A conflict that has simmered in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern borderlands for years is set to erupt into a wider regional war.

A conflict that has simmered in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern borderlands for years is set to erupt into a wider regional war.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels appeared to have consolidated their control over Goma, with eastern Congo's largest city mostly quiet on Wednesday apart from sporadic gunfire in some outlying districts, residents said.

One of Europe's most wanted fugitives, convicted cocaine smuggler Jos Leijdekkers, has found refuge and high-level protection in Sierra Leone, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter as well as photos and video footage seen by Reuters.

Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels have seized the eastern town of Minova, a main supply route for the provincial capital Goma, a rebel spokesperson and the provincial governor said on Tuesday.

Sudanese leader and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan will be hit with sanctions by the United States on Thursday, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Canadian miner Barrick Gold said it will have to suspend mining operations in Mali after the government seized gold stocks from the company's Loulo-Gounkoto complex and flew them out by helicopter over the weekend.

Since civil war erupted in Sudan last year, dozens of cargo planes from the United Arab Emirates have landed at a small airstrip in Chad that some U.N. experts and diplomats suspect is being used to funnel arms across the border into the conflict, flight data and satellite images show.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday announced some $200 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Sudan, where a conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and triggered the world's largest displacement crisis.

Since civil war erupted in Sudan last year, dozens of cargo planes from the United Arab Emirates have landed at a small airstrip in Chad that some U.N. experts and diplomats suspect is being used to funnel arms across the border into the conflict, flight data and satellite images show.

The arrest of mining executives in Mali, threats by Burkina Faso's junta to strip permits and the seizure of a French-run uranium site in Niger have unsettled Western miners operating in West Africa and could limit further investments.

Mali has issued an arrest warrant for Mark Bristow, chief executive officer of Canada's Barrick Gold , according to a document seen by Reuters, confirmed by two sources.

A French plan to significantly reduce its military presence in West and central Africa risks backfiring and further diminishing the former colonial power's influence in the region at a time when Russia is gaining ground.