World Tour: Crisis in the DRC

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour, with our reporter in Africa, Onize Oduah.

SOUND: [Sound of people fleeing]

ONIZE ODUAH: DRC crisis — We start today in Central Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where heightened rebel violence in the eastern region has sent millions fleeing.

Gunfire rocked the region’s largest city of Goma on Monday as the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed they captured the city.

M23 is one of the most active rebel groups in the mineral-rich area, though they are only one of more than 100. The group made major gains along the shared border with Rwanda in recent weeks.

Word of Goma’s capture comes after the M23 rebels issued a deadline for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons. When they didn’t, the rebels attacked. The violence has sent people who have been displaced multiple times fleeing again.

Adèle Shimiye joined others traveling six miles from an IDP camp to Goma’s city center.

SHIMIYE: [SWAHILI] We are going to Goma, but I heard that there are bombs in Goma too, so now we don't know where to go.

She says there are also bombs in Goma, so she’s unsure where to go next.

Congolese authorities have accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels to gain political and economic influence in the region.

Therese Kayikwamba Wagner is Congo’s foreign affairs minister.

WAGNER:The signs are clear: Rwanda is preparing to orchestrate open-air carnage with a brutality reminiscent of the darkest hours of our history.

She told the United Nations Security Council over the weekend that Rwanda is planning an open-air carnage that must be stopped.

Kenya has called for an emergency meeting today between the leaders of Rwanda and Congo to discuss the crisis.

France flooding — Next we head to France, where floodwaters submerged buildings and cars in the western city of Rennes over the weekend.

Authorities evacuated more than 400 people due to heavy rainfall from Storm Herminia. It’s the city’s worst flooding in 40 years.

City officials partnered with the Red Cross to house some of the displaced in gymnasiums.

RESIDENT: [FRENCH] It's been a bit of a nightmare for me. What's more, I've lost all my stuff, his stuff too, the duvets too. We've lost everything.

This displaced resident describes the flooding as a nightmare, saying he and his brother lost everything.

Storm Herminia also struck Spain and is threatening to brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to parts of the United Kingdom this week. Another storm battered the U-K, Ireland, and France last week, leaving more than a million people without power.

SOUND: [Drums]

Australia Day — This weekend thousands of Australians joined celebrations to mark the country’s founding.

The Sydney Opera House lit up with traditional paintings to commemorate the annual Australia Day.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also led a citizenship ceremony in the national capital of Canberra.

SOUND: [Protest]

Meanwhile, chanting protesters marched through Sydney as indigenous activists consider the day as “Invasion Day.”

And in Melbourne, thousands of people gathered outside the Victorian Parliament and carried a large Aboriginal flag through the city center.

Carolyn Kell joined the protests.

KELL: Today we are gathering in our thousands to rise and resist and come together to mourn the loss of life and culture but also to celebrate our existence and our resistance as Aboriginal sovereign people of this land.

Protesters also complained about issues surrounding Aboriginal land rights, missing Indigenous women, and high deaths in police custody.

Back in 2023, Australians voted down a referendum that sought to include Indigenous protections and political rights in the constitution.

SOUND: [Dance performance]

China Lunar New Year — We close today in China where Lunar New Year celebrations are underway.

Millions of people traveled home ahead of the holiday—also known as Spring Festival in China.

Railway authorities reported an estimated 510 million travelers while more than 90 million people were expected to fly.

Celebrations also took place across other Asian cities. In Malaysia, a drone show welcomed the holidays in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur while Lion Dance parades already started ahead of the day in Burma’s city of Yangon.

The official Spring Festival holiday season will run until February 4th.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria.

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