The Morning: A fight for Congo’s minerals

Plus, the plane crash, confirmation hearings and Blue Man Group.

View in browser|nytimes.com January 31, 2025 Good morning. My colleague Ruth Maclean explains the fighting happening in the eastern Congo. We're also covering the plane crash over the Potomac, confirmation hearings and Blue Man Group. —David Leonhardt Near Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Guerchom Ndebo for The New York Times A conflict erupts By Ruth Maclean I cover western and central Africa. Rebels backed by Rwanda are seizing huge tracts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their progress has been swift and stunning. In a month, they have routed Congo's underequipped army several times and caused more than half a million people to flee. On Monday, they captured Goma, a major Congolese city along the Rwandan border. (They grabbed it once before, in 2012.) I've been talking to Goma residents. They've been hiding in their houses for the past week without electricity or running water. Gunfire, and occasionally bombs, explode around them. Some of them took in families who had fled from camps and villages outside the city. But plenty of those displaced people arrived in Goma knowing nobody. Why are the rebels, known as M23, grabbing parts of eastern Congo? In their telling, they're protecting ethnic Tutsis, the minority group massacred in a 1994 genocide, some of whom also live in Congo. But experts say the real reason is Congo's rare minerals, which power our phones and devices. Congo's mines are making the rebels — and their patrons in Rwanda — rich. By The New York Times The United States and China are competing for such minerals, and the rebels could make access uncertain. In today's newsletter, I'll explain what's at stake in the rebels' advance — and why they may be hard to stop. The minerals in your phone You might be familiar with Rwanda from the film "Hotel Rwanda," starring Don Cheadle. In 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority killed an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis. After a revolt overthrew the Hutu extremists who oversaw the genocide, many of the culprits fled to Congo. Rwanda says they continued attacking the country from across the border, but those salvos ended decades ago. You might not know much about Congo. But you could be holding a piece of it right now, inside the phone on which you're reading this. The country is full of the minerals used to make our electronics. And everyone wants a piece: Washington and Beijing have been vying for access to minerals like copper and cobalt. Elon Musk gets most of the cobalt in Tesla's batteries from a Congolese mine. Rwanda's rebels are seizing land with rare minerals like these. For years, they've profited from Congo's mineral wealth, studies show. Lately, U.N. experts say, they're taking in $800,000 per month from mines they seized containing coltan, an ore used in smartphones. Africa's world war M23 soldiers. Guerchom Ndebo for The New York Times What's at stake, experts warn, is a larger regional war. The United Nations says up to 4,000 Rwandan troops support M23 in Congo. (Rwanda denies this.) Burundi has sent 2,000 troops to defend Goma against the rebels. South Africa sent troops to fight with a U.N. force alongside the Congolese Army. Around the turn of the century, the Great Lakes region of Africa was at the center of a regional war that raged for five years. Several countries sent soldiers, and millions of people died. The current battle, too, seems likely to extend beyond eastern Congo. It may not go as far as Kinshasa, the capital nearly 1,000 miles away, but that is what the rebels have vowed. A few African leaders have lately tried to sort this mess out. Kenya's president invited the Congolese and Rwandan presidents for talks on Wednesday, but Congo's president didn't show up. In December, Angola's president was set to hold peace talks, but Rwanda's president pulled out at the last minute. All mouth, no money? The world's powerful countries have condemned Rwanda for supporting the M23. Yesterday, France called on Rwanda to withdraw its troops from Congo. The new U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, held a genial call with Congo's president and a tense one with Rwanda's, in which he said he was "deeply troubled" by the escalation. Back in 2013, after M23 took Goma the first time, Western countries threatened Rwanda with sanctions, and it cut the rebels off. Eventually, Congolese and U.N. forces defeated the rebels. This time, it's unclear how far big countries will go — or whether the flurry of diplomatic statements will change anything. Rwanda, a country very dependent on aid, has worked to make itself useful internationally. It supplies U.N. peacekeepers to dangerous missions elsewhere in Africa. It has offered to take in asylum seekers whom European countries turn away. It sent troops to fight a jihadist insurgency in Mozambique. It channels foreign aid into impressive economic growth, making it a darling of donors. Another wrinkle is that President Trump has suspended almost all foreign aid, including to Rwanda, so he has less leverage to use on its president. That all may earn Rwanda a pass as its patron countries do little to stop it. U.S.-funded food aid in South Sudan in 2023. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Related: Trump's order to halt most foreign aid has intensified humanitarian crises and raised questions about Washington's reliability as a global leader. THE LATEST NEWS Potomac Crash Wreckage near Reagan Airport. Kenny Holston/The New York Times All 67 people on board an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter that collided over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., died. Crews are working to recover bodies. The victims included world-class figure skaters and friends returning from a hunting trip. Read more about them. Before the crash, an air traffic controller contacted the helicopter's pilots to make sure they could see the plane ahead of them. Listen to the recordings. Officials believe the helicopter may have been flying too high. These maps show the paths of the plane and the helicopter. The airport control tower was understaffed. The air traffic controller on duty was doing a job usually handled by two people. