Remote control: Rwandan proxies occupy Congo
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.4 • 4.9K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2025
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rebels linked to Rwanda have occupied the city of Goma in eastern Congo. Our correspondent reports on the horrific scenes there, and warns that Rwanda’s belligerence may be part of a bigger plan to redraw the map of Africa. How microplastics may be affecting our health (10:43). And why Gen Z loves astrology apps (16:33).
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist. |
| 0:10.4 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.8 | I'm Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:15.1 | And I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:16.6 | Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:24.3 | Plastic is such a wonderfully useful substance that it's ubiquitous. |
| 0:28.8 | Unfortunately, it degrades into microplastics, tiny particles which find their way into every part of the human body. |
| 0:36.5 | Our correspondent investigates their impact. |
| 0:40.7 | And back during America's presidential election, |
| 0:43.8 | we told you astrologers were weighing in unusually fervently. |
| 0:47.8 | But truth is, starry prognosticating is experiencing a boom more generally. |
| 0:53.1 | And of course, it's getting a boost from artificial intelligence. |
| 1:01.6 | But first... |
| 1:07.0 | I've been in Goma, a city on the border with Rwanda since early last week. |
| 1:16.8 | Emmett Livingston writes about Africa and is in Goma at the moment. Internet connection there is very |
| 1:22.3 | poor, but he's been able to send us occasional dispatches. Over the time that I've been here, I've watched as M23 rebels and Rwandan troops |
| 1:30.5 | advanced from about 15 miles west of the city. |
| 1:37.0 | For two years, the city of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo |
| 1:41.4 | has been almost completely encircled by a military group, |
| 1:45.0 | known as the March the 23 movement, or M23. At the weekend, the forces keeping the M23 rebels |
| 1:53.0 | out of Goma collapsed. Fighting continued, and this weekend the attackers pushed from the north |
| 2:00.4 | and overran government positions. |
... |
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