The U.N. Security Council has voted to keep its 17,000 peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at least until the end of the year. The 15-nation council unanimously approved a resolution that also called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to submit by mid-November a timetable for the gradual reduction of the force, the largest the United Nations maintains anywhere. The new mandate expires on Dec. 31, 2007.

Until 2004, social service providers in Kindu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, cared for sexual violence victims in their own homes, sitting rooms and kitchens — scarcely confidential settings for discussing such a sensitive issue.

Phambu Lutete, the publisher of the Kinshasa-based bi-weekly newspaper "La Tolérance", has been in the custody of Kinshasa's Provincial Police Inspection (IPK) unit since his arrest on 6 May 2007. On 8 May, Lutete was transferred to the Kinshasa/Matete High Court Prosecutor's Office. The journalist was charged with "threatening and attempted swindling" of Pauline Ipeluka, a senior official with Kinshasa's property tax office.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said it's probing the operations of Central African Mining & Exploration Co., a UK-based copper producer, after being approached by South Africa to help with the arrest of a company shareholder. South Africa's Justice Department asked Congo to assist with an arrest warrant for Billy Rautenbach, a Camec shareholder, on charges of fraud, corruption and theft, Victor Kasongo, Congo's vice minister of mines, has said in an e-mailed statement.

Marie-Therese Nlandu, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo has escaped death by firing squad. She was also freed from going to jail for 50 years, which was an option to the firing squad. Mrs Nlandu returned to Congo in 2006 to participate in the Presidential polls won by Joseph Kabila. Her arrest resulted in November after she had protested the results at the court last November.

The UN refugee agency has called on all armed groups in Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province to immediately cease attacks on civilians. The continuing instability has prompted an estimated 123,000 Congolese to flee their homes in the past three months.

At least 42 Rwandan Hutu rebels and four government soldiers have been killed in a crackdown by the Democratic Republic of Congo's military in the strife-torn east, the United Nations has said. The FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda rebel group) haslost at least 42 men; while four DRC soldiers have died in a combat zone north of the eastern town of Goma, it said.

On 22 March 2007, the worst fighting that Kinshasa has ever seen broke out between government forces and supporters of the opposition. Hundreds of people lay dead in the streets and opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba announced his departure into exile. Yet some diplomats in the capital played down the violence as a hiccup in the peace process. In this article, Jason Stearns evaluates the prospects for lasting peace.

Save the Children UK is seeking a programme manager - North Kivu to work in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Closing date: 20 May 2007.

Congo's largest opposition party allied to ex-warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba said on Wednesday its deputies were returning to parliament after walking out this month to demand government guarantees for their safety. Bemba, the defeated contender in last year's elections won by President Joseph Kabila, left Democratic Republic of Congo on April 11 for medical treatment in Portugal following the rout of his militiamen by government troops in fighting in Kinshasa.

Papy Tembe Moroni, a cameraman and reporter with the privately-owned Canal Congo Television (CCTV), has been released after being detained for 132 days in the cells of Kinshasa's Secret Service Police and at the Centre pénitentiaire et de rééducation de Kinshasa (CPRK), Kinshasa's main prison. The "provisional" release is part of an action undertaken by new Justice Minister Minsayi Booka that would see detainees who have served at least a quarter of their sentence or who were irregularly detained released in order to free up space in the country's overcrowded jails.

Civilians fleeing fighting between Congolese government troops and rebel militias in North Kivu Province have been forced to shelter in makeshift camps 100km from Goma town, aid workers said.Thousands of others are living in the bush, hiding during the day and going to their fields at night.

Executions and rape of civilians have continued in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo DRC) according to a report published by the United Nations detailing human rights abuses during the month of March. Among the abuses was the arbitrary execution on 10 March of 15 civilians who were shot in the head in a North Kivu village by soldiers of DRC’s national army.

Congo's public prosecutor has asked the Senate to lift senator Jean-Pierre Bemba's immunity so he can be charged over bloody clashes between his forces and army troops last month, according to documents seen by Reuters. Public Prosecutor Tshimanga Mukeba said in a letter to the provisional head of the Senate that Bemba, who flew to Portugal on Wednesday for medical treatment, was the "intellectual author" of the fighting in which up to 600 people died.

Two sacks of salt, 18 bars of soap, four packets of coffee, 24 bottles of beer and two bags of sugar. That's the compensation a Congolese community can expect for giving a logging company access to huge areas of local rainforest. If they're really lucky, they might get a school or a pharmacy thrown in. According to a report from environmental campaigning group Greenpeace, Carving up the Congo, corporations are offering gifts worth as little as $100 to local people in exchange for permission to cut down wood worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

During the 4 April 2007 public hearing of the Kinshasa/Matete Military Court, the prosecution requested death sentences for the alleged assassins of journalist Franck Ngyke and his wife Hélène Mpaka, assassinated in their home on the night of 2-3 November 2005.

One of the Democratic Republic of Congo's key opposition leaders has left the country, ending three weeks of living under the protection of the South African embassy in Kinshasa. According to one witness, Jean-Pierre Bemba boarded a private jet bound for Portugal on Wednesday, where he is due to have medical treatment.

The UN refugee agency and the World Food Programme will later this month open an exhibition in London of powerful images of displaced people and returnees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).The exhibition, "Exposed and Hungry: Life in eastern Congo," will feature pictures by American freelance photographer Susan Schulman focusing on the issues of bringing shelter, protection and food to people in the volatile eastern regions of the DRC.

Militias loyal to opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba have been integrated into the national army in Equateur province, in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), United Nations officials said. Two hundred soldiers were signed up on Tuesday in Gbadolite, a spokesperson for the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), Lt Col Didier Rancher, said on Wednesday. Another 140 are expected to lay down their weapons soon.

Around 10 journalists and technicians working for three TV and radio stations owned by Sen. Jean-Pierre Bemba - Canal Kin Télévision (CKTV), Canal Congo Television (CCTV) and Radio Liberté Kinshasa (Ralik) - have had to go into hiding after the three stations were forced to close on 21 March.