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
The FIFA World Cup group stage has concluded, with the Netherlands securing first place in Group F and Japan finishing second. According to the knockout stage bracket, the top two teams from Group F will face the top two teams from Group E.
Two more Round of 32 matchups have been confirmed: Brazil vs. Japan and Netherlands vs. Morocco. The first Round of 16 matchup was announced yesterday, featuring South Africa vs. Canada.
Julian Nagelsmann defended question marks surrounding Germany’s commitment during their defeat by Ecuador, telling journalists: “Please stop the nonsense!”
Germany, already guaranteed top spot in Group E, were beaten 2-1 in their final group outing, as their opponents came from behind to snatch all three points at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Nagelsmann’s side saw their 11-match winning streak brought to an end, while they have now failed to register a clean sheet in any of their last nine games at the finals, equalling their longest streak along with their opening nine matches across 1934 and 1954.
And since the start of the 1998 World Cup, this was just the second time Germany had lost a game at the tournament in which they opened the scoring (W25 D2) following a 1-2 loss to Japan in 2022.
While not impressed by his players’ performance, he was quick to reject claims it was due to a lack of commitment, with their place in the knockout phase already secured.
“Please stop the nonsense, honestly!” Nagelsmann told reporters. “Didn’t the boys want to go full throttle?
“Of course, we made different changes than we might have done in moments when we urgently needed another goal.
“But we can’t tell any player that he didn’t step on the gas, that’s far too striking for me.
“We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure, instead of suddenly switching positions too much. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions.
“We deliberately made a lot of changes. You could see that we also had a few tired legs. You can’t blame anyone for the fact that everything is a little slower and takes longer. We trust every player in the squad, and have to give the players the chance to show that.”
Coincidentally, it was in New York that Germany crashed out of the 1994 World Cup after surrendering a lead, losing 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria at the Giants Stadium.
Joshua Kimmich, who won his 113th cap to move to joint-eighth with Philipp Lahm on his nation’s all-time list, conceded the four-time world champions were worthy losers against Ecuador.
“We started well, but then we gave the ball away too cheaply and kept inviting them on,” he added.
“We made it easy for them and let them grow into the game. In the second half, the defeat was deserved.”
Relegated Burnley and West Ham will meet on the opening weekend of the Championship season on Sunday, 16 August.
The Clarets finished 19th in the top flight last season and will host the Hammers, who went down on the final day.
Fellow relegated side Wolves will play the league’s curtain-raiser against Blackburn at Molineux on Friday, 14 August.
Elsewhere, Southampton, who will start the season on minus four points after the Spygate scandal, travel to Watford on the opening weekend and promoted Cardiff welcome Welsh rivals Wrexham on Monday, 17 August.
League One champions Lincoln start the season at beaten play-off finalists Middlesbrough on Saturday, 15 August and third tier play-off final winners Bolton begin the campaign with a home game against Preston on the same day.
The Championship season starts a week after clubs play their first competitive fixture in the first round of the Carabao Cup and one week before the Premier League gets under way.
Burnley, West Ham and Wolves will all be looking to secure Premier League promotions at the first time of asking.
The Clarets have now been relegated from or promoted to the top flight in each of the past four seasons.
However, now less than two months out from the start of the season they remain without a manager following the departure of Scott Parker in May.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has remained despite them dropping out of the top flight after 14 seasons.
The Portuguese led Wolves to the Championship title in his one previous season managing at this level in 2017-18.
Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League in 2025-26 and sacked boss Rob Edwards earlier this month to bring in Cesar Peixoto.
They have bolstered their squad with former England defender Kieran Trippier and returning Mexico striker Raul Jimenez.
However, all three will be aware that in both of the past two seasons a team relegated from the top tier has suffered a second successive demotion to League One.
Former Premier League champions Leicester City went the same way as Luton Town had in 2024-25.
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