Kinshasa - After the deployment of the first peace-making force raised by the UN, the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) to aid the Congolese Army, the M23 rebel group, which has kept the North Kivu province in turmoil, has begun to surrender.

Toronto - It is simply too embarrassing for Paul Kagame to visit the West anymore, as eager as the Rwandan president is to pose as a respected African statesman. His visit to Toronto last month was stirring evidence of this.

The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) says 82 children, some as young as eight years old, have been rescued from an armed group and are being reunited with their families.

New York - Actress Angelina Jolie pleaded with members of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would punish perpetrators of sexual violence during times of war and protect the victims.

Goma - A new report by United Nations human rights inspectors says Congolese troops carried out systematic rapes of women and girls numbering nearly 200 toward the end of last year.

Scientists have 'discovered' a new species of bat called Niumbaha superba (or the Pied Bat) from South Sudan. This is one of the few new species of bat to have been discovered in several decades.

A young soldier in Congo recounted the crimes that he and his comrades committed a few months back. The soldier said that he and twenty-four others got together a few months ago and said that they should rape 10 women each, and that is what they did.

The Obama administration Wednesday offered up to $5 million in rewards for information leading to the "arrest, transfer or conviction" of the Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony, his top aides and a Rwandan rebel leader accused of war crimes.

Bangui - The president of the Central African Republic (CAR), Francois Bozize, has fled the capital, Bangui, after rebels of the Seleka coalition entered the city and clashed with members of an African peacekeeping force.

When a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter recently visited a remote village in Eastern Congo during an aid mission, he became the first white man the children had ever seen, and his video of the heartwarming moment is going viral.

Addis Ababa - A deal to try to end the conflict that has been raging, if somewhat under the radar, in the Democratic Republic of Congo for many years now, was signed today in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa through the United Nations.

Pretoria - The South African Air Force (SAAF), generally recognised as the second oldest air force after the British Royal Air Force, turned 93 on February 1, 2013.

Bangui - South Africa has deployed 400 soldiers to the troubled Central African Republic, where a rebellion threatens to overthrow the elected government.

Goma - The deadline for M23 rebels to withdraw from the Congo city of Goma, which they captured last week, has passed, and they are still refusing to leave.

Washington - President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum waiving sanctions on countries that use child soldiers, allowing US military aid to continue to four countries despite their continued violation of the Child Soldiers Protection Act of 2008.

A new species of monkey has been discovered according to claims made by scientists. The monkey lives in remote forests located in Congo.

Pretoria - South African media have met the new Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Vusumuzi (Vusi) Masondo at his first briefing for all media, which was characterised by the general openly admitting problems, but giving little in the way of specifics.

The International Criminal Court has found Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers from 2002-2003, BBC News reports.

London - A court in the UK heard that a 15-year-old boy was tortured and killed by his sister and her boyfriend because they believed he was a sorcerer.

It's a big business year for illegal African ivory. A record number of ivory seizures were made globally this year, produced by an enormous surge in elephant poaching.