Calls for Congo vote to be annulled mount amid fraud accusations
Opposition leaders in the Congo have called for the annulment of the results of the recent general election over accusations of fraud, in a dispute that risks plunging the vast and mineral-rich Central African nation into new political turmoil.
Five opposition leaders, including the president’s main challenger, published a statement late Saturday accusing the country’s electoral commission of “massive fraud,” including ballot stuffing, delaying opening polling stations and falsely declaring President Felix Tshisekedi the winner in areas where they say he did not win any votes.
The five leaders — who include Moïse Katumbi, a business tycoon and the president’s closest rival — also called on the head of the commission to resign for “having planned and orchestrated the worst electoral fraud that our country has ever known.”
The results of the elections are being watched closely not only in Africa but around the world. Congo is Africa’s second-largest nation and home to deep reserves of cobalt, which is vital in making electric cars. The wrangling over the election’s credibility could fuel unrest in Congo, which is already dealing with an enormous security and humanitarian crisis in its eastern region.
In the election, 19 presidential candidates and 100,000 other hopefuls ran for national, regional and local assembly seats. Some 44 million people — about half of the country’s population — were registered to vote.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission said in a statement posted on social media that it was continuing with the collection and publication of results both at home and abroad. It also said it was investigating “acts of violence, vandalism and sabotage perpetrated by certain candidates with ill intentions” against its staff, adding that “appropriate actions” would be taken against those found guilty or complicit in those acts.
The commission is expected to release the full provisional results of the election by Dec. 31.
Iran developments: Iran summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires after Moscow and Arab countries released a joint statement earlier this week challenging Iran’s claim to disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, state media reported Sunday.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the Russian envoy was summoned Saturday and handed a note to deliver to Moscow in which Tehran protested the statement the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum issued in Morocco that called for a peaceful solution to resolve the conflict between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the islands.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told his Russian counterpart over the phone that “respecting countries’ sovereignty and integrity is among the basic principles in the ties between nations,” IRNA said in a separate report.
Meanwhile, Iran’s navy on Sunday added domestically produced sophisticated cruise missiles to its arsenal, state TV reported.
The TV said both Talaeieh and Nasir cruise missiles have arrived at a naval base near the Indian Ocean in the southern Iranian port of Konarak.
Navy chief Adm. Shahram Irani said the Talaeieh has a range of more than
Christmas Eve in China: Women hold apples baring Chinese characters of “Peaceful” as they take a selfie in front of a Christmas tree Sunday outside the Wangfujing Church, a Catholic church in Beijing. Like other western festivals, Christmas is not observed in China, but it has been a common thing among young Chinese in big cities across China.
620 miles and called it “fully smart.” Irani said the cruise missile is capable of changing targets during travel.
He said the Nasi also has a range of 62 miles and can be installed on warships.
Banksy theft: A second suspect was arrested in the alleged theft of a work by the elusive street artist Banksy of a stop sign adorned with three military drones, London police said Sunday.
A man in his 40s was in custody on suspicion of theft and criminal damage, the Metropolitan police said. A suspect in his 20s who was arrested Saturday was released on bail.
Witnesses who arrived at a street corner Friday in the south London section of Peckham less than an hour after Banksy posted a photo of the work on Instagram said they were stunned to watch a man with bolt cutters remove the sign as another man steadied a bike he stood on.
Much of Banksy’s political and satirical art is critical
of war, and many followers interpreted the work as calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Serbia election protest: Riot police in Serbia fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of opposition supporters from entering the capital’s city council building on Sunday in protest of what election observers said were widespread vote irregularities during a general election last weekend.
The country’s populist authorities have denied rigging the vote and described the election to fill parliament and local offices as fair. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday that those claims were blatant “lies” promoted by the political opposition.
Vucic also suggested the unrest was instigated from abroad. Addressing the nation during the protest outside Belgrade city hall, he called the demonstrators “thugs” who would not succeed in destabilizing the state and said, “This is not a revolution.”
“They will not succeed,” Vucic said. “We are doing our best with our calm and mild reaction not to hurt demonstrators” who came to the event to protest peacefully.
Shielded riot police first barricaded themselves inside the city government building, firing tear gas and pepper spray as hundreds of opposition protesters broke windows at the entrance. Later, the police pushed the crowd from the downtown area and made arrests.
1708 shipwreck: The Colombian government said last week it will try to raise objects from the 1708 shipwreck of the galleon San Jose, which is believed to contain a cargo worth billions of dollars.
The 300-year-old wreck, often called the “holy grail of shipwrecks,” has been controversial, because it is both an archaeological and economic treasure.
Culture Minister Juan David Correa said the first attempts will be made
between April and May. Correa pledged it would be a scientific expedition.
“This is an archaeological wreck, not a treasure,” Correa said following a meeting with President Gustavo Petro. “This is an opportunity for us to become a country at the forefront of underwater archaeological research.”
But the ship is believed to hold 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo from Spanish-controlled colonies.
The San Jose galleon sank in battle with British ships more than 300 years ago. It was located in 2015 but has been mired in legal and diplomatic disputes.
In 2018, Colombia abandoned plans to excavate the wreck, amid disputes with a private firm that claims some salvage rights based on a 1980s agreement with Colombian government. Also in 2018, the United Nations’ cultural agency called on Colombia not to commercially exploit the wreck.