DR Congo delays presidential vote citing fire

The electoral commission in DR Congo on Thursday announced that the country’s long-awaited presidential election, which was supposed to be held this Sunday, has been postponed until December 30 because of a recent fire in which both ballots and voting machines were destroyed. This is the latest of several delays in the election originally scheduled for late 2016, amid opposition concerns that President Joseph Kabila had been looking for ways to stay in power. Kabila, in office since 2001, earlier this year announced he would step aside.