Congo’s President Tshisekedi is declared winner of election
AKINSHASA, Congo — Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi has won reelection with more than 70% of the vote, the country’s election commission said Sunday as opposition candidates and their supporters questioned the validity of the results.
The preliminary results of the Dec. 20 election were announced in the capital, Kinshasa, amid demands from the opposition and some civil society groups for the vote to be rerun due to massive logistical problems that they said had undermined the balloting.
Tshisekedi’s overwhelming declared victory was likely to fuel those concerns. The second-place candidate was businessman Moise Katumbi, who received 18% of the vote, and Martin Fayulu, who received 5%, finished third. Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, a physician renowned for treating women brutalized by sexual violence in eastern Congo, got less than 1%.
Speaking from his headquarters in the capital after the results were announced, Tshisekedi thanked his supporters for giving him another five-year term.
“You believed in my commitment so that our country can find its place in the concert of nations,” he said. “You have embraced my vision of society. I will spare no effort for more jobs, more purchasing power, more access to basic services at all levels.”
About 18 million people voted in the election, which had a turnout of more than a 40%, according to the election commission. The results will be sent to the constitutional court for confirmation, election chief Denis Kadima said.
Candidates opposing the results have two days to submit their claims, and the constitutional court then has seven days to decide. The final results are expected on Jan. 10, and the president is scheduled to be sworn in at the end of that month.
California firearms law: A California law that bans people from carrying firearms in most public places will take effect on New Year’s Day, even as a court case continues to challenge the law.
A U.S. district judge issued a ruling Dec. 20 to block the law from taking effect, saying it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones.
But on Saturday, a federal appeals court put a temporary hold on the district judge’s ruling. The appeals court decision allows the law to go into effect as the legal fight continues. Attorneys are scheduled to file arguments to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in January and in February.
The law, signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, prohibits people from carrying concealed guns in 26 places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos.
The ban applies regardless of whether the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. One exception is for privately owned businesses that put up signs saying people are allowed to bring guns on their premises.
Cargo ship fire out: After lithium-ion batteries burned in a large cargo ship’s hold for a number of days, the U.S. Coast Guard said late Saturday that the fire was out and directed the ship to anchor
Ensuring good new year: near Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
The 19 crew members of the ship, Genius Star XI, were uninjured and technicians from the Salvage and Marine Firefighting team remain onboard to ensure the fire doesn’t return, according to a Coast Guard news release.
“This protected anchorage ... will allow the vessel to remain stable, minimizing risk of any re-flash of the fire as we continue our response,” Capt. Chris Culpepper said in the news release, which said an investigation into the fire’s origins will begin when response efforts wrap up.
Genius Star XI was shipping lithium-ion batteries from Vietnam to San Diego. The crew alerted the Coast Guard early Thursday morning to the fire, after pumping carbon dioxide into hold No. 1 — where the blaze began — and sealing it, fearing an explosion.
The Coast Guard diverted the 410-foot cargo ship to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation’s busiest fishing ports located in Unalaska, an Aleutian Islands community about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Michigan house explosion: Four people died and two others were injured Saturday in a Michigan house explosion that could be heard miles away, police said.
The explosion happened before 4 p.m. in Northfield Township, about 45 miles west of Detroit. The structure was destroyed, leaving only the basement, Northfield Township Police Lt. David Powell told reporters Saturday.
The blast, which could be heard about 9 miles away, sent debris into the air that landed on both sides of a nearby highway. Neighboring homes were not damaged, Powell said.
Six people were in the home, with four fatalities discovered at the scene and the two surviving victims hospitalized in critical condition. Police did not immediately know if the victims were related, Powell said.
Authorities have not determined the cause of the explosion. Northfield Township police did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press seeking additional information on Sunday.
Afghanistan security forces deadly: Security forces in Afghanistan killed a number of Tajik and Pakistani nationals and arrested scores of others involved in attacks against religious clerics, the public and mosques, a senior Taliban official said Sunday.
Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, Taliban’s appointed defense minister, during a news conference in the capital, Kabul, said dozens of Tajiks and more than 20 Pakistanis were killed in the past 12 months “in operations by security forces.”
He said scores of Tajiks and hundreds of Pakistanis involved in various incidents were also arrested during that period.
Mujahid called on neighboring and regional countries to strictly monitor their borders.
Tensions between Kabul and Islamabad spiked as hundreds of thousands of Afghans left Pakistan after authorities started pursuing foreigners they said were in the country illegally, going door-to-door to check migrants’ documentation, following an Oct. 31 deadline.
Mujahid also said there has been a 90% decrease in attacks by an Islamic State group affiliate in the past year.
The militant group has carried out major assaults on schools, hospitals and mosques, and has also attacked Shiite areas across the country.
The IS affiliate has been a major rival of the Taliban since the latter seized control in 2021.