International envoys converged on eastern Congo to help end some of the worst violence in years as thousands of anxious, hungry refugees struggled to get home amid a fragile ceasefire.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon urged Congo’s government to get control of its troops in the African nation’s conflict-wracked east and help beleaguered peacekeepers protect thousands of civilians.

The top United Nations envoy to Congo warned that renewed fighting in the east had heightened ethnic tensions and could lead to the renewal of a wider conflict in central Africa.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf takes office today as Liberia’s new head of state, carving her name into history as Africa’s first elected female president and taking the helm of a ruined nation struggling for peace after a quarter century of coups and war.

Liberia’s top female politician took a strong lead over her millionaire football star opponent in early returns from the war-ravaged West African nation’s presidential runoff.