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{{DRCongo’s army said it clashed with eastern rebels on Monday, ending a brief lull in days of fighting that has killed and wounded dozens.}}

The violence, the most serious in months, is the first major test for a newly-deployed U.N. Intervention Brigade which has an unprecedented mandate to launch military operations against rebels at the heart of nearly two decades of conflict.

It has fought alongside Congo’s army several times since the latest fighting erupted on Wednesday, but said it did not take part in Monday’s clashes.

The M23 rebels said they were targeted by air strikes and came under heavy weapons fire on Monday afternoon.

“As usual, we expect that ground troops will come in the wake of these bombings,” M23 said in a statement. Congo’s army said rebels had attacked first and it was retaliating.

Congolese army spokesman Colonel Olivier Hamuli said clashes were taking place at Kibati, about 11 km (7 miles) north of Goma, a city of a million people on the Rwandan border.

The rebels briefly seized Goma in November before withdrawing and committing to Ugandan-hosted peace talks. Negotiations have faltered and the renewed fighting has exacerbated tensions between Rwanda and Congo.

{{South Sudan’s parliament has passed a long-awaited petroleum bill after years of consultation and waits for final approval by President Salva Kiir, a senior lawmaker said on Monday.}}

Officials hope the bill, which regulates for the first time how the government can spend oil revenues, will make the African producer more attractive for foreign investment by improving transparency.

South Sudan has struggled to build up state institutions and establish the rule of law since winning independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war.

The Petroleum Revenue Management Bill was approved in final reading late in July and is now waiting for Kiir’s approval, Henry Odwar, head of the petroleum and mining committee, told Reuters.

He said the bill – which Western donors have long urged – will set out rules on how the government can spend oil revenues, the main source of its budget.

Odwar gave no details but previous versions of the bill show that up to 10 percent of the revenues will have go to a new future generation fund, a nest egg for the time when oil will run out. Part of the money must also go to oil-producing communities.

Diplomats see the bill as key to start legislation and transparency in the oil sector – there is so far almost no data available how oil revenues are being spent, with some of the money ending up in corruption. Business deals are often handed out by officials without tenders or clear rules.

Western oil firms mostly shun South Sudan, a war-torn country which seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict with Khartoum.

Mainly Chinese, Indian and Malaysian firms operate in South Sudan, which used to pump some 300,000 barrels a day until the government turned off wells in 2012 in a row with Sudan through which all exports must go.

Cross-border flows resumed in April with much lower volumes but Sudan has threatened to close the export pipelines in a conflict over alleged rebel support.

South Sudan hopes to explore with the help of France’s Total and U.S. firm Exxon a large area in Jonglei state but rebel and tribal violence has made it impossible to start. It also hopes for a foreign investor to build an alternative pipeline through Kenya or Djibouti to end dependency on Sudan’s infrastructure.

{Wirestory}