Congolese and Rwandan military officers have activated a joint verification mechanism for the common border between the two countries, an administrator in Congo's eastern province of South Kivu said.

Renewed fighting among various groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in areas close to the border with Uganda, has triggered new arrivals of refugees in western Uganda, an official of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Thursday.

Leaders of two Mayi-Mayi militia groups in the southeastern province of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) agreed on Tuesday to disarm their combatants during a ceremonial destruction of weapons in the provincial capital, Lubumbashi.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Wednesday that he has banned peacekeepers of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), known as MONUC, from fraternising with locals, UN News reported.

A deluge on Monday night left eight people dead and many more missing in and around the town Uvira in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A new relief operation has begun in district of Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to help tens of thousands of people displaced by fighting in January, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported on Monday.

Leaders of the 10 countries that make up the Congo Basin on Saturday concluded a treaty aimed at protecting the world's second largest rainforest.

Armed militiamen have burnt down a village in the district of Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, forcing at least 1,500 residents to flee to nearby localities, Rudi Sterz, the interim coordinator of German Agro Action in the area told IRIN on Friday. The affected village, She, is 60 km northeast of Bunia, the main town in Ituri.

At least 34 people have died from cholera in areas along Lake Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a senior health official in the affected province said on Thursday. Another 2,152 people have been infected in the cholera outbreak, which began in early January, Dr Guyslain Bisimwa, medical inspector for South Kivu Province, told IRIN.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has suspended aid activities in one of the most war-torn areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s North Kivu Province after people in army uniform attacked the charity's facility late Tuesday.