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.

The retraining of 20 Congolese civilian and military prison personnel began on Wednesday in the southwestern French town of Agen, as part of the Democratic Republic of Congo's effort to shore up its maintenance of the rule of law, the press attaché at French embassy in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, said.

According to a new study, nearly four million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998, making it the deadliest humanitarian crisis in the world. The authors of the report say most of the deaths were from easily preventable and treatable causes stemming from war.

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.

Veteran politician Etienne Tshisekedi reversed on Monday his call for a boycott of general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due in 2006.

Fighting continues in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where a joint force of United Nations and Congolese troops is trying to subdue Ugandan rebels.

The United Nations reports heavy fighting between Ugandan rebels and a joint U.N.-Congolese force in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A joint force of U.N. and Congolese troops has attacked Ugandan rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo have overwhelmingly backed the new postwar constitution.