Incidents of rape have risen sharply along the Kanyabayonga-Kayna road in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu Province, where fighting between the army and renegade soldiers has displaced at least 70,000 people, according to humanitarian workers.

At least 55,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a result of fighting between the army and armed groups, according to humanitarian agencies.

The Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the results of a constitutional referendum held on 18 December 2005, in which 84.3 percent of the votes cast were in favour of the draft constitution, the court's president, Lwamba Bindu, said.

At least 37,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are without humanitarian relief because of continued attacks by military insurgents in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said.

Renewed attacks by military insurgents in North Kivu Province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have cut short an interagency mission to evaluate humanitarian needs in area, an official of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Office (OCHA) has said.

An armed, unidentified group killed eight peacekeepers from Guatemala and injured five others on Monday, during an ambush in Garamba National Park, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) near the borders of Sudan and Uganda, according to the United Nations Mission in the DRC (MONUC).

Hundreds of civilians have been displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the latest round of fighting between dissident soldiers and the army's fifth brigade, a humanitarian official has said.

Flooding caused by recent heavy rains in Kalemie Territory in Congo's Katanga Province could cause severe food shortages, a local employee of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said.

Four weeks after the Democratic Republic of Congo held a constitutional referendum, the electoral commission has provisionally declared a victory for the measure.

An overwhelming number of voters have approved a new constitution put to a referendum in December 2005, which is expected to lead to general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, official results of the poll show.