Vishnu Padmarabhan

Remote control: Rwandan proxies occupy Congo

Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Emmett Livingston, Robert Guest, Slaweja Čankova, Vishnu Padmarabhan

Following a collapse of government defenses, the M23 rebel group and alleged Rwandan troops captured Goma, displacing millions while exploiting the region's resources amid accusations of a proxy war strategy. Concurrently, medical research published in the *New England Journal of Medicine* identifies microplastics in half of a patient sample with arterial plaque, linking their presence to a quadrupled risk of heart attacks and stroke. Simultaneously, the global astrology market is surging to $23 billion by 2031 as Gen Z users increasingly turn to AI-driven platforms for guidance amidst declining religious adherence and rising societal stress.