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.

Despite relief aid having reached some 6,000 war-displaced people in the northeastern district of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), humanitarian officials are worried that tentative calm in the area could deteriorate.

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.