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, all suggested diversity initiatives had a role in the crash, though they offered no evidence. Kash Patel Hearing At his Senate hearing, Kash Patel, Trump's pick to run the F.B.I., denied that a list of anti-Trump officials he published in his book was an "enemies list." But he evaded questions about whether he would investigate the officials on the list. Patel also refused to say that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election. Patel, who has generally been loyal to Trump, diverged with him on one point: He said he disagreed with the pardons for Jan. 6 rioters who attacked the police. Republicans expressed support for Patel. "Don't go over there and burn that place down," Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said to him. "Go over there and make it better." Tulsi Gabbard Hearing Tulsi Gabbard Eric Lee/The New York Times Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, resisted calls from both Democrats and Republicans to declare Edward Snowden a traitor at her Senate confirmation hearing. Gabbard also faced questions about her past comments defending leaders of Russia and Syria. She appeared to walk back her implication that the U.S. bore responsibility for the war in Ukraine. More on Hearings At a second Senate hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health secretary, Kennedy defended his views on vaccination, and a key Republican — Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician — remained undecided. Here are takeaways from the hearing. The Senate confirmed Doug Burgum as Interior Secretary. More on Trump The Trump administration told top F.B.I. officials to retire or be fired in the coming days. Paramount is in talks with Trump to settle a lawsuit he brought accusing the company of deceptively editing a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris. It would be an extraordinary concession to a sitting president. Mark Zuckerberg defended his embrace of the Trump administration in a meeting with Meta employees. Immigrant communities are afraid of deportation, and schools, churches and shops are feeling the effects. One minister said fewer congregants were showing up for services. The Trump administration is considering a move to halt New York City's congestion pricing program. International Debris after a stampede in northern India. Atul Loke for The New York Times A pre-dawn stampede at a massive Hindu festival killed 30 people, but officials appeared to cover up the damage and delay releasing the death toll. Salwan Momika, an Iraqi immigrant who burned a Quran in Sweden in 2023, which set off protests across the Muslim world, has been killed. Officials opened a murder investigation. North Korea sent its best troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine. But after months of suffering severe losses, they are no longer on the front line. Moscow has tried to keep Russians off YouTube. People have found workarounds. Other Big Stories A conservative appeals court ruled that a longstanding federal ban on handgun sales to people aged 18 to 20 was unconstitutional. Florida's recent winter storm nearly froze more than 1,000 sea turtles to death. They washed up on shore just in time. Opinions "America's not an idea. It's a country with a border": Steve Bannon discussed immigration, Trump and the so-called tech right with Ross Douthat. Meghan Daum considered self-reliance a virtue until her home in Altadena, Calif., burned down. Allowing people to help is, in its own way, an act of service, she writes. Here are columns by David Brooks on Trump's spending freeze, and Lydia Polgreen on mass migration. The Times Sale: Our best rate for readers of The Morning. Save now with our best offer on unlimited news and analysis as part of the complete Times experience: $1/week for your first year. MORNING READS Asian shore crabs ready for serving. Brian Finke for The New York Times Crustacean invasion: Crabs from Europe and Asia have taken over New England. Luckily, they're delicious. Young Luddites: Meet the college kids sticking to flip phones. Weddings: Couples are restructuring their registries and celebrations to support charitable causes. Space rock: Astronomers are keeping an eye on this asteroid's odds of hitting Earth. Ask the Therapist: "My boyfriend lacks ambition. Is that a deal breaker?" Lives Lived: Dick Button's passionate and often tart commentary on figure skating competitions became a television staple over six decades and made him the sport's unofficial spokesman. He died at 95. SPORTS N.F.L.: Six massage therapists accused the Ravens kicker Justin Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior, according to an investigation by The Baltimore Banner. N.B.A.: Federal officials are investigating the Heat guard Terry Rozier over an illegal gambling operation in 2023. ARTS AND IDEAS Blue Man Group Vincent Tullo for The New York Times After 17,800 shows and 82,150 gallons of paint, Blue Man Group is coming to an end in New York. The show ran for 34 years. It gave Fred Armisen a drumming gig and "Arrested Development" a hilarious story line. Read about the group. More on culture A new exhibition in London traces the evolution of tarot cards. Late-night hosts commented on Trump's views on D.E.I. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times Make a gumbo. Watch these movies and shows before they leave Netflix in February. Clean your garbage disposal. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was dizzyingly. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. —David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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