More than 20 acts from across Africa have shown support for victims of conflict at a music festival in eastern Democratic Republic of COngo - taking to the stage despite rising insecurity in the area.

"Clan wars are what damage our communities the most," young men and women of the Muslim part of Mindanao tell DW. Conflict between families is driving intergenerational conflict and preventing girls from going to school.

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.

The leader of the Catholic Church travels to Juba along with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the moderator of the Church of Scotland. The three leaders are hoping to push for peace amid continued fighting.

Frustration about a regional taskforce deepens in eastern DR Congo. Protesters who accuse it of having little impact on the M23 militia operating around Goma are teargassed by police. Also, we hear from the Principles for Peace Executive Director, Hiba Qasas, as a new international peacemaking covenant hopes to offer tools and know-how for countries trying to find a way out of conflict. Finally, in Nigeria, residents get used to new banknotes before the old ones run out.

Frustration about a regional taskforce deepens in eastern DR Congo. Protesters who accuse it of having little impact on the M23 militia operating around Goma, are teargassed by police. And we hear from the Principles for Peace Executive Director, Hiba Qasas, as a new international peacemaking covenant hopes to offer tools and know-how for countries trying to find a way out of conflict.

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 M23, a key rebel group in the eastern Congo, says it has agreed to a ceasefire but experts are skeptical. The European Union has meanwhile imposed new sanctions on M23 commanders.

Latvian singer Intars Busulis had millions of fans in Russia and a successful concert career. But he has given all that up now. He is writing pro-peace songs and using social media to try to show Russians what is happening in Ukraine. The move has come at some cost.

Kenya's President William Ruto says East African troops will enforce peace in eastern DR Congo. The region has been in the grip of an offensive by the M23 armed group and 900 Kenyan soldiers were recently sent to the area.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has hailed its "joint victory" with the West following the Russian retreat from Kherson. The military is carrying out "stabilization measures" near the city.

Rising food and energy prices, shortages and uncertainty. Russia's war in Ukraine and its naval blockade of Ukrainian grain exports is creating a severe international crisis. DW's Thomas Sparrow explains what the West is doing to stop it.