Joseph Kabila is making a good impression in western capitals. But the issues at the heart of Congo's war remain unresolved.

Rwanda has accused its opponents in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo of not withdrawing in line with a U.N. disengagement plan, dismissing U.N. statements that withdrawals are on schedule.

Experts are warning web users to be on the lookout for a destructive and cunning new e-mail virus.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has suspended its food deliveries in southwestern Guinea following a rebel attack on the garrison town of Nongoa, according to a local spokesperson.

The United Nations food agency has announced that 84,000 refugees who fled Democratic Republic of the Congo for Zambia are facing hunger amid dwindling food supplies.

CICC Team on Aggression, 7th Session of the ICC PrepCom. Submitted by Espen Rostrup Nakstad (ELSA Norway)

This message is to inform you of an important international conference that will be held in Athens, Greece, on 24 and 25 May, 2001. The conference title is: THE CHILD: A VICTIM OF WAR, AND A MESSENGER OF PEACE. The event is organized by the Foundation for the Child and the Family (Athens), in cooperation with the International Peace Bureau and the Hague Appeal for Peace.

The South African government has turned down calls from the country's largest trade union and official opposition for an AIDS emergency to be declared amid a legal challenge by some of the world's leading pharmaceuticals firms over domestic efforts to make cheap anti-viral drugs.

The South African government announced yesterday that it will not declare HIV/AIDS a national emergency, a move that under World Trade Organization rules would have allowed the country to import generic drugs "regardless of objections from drug firms claiming abuse of patent rights," Reuters reports (Reuters, 3/13).

Turnout was high in yesterday's presidential election in Uganda where the incumbent Yoweri Museveni is heading for another term in office in spite of having lost much of his popularity.

A UK-based charity is today calling on foreign oil companies to immediately suspend their operations in Sudan and for oil giants BP and Shell to divest their shares in companies linked with atrocities in the country.

The main political opponent of Uganda's incumbent president Yoweri Museveni has hinted that he is to take "political action" to pressure the new leader to annul his landslide poll win this week following allegations of malpractice.

Although often overlooked by international development groups, traditional leaders still wield considerable power in many African countries - despite the rise of elected governments. John Eberlee reports on the role of chiefs in post-colonial Africa.

By Simon Denyer, Monday March 12 1:32 PM ET KAMPALA (Reuters) - Results trickled in from Uganda's hard-fought presidential election on Monday amid reports of vote rigging in one district and intimidation elsewhere.

A new round of fighting which erupted last week when armed rebels crossed into northern Liberia from Guinea - beating back government reinforcements sent to the area - has forced between 15,000 and 20,000 civilians to flee their homes.

KIGALI, Rwanda (Reuters) -- Rwanda has accused Uganda of harboring "anti-Rwanda elements" but said it would not be dragged into an unnecessary conflict with its neighbor and former ally.

Kampala (Reuters) - Uganda has put its neighbour and former ally Rwanda on a list of "hostile states" which are banned from financing candidates in the imminent presidential election, President Yoweri Museveni said on Sunday.

Where have, according to figures released by humanitarian agencies, some 1 million people been massacred over the last year? Where have more than 2 million people been 'displaced' i.e. made refugees within their own land? You wouldn't think that so many humans could suffer so without an international clamour in the media. Unless, of course, those people are African, and more specifically, Congolese.

The new self-appointed president, Joseph Kabila, son of the late Laurent Désiré Kabila, may appear more peaceful than his father, but he is unlikely to prevent the various contenders in the the war from heading to renewed confrontations. The quarrelling and fighting over the wealth of that country continues to boil.

But at the same time, is there hope? Is there some solace in the fact that the country that has drawn into its vortex of terror the armies of Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Uganda, some of these troops have begun to withdraw?

What will that leave behind? Hardliners are said to be in control of Kinshasha, unwilling to engage in dialogue with the various factions. The country's infrastructure - such as it has been - is torn apart. "Transition", "reconstruction", or even "reonciliation" remains a distant dream.

People often say that Africa's suffering is caused by its poverty. What Congo suggests is that the suffering - and poverty - are both caused by the potential wealth of its natural resources - or rather, by the fight for control over that wealth.