M23 rebels seized Sake after intense fighting, forcing nearly all 130,000 residents to flee their homes and farms.

A PEACE deal being negotiated by the US between Congo and Rwanda could allow for the legitimate export of Congolese minerals to Rwanda for processing, said Reuters citing three sources familiar with the talks.

After decades of conflict between two African countries, President Trump and an adviser said the two sides, with U.S. help, had created an agreement that was now being finalized.

Nestled in the green hills of Masisi territory in Congo, at the artisanal Rubaya mining site, hundreds of men labor by hand to extract coltan, a key mineral crucial for producing modern electronics and defense technology.

Democratic Republic of Congo's Senate has overwhelmingly voted to strip former president Joseph Kabila of his honorific immunity. It follows accusations he backed the M23 rebel group which has seized land in the mineral-rich east of the country with Rwandan support.

JOHANNESBURG/ LONDON (Reuters) - China's CMOC Group, the world's top cobalt mining company, called on Democratic Republic of Congo last week to lift a ban on exports of the battery metal, which is currently due to expire next month, three sources told Reuters.

Hundreds of Rwandan refugees who have been living in eastern Congo since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda have been repatriated.

"We hope the Pope will make an appeal for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo," write the members of ACMEJ (Association Against Evil and for the Integration of Youth) of Katogota, in the province of South Kivu,