Gunshots sounded and street brawls broke out today in Kinshasa among a crowd rallying for the runner-up in Democratic Republic of Congo’s landmark presidential vote as he pursued a court challenge of his loss.

Incumbent President Joseph Kabila was declared the winner of Congo’s tense decider election, defeating his ex-rebel leader rival in the war-torn country’s first multi-party contest in more than 40 years.

People in the Democratic Republic of Congo have finished voting in an election that marks the climax of its four-year postwar transition.

Congo, the massive nation at the heart of the world’s poorest continent, chooses a new president tomorrow in the first multi-party elections since independence nearly half a century ago.

UN forces opened fire on angry mobs, killing two people, as massive looting protests overran Congo’s capital today in outrage at the fall of an eastern border city to rebels.

UN troops shot and killed two protesters as angry mobs stormed their base in Congo’s capital Kinshasa today.

CONGO President Joseph Kabila has appealed for calm and promised that security forces would protect the country’s people after armed groups attacked military installations across the capital in an apparent coup attempt.

Congo President Joseph Kabila appealed for calm today after armed groups attacked military installations across the capital in an apparent attempt to force him from power.

THE greatest barrier to development of chronically poor countries in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world is the quality of their political leadership.

Strong winds on Africa's deepest lake have sunk a ship in south east Congo, killing at least six passengers.

The state funeral of assassinated Congo president Laurent Kabila has taken place, with his family and top officials guarded by foreign troops.