International News
DR Congo In Second Day Of Voting After Chaotic Start
Voting in the Democratic Republic of Congo extended into Thursday, after general elections that began the day before saw some polling stations never open due to logistical problems.
And even as people in some parts of the country were finally voting, elsewhere the count had already begun, with the first results expected to be announced on Friday.
The impoverished but mineral-rich central African nation held four concurrent elections on Wednesday — to pick a president, national and regional lawmakers, as well as local councillors.
President Felix Tshisekedi, 60, is running for a second term in office against a backdrop of years of economic growth but little job creation and soaring inflation.
Wednesday’s voting was marked by massive delays nationwide, as the electoral commission struggled to deliver materials to voting stations long after polls were meant to have opened.
In some cases, polling stations never opened.
Denis Kadima, the head of the electoral commission, Ceni, declared on Wednesday night that people in places where casting ballots had proved impossible would vote on Thursday.
It was not clear how many polling stations that involved, but AFP reporters witnessed voting in cities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi, and in the capital Kinshasa.
– Final result January –
In Goma, an eastern commercial hub, a young woman with a baby swaddled to her back had left a polling station the previous evening without being able to vote.
“This morning I came to vote. I returned because I am Congolese,” said Clarice Bintu. “By voting I hope for change”.
Problems and delays affected polling booths nationwide, Ceni chief Kadima told reporters on Wednesday. He estimated that 70 percent of voters had been able to cast ballots.
The DRC is one of the poorest countries in the world despite its vast reserves of copper, cobalt and gold.
Around 44 million Congolese in the nation of 100 million are registered to vote, and more than 100,000 candidates are running for various positions.
Ceni will begin to publish initial results from the presidential election on Friday, one of its top officials said.
The Constitutional Court is then expected to announce definitive results on January 10.
– Logistical problems –
Staging elections in a country roughly the size of continental western Europe, with very few roads, posed a daunting logistical challenge.
There had long been concerns that the electoral commission was unprepared, which proved valid on polling day.
By Wednesday afternoon, an influential election observer mission by a union of Congolese Catholic and Protestant churches indicated the scale of the voting problems.
Nearly a third of polling booths in the country had not opened, they said, and about 45 percent of voting machines had suffered technical problems.
There was little sympathy from leading opposition politicians, who described the process as chaotic.
The main opposition candidates — gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, 68, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; 58-year-old business magnate and ex-provincial governor Moise Katumbi; and 67-year-old ex-oil executive Fayulu — all complained of irregularities.
Five opposition presidential candidates, including Fayulu and Mukwege, later rejected the vote extension, arguing that it was illegal.
In a joint statement, they called for fresh elections.
– ‘Foreign candidates’ –
Tshisekedi, who took office in 2019 and faces 18 challengers, says he wants a second term to “consolidate his gains”.
He is considered the frontrunner in the single-round presidential vote, though his record, as he himself has acknowledged, is mixed.
Throughout the campaign, Tshisekedi also poured scorn on what he termed “foreign candidates” — suggesting that his opponents had dual loyalties and lacked the will to stand up to Rwanda, which the DRC accuses of funding rebel groups on its soil.
Katumbi, a former governor of mineral-rich Katanga province and chairman of the country’s leading football club, Tout Puissant Mazembe, was the main target of such attacks.
– Violence-wracked east –
Armed conflict in eastern DRC also overshadowed much of the electoral campaign.
Militias have plagued the troubled region for decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.
Tensions have ratcheted up further since the M23 group began capturing swathes of territory in late 2021.
Rwanda has been accused of supporting the rebels, which Kigali denies.
Clashes with M23 fighters have subsided in recent weeks but they continue to hold sway over large parts of North Kivu province, where voting was impossible.
AFP
Brazil superstar Neymar was handed a dramatic recall to the country’s World Cup squad on Monday, returning to the national team after a near three-year absence.
The inclusion of Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer with 79 goals in 128 appearances, was the biggest surprise in the 26-man squad named by coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Ancelotti announced Neymar’s selection at a gala ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, with loud cheers ringing out as the veteran attacker’s call-up was confirmed.
