Civil war in DR Congo has claimed 5.6 million lives in 10 years, 45,000 die per month; peace deal signed in eastern DR Congo bet. rival factions...

23 January :: DR Congo death toll since 1998 now stands at 5.6 million, with 45,000 still dying each month in 10-year ongoing civil war; Democracy Now! reports that "Amidst the deadliest conflict since World War II, hundreds of international corporations have reaped enormous profits from extracting and processing Congolese minerals", speculation has long weighed the possibility that neighboring gov'ts are eager to maintain factional rivalries in order to keep DR Congo's natural resource markets open... In eastern DR Congo, a peace deal has been signed between pro-government Mai Mai militia and rebel general Laurent Nkunda's faction; gov't has sanctioned deal which BBC reports "includes an immediate ceasefire and the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 13 key locations"Hamas agents have broken through Egypt-Gaza border wall to permit flow of refugees in search of food, supplies, as border closure continues to strain territory; Bloomberg reports "Hamas militants blew 15 holes in a security fence separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt, enabling thousands of Palestinians to leave the blockaded enclave to search for food and supplies"... US Federal Reserve Bank cuts interest rates a sharp 0.75%, leading to criticism from economists at the Davos Economic Forum; FT reports "Economists at the meeting warned that the monetary easing announced on Tuesday would not succeed in boosting a sickly US economy. Moreover, they said, by reacting to turmoil in equity markets, the Fed seriously risked creating the impression that it was most concerned with ensuring investors did not lose money"...