The Council met on Tuesday for the second time in three days to discuss the escalating crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

With tensions rising and the fear of violence casting a heavy shadow over the city, Goma stands as a ghost town, its streets stripped of the energy that once defined it. The hum of daily life has been replaced by the distant roar of artillery fire,

Fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo left six United Nations peacekeepers dead, UN officials said Saturday.

Tonga's Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala has been named minister for defence and foreign affairs, taking on the key government roles in the Pacific Islands nation a week after prime minister 'Aisake Eke was appointed by King Tupou VI.

The three-year insurgency by the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 has intensified, and the U.N. warned the violence could spill into a wider war.

Weapon-toting Congolese soldiers arrived Monday in Bukavu, fleeing Goma on the other side of Lake Kivu by boat after M23 fighters and Rwandan forces entered the main city in DR Congo’s volatile east.

The latest fighting has intensified a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 400,000 people since the start of the year, and raised fears of sparking a regional war, the U.N. has warned.

Thousands fled the city of Goma on Monday as fighting raged between Congolese forces and rebels backed by neighboring Rwanda, who claimed to have captured eastern Congo’s largest regional hub.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said he agreed with the U.S. government on the need for a ceasefire in eastern Congo but gave no indication of bowing to calls for Rwandan troops and the M23 rebels they support to withdraw from Goma.

Once again, the eastern Congolese city of Goma has fallen to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. The mayhem is certainly real; the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) displacement crisis is second only to Sudan’s,

M23 vows to defend Tutsi interests, particularly against ethnic Hutu militias such as the FDLR, which was founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide of more than 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.