The U.N. Security Council has voted to keep its 17,000 peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at least until the end of the year. The 15-nation council unanimously approved a resolution that also called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to submit by mid-November a timetable for the gradual reduction of the force, the largest the United Nations maintains anywhere. The new mandate expires on Dec. 31, 2007.