PANICK AS CONGO REBELS ADVANCES

Government forces are fleeing from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma as rebels advance, according to reports.

Congolese army soldiers and displaced civilians
Residents of the provincial capital are also leaving in panic, governor Julien Paluki added.
"People are stampeding and the city is panicking," he said.
The rebels have already overrun Kibtai, a village seven miles north of Goma that was housing at least 30,000 displaced people
Fighting between government forces and rebels loyal to General Laurent Nkunda has escalated in the past few days.
The rebels expect to be able to take Goma later today or early on Thursday, a spokesman said.
The Congo government claims Nkunda's fighters are backed by Rwandan troops. Rwanda denies the claims.
The UN's top envoy to Congo warned that its peacekeeping force in the country is stretched to the limit and needs more troops quickly.
And the UN secretary general appealed for an end to the violence.
"First and foremost, the fighting must be stopped," Ban Ki Moon said.
"And I am deeply concerned about the civilian casualties as well as increasing number of internally displaced persons."
Around 250,000 people have fled their homes since a cease-fire signed in January collapsed in August.
Nkunda claims he is fighting to protect the tiny Tutsi minority in eastern Congo.
He accuses Congo's army of collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which includes Hutu militias and former Rwandan soldiers responsible for the genocide in 1994 of Tutsis and moderate Hutus