DR Congo

The economy is defined by a concerted state push to leverage critical minerals for strategic partnerships, primarily with the US. The government is directly intervening to drive up cobalt prices and offering tantalum deposits under M23 control to US investors as part of a minerals pact, while a US-backed fund agrees to buy a stake in Glencore's mines. This drive is marred by catastrophic mining disasters, including a landslide at an M23-controlled mine that killed at least 200.

• 1Mantashe clashes with DRC counterpart over its critical minerals deal with US
• 1Congo deliberately drives up cobalt prices
• 1‘I came back from the dead’: 21 hours underground after DRC mine collapse
• 1Landslide at M23-controlled mine in Congo kills at least 200

Politics is dominated by the government's dual-track approach of restructuring key institutions for mineral deals while managing a fragile eastern ceasefire. President Tshisekedi's administration replaced the leadership of state miner Gecamines amid minerals talks with the US, having previously sacked chiefs who opposed a US-backed takeover. Concurrently, the government and M23 fighters trade accusations over a ceasefire as the UN deploys a monitoring mission, with the president stating peace deals with Rwanda are stagnating.

• 1DRC opposition leader calls for critical dialogue with president

Security has sharply deteriorated with the government launching offensive attacks against the M23, breaking a period of ceasefire discussions. DR Congo government forces launched attacks against M23 rebels, killing a rebel spokesperson in a drone strike and assaulting a coltan-rich town after the site was offered to US investors. The ADF is blamed for a new wave of violence, and mass graves containing 171 bodies were found after rebel withdrawal.

• 6DR Congo government forces launch attacks against M23 rebels
• 4M23 rebel spokesperson killed in Congo army drone strike, officials say
• 2Drone attack targets civilian airport in DR Congo
• 1Deputy chief of army warns ADF has become 'detached' from violent nature of war
• 1Mass graves found in eastern Congo after rebel withdrawal, governor says

Society is enduring acute humanitarian distress from both conflict displacement and recurring natural and industrial disasters. Hundreds returned from Burundi as a border shut by M23 fighting reopened, while families describe harrowing journeys to escape fighting. This displacement trauma is compounded by catastrophic loss of life from a coltan mine collapse that killed at least 200 and floods that left over 2,500 households homeless.

• 1Child marriage still common in DRC: Here's how to reverse the trend
• 1Hundreds return from Burundi to DRC as border shut by M23 fighting reopens
• 1Trauma haunts residents one year after M23 captured Goma
• 1Police use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters near Congress
• 1‘You take what you can and run’: families describe harrowing journey to escape fighting in DRC