Tensions run high in DR Congo’s remote Minembwe district

The flood-prone capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo saw around 280 houses wiped out by the floods earlier this week. UN officials now have updated figures.

The Congolese government wants to speed up the procurement of weapons to help it fight rebel groups in the east. The UN also renewed its peacekeeping mission in the DRC for another year.

For several months, the M23 rebel group has been pursuing an offensive in eastern DR Congo. The rebels are drawing ever closer to the provincial capital Goma, a city they conquered and briefly held during their last offensive 10 years ago. Our reporters spoke to residents of Goma who are still haunted by the fighting of 2012 and fear the rebels' return. Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure is growing on Rwanda, with DR Congo, France and Germany openly accusing Kigali of supporting the group – something it denies.

MONUSCO and the Congolese army want to counter the movements of the M23 rebels in the North-Kivu region as swiftly as possible, while Rwanda continues to deny its support of the group.

Prices of basic food commodities have doubled in the eastern Democratic of Congo. The spike is being attributed to the ongoing hostilities between government forces and M23 rebels. Among the affected areas is Bukavu, which lies in the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu.

There is wary hope for peace in troubled eastern parts of Democratic Republic of Congo. The decades long crisis has several underlying causes but what has dominated the headlines is M23 rebels maneuvers in the region. And truly they are at the center of the conflict.

The Rwandan government says it had to take "defensive measures" after a Congolese combat plane violated its airspace. The Democratic Republic of Congo says the incident amounts to an "act of war."

Pope Francis strongly denounced the "economic colonialism" which "is unleashed" in Africa and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on the first day of his visit to the country. "After political colonialism, an equally enslaving economic colonialism was unleashed.

A papal mass drew a crowd of over a million people to Kinshasa this week. Prayers were said for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the power of the Catholic Church is a counterweight to the state.

Rwanda-backed rebels stirring ethnic divisions: Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned of a dangerous escalation of tension between ethnic Tutsi and Hutu communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as a result of fighting involving a militia that Rwanda is accused of backing.

The European Union says it will soon deliver aid to people in need in the Democratic Republic of Congo's conflict-stricken North Kivu province.

As Angola sends troops, Congo hopes new military alliances can stop violence in its eastern regions. Massacres are increasing, humanitarian aid is paralyzed and a new mass exodus seems inevitable.