Congo, Democratic Republic of (Congo-Kinshasa)
Anti-U.N. Protests in Congo Leave 15 Dead, Including 3 Peacekeepers
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — At least 15 people, including three U.N. peacekeepers, have been killed and 60 others injured in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in an escalation of dayslong protests against the United Nations in a mineral-rich region that has been ravaged by incessant deadly violence. Protesters have been […]
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Belgian King Returns Mask to Congo in Landmark Visit
DAKAR, Senegal — The king of Belgium on Wednesday handed over a large wooden mask to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of thousands of objects taken long ago to the European country from its former colony. King Philippe, on his first visit to the country since assuming the throne in 2013, […]
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In Congo, Floating Pastors Follow Mobile Flocks Along Busy River
MBANDAKA, Democratic Republic of Congo — The ebullient soukous music had been blasting from speakers since before dawn, but at 8 a.m., someone aboard the brightly painted boat docked along the Congo River pressed pause, and a pastor picked up a microphone and began preaching at a volume easily heard on shore. “You will go […]
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In ‘African Origin’ Show at Met, New Points of Light Across Cultures
Object for object, there isn’t an exhibition in town more beautiful than “The African Origin of Civilization” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nor is there one more shot through with ethical and political tensions. The gathering of 42 sculptures in one of the Met’s Egyptian galleries unites, for the first time here, pieces from […]
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What to Know About the Frantic Quest for Cobalt
The clean energy revolution is replacing oil and gas with a new global force: the minerals and metals needed in electric car batteries, solar panels and other forms of renewable energy. Places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, which produces two-thirds of the world’s supply of cobalt, for example, are stepping into the kinds of […]
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How the U.S. Lost Ground to China in the Contest for Clean Energy
WASHINGTON — Tom Perriello saw it coming but could do nothing to stop it. André Kapanga too. Despite urgent emails, phone calls and personal pleas, they watched helplessly as a company backed by the Chinese government took ownership from the Americans of one of the world’s largest cobalt mines. It was 2016, and a deal […]
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A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution
KISANFU, Democratic Republic of Congo — Just up a red dirt road, across an expanse of tall, dew-soaked weeds, bulldozers are hollowing out a yawning new canyon that is central to the world’s urgent race against global warming. For more than a decade, the vast expanse of untouched land was controlled by an American company. […]
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