Osvaldo Laport, the award-winning Uruguayan actor and star of Argentine television, has expressed deep concerns over the abuse suffered by women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R. Congo). He visited the war-ravaged region as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). After meeting the victims, Osvaldo Laport raised this issue of ill-treatment towards women in the media.

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on President Joseph Kabila to reverse imposed ban of RFI (Radio France Internationale) in the eastern cities of Bunia and Bukavu. The Government put the restriction on the Radio station broadcast in response to its on-air coverage of the continuing conflict in the eastern part.

Geovics preliminary estimate for 2009 world demand of Cobalt is 52,600 tonnes, a 13% decrease from 2008 demand. The principal factor for reduced demand is the global economic crisis in the first half of the year. On the supply side, Geovic estimates that 2009 cobalt production will fall by approximately 5% compared to 2008, to around 53,000 tonnes.

In the study undertaken by various independent bodies, actual world supply and demand data from external sources are used through 2008; whereas the projections from 2009 through 2015 are based on an 11% CAGR (principally due to the "catch-up effect" following the aforementioned significant demand decline in 2009). The combination of production from existing mines and new production is expected to yield 10% CAGR between 2008 and 2015; however, the fore mentioned demand growth is expected to yield a relatively tight supply/demand balance during that period.