Capital gained: a grim turn in Darfur

资本收益:达尔富尔局势急转直下

The Intelligence from The Economist

2025-11-03

23 分钟
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The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have at last taken El Fasher, the capital of Darfur. Reported atrocities are sharply rising, in a chilling echo of what happened in the region two decades ago. Artificial intelligence is narrowing the information asymmetry between sellers and buyers, spelling an end to the “rip-off economy”. And why the literary genre of questionnaires is fading.
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  • The Economist Hello and welcome to The Intelligence from The Economist.

  • I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

  • Every weekday we provide fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

  • The information onslaught of the early internet did a lot to banish what's called information asymmetry between sellers and buyers.

  • Now, artificial intelligence is making consumers even more informed.

  • Welcome to the end of the rip-off economy.

  • And information flows the other way.

  • Consumers and citizens are endlessly asked to answer questionnaires.

  • But they're clearly losing enthusiasm for the quizzing.

  • We look at surveys as a literary genre, one that is apparently dying a slow death.

  • First up, though.

  • In El Fasher, the capital of Sudan's western Darfur region,

  • a brutal year-and-a-half long siege has now turned into brazen massacre.

  • Last week, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, a paramilitary group,

  • Finally drove out the last remaining troops of the government's Sudanese armed forces, or SAF.

  • As they did, thousands of residents of Al-Fasher fled to camps further afield.

  • One woman escaped with her two-month-old grandchild after her daughter and son-in-law were killed in the onslaught.

  • A spokesperson for the United Nations estimated that in the course of just 48 hours,

  • More than 60,000 people were displaced.

  • Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that North Darfur State remains catastrophic with ongoing attacks against civilians.