congo

dr congo

Violence in Kinshasa

At least 20 people were killed as clashes erupted when Joseph Kabila refused to relinquish office. “Opposition leaders called for demonstrations overnight after Kabila refused to step down at midnight, and accused the 45-year-old former guerrilla commander of carrying out a coup d’état. On Tuesday police and soldiers fired live ammunition in Kinshasa, as opposition activists burned tyres, threw stones and attacked an office of the ruling party. Violence was also reported in the southern city of Lubumbashi, where at least two deaths were reported: one protestor and a policeman who was lynched by an angry crowd. In a video message released overnight, the senior opposition leader Etienne Tshikedi called on Congolese people to peacefully resist an “illegal, illegitimate leader” who he said had committed treason by holding on to office.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/2icXTq0)

Obama Imposes Sweeping Arctic Drilling Ban…”President Obama announced on Tuesday what he called a permanent ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along wide areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic Seaboard as he tried to nail down an environmental legacy that cannot quickly be reversed by Donald J. Trump. Mr. Obama invoked an obscure provision of a 1953 law, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which he said gives him the authority to act unilaterally. While some presidents have used that law to temporarily protect smaller portions of federal waters, Mr. Obama’s declaration of a permanent drilling ban from Virginia to Maine on the Atlantic and along much of Alaska’s coast is breaking new ground. The declaration’s fate will almost certainly be decided by the federal courts.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/2icLfr4)

Humanity Affirming News of the Day…More than 300 communities across four West African countries with some of the world’s highest rates of female genital mutilation are this month declaring themselves free of the practice in public ceremonies, a campaign group said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2hQZNjE)