolyard, chiding students for their uniform or behavior.
What to Know About the Ebola Outbreak
The Ebola outbreak spreading through eastern Congo is continuing to outpace the response more than five weeks since it was officially declared, according to the World Health Organization. "We still face major challenges," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said at a briefing Wednesday. A day earlier, the Congolese Health Ministry said there were 1,094 confirmed cases in the country and 277 deaths as of Monday.
Officials Shut Down Kenya's Capital to Block Protest
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Authorities in Kenya effectively shut down the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday, blocking highways and deploying security forces to preempt an annual protest that has become a focus of opposition to President William Ruto. June 25 has emerged as a significant -- and tense -- date in Kenya's political calendar, after security forces killed dozens of people on that day two years ago during a protest against a government finance bill that would have raised taxes.
U.S. Warns of 'Imminent' Atrocities in Sudanese City
The U.S. State Department has warned that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces are massing near the city of El Obeid and that "mass atrocities" against civilians could occur if the city falls to the paramilitary group. The statement, released Monday, echoed those made by the African Union, the United Nations and other international bodies that have expressed concern that the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, could subject civilians in the city to torture and abuse, as happened in el-Fasher in Darfur.
U.S. Warns of ‘Imminent’ Atrocities in Sudanese City
U.S. Warns of ‘Imminent’ Atrocities in Sudanese City A highway running through El Obeid links Darfur in west Sudan to the east, making it a strategically significant battleground. A camp for displaced persons in El Obeid, Sudan, in January.
La República Democrática del Congo vuelve con estilo al Mundial tras 52 años
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Nadie sabe qué pasará el miércoles, cuando la selección masculina de fútbol de la República Democrática del Congo (RDC) dispute su primer partido del Mundial en 52 años. Pero la RDC ya ha vencido a todos sus rivales en un aspecto, según sus aficionados y los amantes de la moda.
La República Democrática del Congo vuelve con estilo al Mundial tras 52 años
Nadie sabe qué pasará el miércoles, cuando la selección masculina de fútbol de la República Democrática del Congo (RDC) dispute su primer partido del Mundial en 52 años. Pero la RDC ya ha vencido a todos sus rivales en un aspecto, según sus aficionados y los amantes de la moda. "En lo que se refiere al Mundial de saber vestirse, ya hemos ganado", dijo Herman Ainsi, un vecino de Kinsasa, la capital de la RDC.
Congo Returns to World Cup in High Style After 52 Years Away
No one knows what will happen on Wednesday, when the Congolese men’s soccer team plays in its first World Cup match in 52 years. But the Democratic Republic of Congo has already beaten all comers in one way, according to its fans and fashion aficionados. “When it comes to the World Cup of knowing how to dress, we’ve already won,” said Herman Ainsi, a resident of Kinshasa, Congo’s capital. To many Africans and fashion historians, though, this is nothing new.
Congo Returns to World Cup in High Style After 52 Years Away
No one knows what will happen on Wednesday, when the Congolese men's soccer team plays in its first World Cup match in 52 years. But Congo has already beaten all comers in one way, according to its fans and fashion aficionados. "When it comes to the World Cup of knowing how to dress, we've already won," said Herman Ainsi, a resident of Kinshasa, Congo's capital.
U.S. Ebola Unit Sparks Fury, Protests and a Political Crisis in Kenya
U.S. Ebola Unit Sparks Fury, Protests and a Political Crisis in Kenya Hundreds of Kenyans have marched through the streets to oppose a quarantine facility that would be reserved exclusively for American patients.
Somali referee says his World Cup dream is dashed after U.S. denies entry
Font Size By Matthew Mpoke Bigg Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday June 10, 2026 Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A referee from Somalia said on Tuesday that the biggest dream of his professional life had been shattered after the American authorities denied him permission to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup soccer tournament. The referee, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, was one of 52 selected for this summer’s World Cup in North America.
U.S. Ebola Unit Sparks Fury, Protests and a Political Crisis in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya -- The U.S. plan to open an Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya was meant to help contain the outbreak by isolating American patients exposed to the virus. Instead, it has caused an outbreak of violence and political rancor, with hundreds of Kenyans taking to the streets in protest. Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that no Ebola patients would be allowed to enter the United States after the World Health Organization announced a dangerous outbreak in Congo.
Expulsado: para este árbitro somalí, el Mundial terminó cuando EE. UU. le negó la entrada
"Tenía los papeles en regla y todo", dijo Omar Abdulkadir Artan en su primera entrevista desde que fue enviado de regreso. Habría sido el primer somalí en arbitrar un partido del torneo. Un árbitro de Somalia dijo el martes que el mayor sueño de su vida profesional se había hecho añicos cuando las autoridades estadounidenses le negaron el permiso para entrar en Estados Unidos y participar en la Copa Mundial de la FIFA.
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