GENEVA (Reuters) - Killings, rapes and other violence committed by an ethnic armed group in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo against a rival group may amount to crimes against humanity and possibly even genocide, the United Nations said on Friday.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited the rebel bastion of Kauda in the South Kordofan region's Nuba Mountains on Thursday, the first senior Khartoum official to travel there since clashes resumed in the area more than eight years ago.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan remained deadlocked after two days of talks in their disputes over a giant hydropower dam on the Nile though Cairo said it hoped the issues would be resolved by Jan. 15 in line with a deadline agreed with Washington.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Paulin Bolumbu thought his family lived a safe distance from the Congo River, but in November the water overran its banks by more than half a kilometre, inundating his corrugated iron house.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - A South African military plane crash-landed on Thursday at the Goma airport in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a U.N. spokesman said.

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants killed 25 soldiers and wounded six others in an attack on an army outpost in west Niger near its border with Mali on Thursday, the government said in a statement.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Sudan is launching a tender for a comprehensive environmental audit of all its oil-producing fields in a bid to reduce pollution following years of neglect, the government said on Friday.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has begun allowing private traders to export gold, a measure designed to crack down on smuggling and attract foreign currency into the country's cash-strapped treasury.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - A South African military plane crash-landed on Thursday at the Goma airport in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a U.N. spokesman said.

KHARTOUM, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Sudan has begun allowing private traders to export gold, a measure designed to crack down on smuggling and attract foreign currency into the country's cash-strapped treasury.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's parliament passed legislation on Thursday aimed at curbing gun ownership after a surge in regional ethnic violence blamed on a proliferation of small arms in private hands.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Paulin Bolumbu thought his family lived a safe distance from the Congo River, but in November the water overran its banks by more than half a kilometre, inundating his corrugated iron house.

KIGALI/OSLO (Reuters) - Norway this year will take in 600 people evacuated to Rwanda from Libyan detention centres, the Nordic country said on Wednesday as it sought to discourage the smuggling of refugees across the Mediterranean Sea.

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Twenty people were wounded on Thursday in northern Mali, including 18 U.N. peacekeepers, in a rocket attack on a military base for U.N., French and Malian forces, a U.N. spokesman said.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has seized the assets of ousted President Omar al-Bashir's now dissolved party, a senior member of the country's ruling sovereign council said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on South Sudanese First Vice President Taban Deng Gai, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement, in Washington's latest move to pressure the country's politicians to form a unity government.

ISTANBUL/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Turkey and Russia urged Libya's warring parties on Wednesday to declare a ceasefire on Sunday as warring factions clashed and carried out air strikes in a conflict drawing increasing foreign involvement and concern.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - About 20 soldiers were killed and nearly 1,000 people made homeless in a militant attack on a town in northeastern Nigeria, two residents and a military source said on Wednesday.

PARIS (Reuters) - The body of a stowaway has been found in the landing gear of an aircraft that landed in Paris after a flight from the Ivory Coast in West Africa, carrier Air France said on Wednesday.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - East Libya-based forces said they carried out air strikes on Wednesday on a coastal road west of Sirte, a day after nine of their men were killed in a strike by rivals.