Registration offices for candidates in the Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential and legislative elections opened on Friday in the capital, Kinshasa.

The heads of three United Nations agencies, who are on a joint mission to Africa's Great Lakes region, have identified the alleviation of human suffering, security and protection of vulnerable people as some of the issues vital to stability and peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Parliament has adopted a bill giving the Independent Electoral Commission 110 days to organise national democratic elections as soon as Congo's President Joseph Kabila signs the document into law, the commission's second vice-president, Norbert Bansegezi Kantintima, said on Wednesday.

President Joseph Kabila has promulgated the Democratic Republic of Congo's new constitution and new flag, a move that paves the way for the beginning of the country's electoral process, expected to end with presidential elections midyear.

The Democratic Republic of Congo adopted a new constitution Saturday, taking another step towards recovery after decades of dictatorship, war and chaos. The new document paves the way for the first democratic elections in 40 years. But, speculation is mounting over whether the June 30 deadline for elections can be met.

Two explosions from heavy weapons echoed from the eastern shore of Lake Upemba across the glassy waters to a tiny island formed from dead reeds. Displaced families were huddled there, under a makeshift shelter that was slowly sinking into the sludge.

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.

An enormous humanitarian crisis is emerging in the Democratic Republic of Congo?s Katanga Province, with tens of thousands of people being displaced, but so far the government and the international community are doing little.

Congo's President Joseph Kabila said Thursday that his country's voters must accept a proposed post-war constitution later this month if elections are to be held in 2006.

The lower house of parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the National Assembly, passed on Tuesday a law granting amnesty to people who have been blamed for acts of war as well as political offences.