For the Democratic Republic of Congo, still gripped by war, there's little hope for much change in the coming year. The world's largest UN peacekeeping force of about 20,000 troops is in the country but appears largely ineffective. Some say it is even made life worse for the population who have suffered attacks by both opposition and government forces. Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow is in Kiwanja, in North Kivu, where the fear of murder and rape is a daily reality.
afrol News - Huge diamonds found in DRC : "A Canadian mineral exploration firm, Mexivada Mining Corp, has reported the discovery of two large diamonds in its 100% controlled Malambani Permis de Recherche concession, located near Mayoko in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mexivada described the first stone as a white, modified octahedron 7.5 milimetres in diameter while the second stone was a shiny 6 milimetre greenish-white coloured dodecahedral diamond. Each of them weighs 0.1 gram"