Speculation has raged for months over whether the 34-year-old former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain attacker would force his way back into the national team set-up.
The forward, a veteran of the 2014, 2018, and 2022 World Cups, had not played for Brazil since suffering a knee injury during a World Cup qualifying game against Uruguay in 2023.
A mixture of injuries and poor form had left him outside the national team setup, with Ancelotti citing concerns over his fitness after leaving him out of Brazil’s squad for March friendlies against France and Croatia.
However, Neymar, who rejoined boyhood club Santos in January after an injury-ravaged stint in Saudi Arabia, has now earned Ancelotti’s stamp of approval for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Brazil, who are chasing a record sixth World Cup crown, open their World Cup campaign against Morocco on June 13 before playing Haiti and Scotland in Group C.
Brazil World Cup Squad
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool/ENG), Ederson (Fenerbahce/TUR), Weverton (Gremio/BRA)
Defenders
Alex Sandro (Flamengo/BRA), Danilo (Flamengo/BRA), Leo Pereira (Flamengo/BRA), Bremer (Juventus/ITA), Douglas Santos (Zenit St Petersburg/RUS), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal/ENG), Ibanez (Al-Ahli/KSA), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Wesley (Roma/ITA)
Midfielders
Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle/ENG), Casemiro (Manchester United/ENG), Danilo (Botafogo), Fabinho (Al-Ittihad/KSA), and Lucas Paqueta (Flamengo/BRA).
Forwards
Endrick (Lyon/FRA), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal/ENG), Igor Thiago (Brentford/ENG), Luiz Henrique (Zenit/RUS), Matheus Cunha (Manchester United/ENG), Neymar (Santos/BRA), Raphinha (Barcelona/ESP), Rayan (Bournemouth/ENG), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid/ESP)
AFP
Barcelona completes contract renewal with head coach Hansi Flick, per official announcement.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Flick’s new contract with Barcelona runs until June 2028, with an option to extend until June 2029, meaning the coach could stay for three more seasons.
In his first season in charge, Flick led the team to a domestic treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup.
This season, Barcelona won the Spanish Super Cup again and retained the La Liga title, bringing his total to five trophies in two seasons.
Erling Haaland will follow in the footsteps of David Beckham and Vinnie Jones by taking his first steps into the acting world, with the Norwegian striker set to make his film debut.
The Manchester City striker will voice a character described as ‘an animated version of himself’, in the upcoming animated film Viqueens.
This is according to the Hollywood Reporter, who say that the 25-year-old is playing a Viking called Haaland in the motion picture.
The adventure-comedy is directed and co-written by the award-winning Harald Zwart, the Norwegian director known for The Karate Kid and Agent Cody Banks.
‘As a Norwegian storyteller making a Viking adventure for a global audience, having Erling Haaland join feels incredibly exciting,’ said Zwart.
‘Erling has already become a kind of real-life Viking icon around the world – powerful, fearless and uniquely Norwegian.
‘Bringing him into this universe as himself gives the film an unexpected energy and authenticity that felt completely right for this story.’
Solveig Langeland, managing director of Sola Media, added: ‘Erling Haaland transcends sports – he’s a global cultural figure.
‘His involvement brings another exciting dimension to a film that already combines international adventure, humour, and emotional storytelling in a way we believe will resonate with audiences everywhere.’
He follows the likes of Beckham and Jones, who have already hit the cinema screens around the country.
Beckham made his silver screen debut in his pal Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur back in 2017 alongside film stars Charlie Hunnam and Eric Bana, playing hardened battleguard Trigger in the flick.
Meanwhile, Jones is known for portraying gangsters on screen, and as recently as 2024 played gamekeeper Geoff in Ritchie’s series The Gentlemen, featuring Theo James.
He famously also played Coach Dinklage in She’s the Man, and was The Juggernaut in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Haaland may need a while before he becomes the big actor that Jones has become, though, with plenty of years on the pitch still ahead of him.
The striker’s focus will currently be on winning the Premier League with Manchester City, as they look to hunt down Arsenal, who are two points ahead at the top, with two games to go.
Haaland will next be in action on Tuesday night as they travel to Bournemouth.
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