APRNEWS - New Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi has appointed a top security advisor in the person of Francois Beya Kasonga, the presidential order announcing the appointment was read on national television over the weekend.

APRNEWS - DR Congo's powerful Catholic Church says election results tallied by its observers do not match official results announced on Thursday by the country's election commission, which named Felix Tshisekedi as the surprise winner.

APRNEWS - The competing claims followed a disorderly election day on Sunday in which many Congolese were unable to vote due to an Ebola outbreak, conflict and logistical problems.

The vote is meant to choose a successor to outgoing President Joseph Kabila after 18 years in power and could lead to the vast central African country’s first ever democratic transition.

APRNEWS - The Democratic Republic of Congo goes to the polls this week in elections which could see the country emerge from 17 years of conflict-ridden rule under controversial President Joseph Kabila.

Twenty-one candidates are running to replace Kabila, whose hand-picked successor Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary is one of the front-runners.

APRNEWS - Clashes between the army and rebels loyal to a renegade former general in eastern DR Congo have killed at least 18 people, military sources said Monday.

The fighting killed 14 rebels and four soldiers in Fizi, a region of South Kivu, a mineral-rich province which is prone to ethnic tensions, the sources said.

APRNEWS - The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed 180 lives, according to the health ministry, with 10 more reported deaths in recent days.

The ministry said Thursday that it had recorded 285 possible cases and 180 deaths.

APRNEWS - Mass vaccination in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an attempt to stem the Ebola epidemic that has already claimed at least 75 lives.

During the vaccination, thousands of people received doses as well as new drugs tested in the Beni region of North Kivu province.

APRNEWS - The World Health Organisation is concerned about security and healthcare exposures in the latest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo.

During his visit to Mangina, Director General of the health agency Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for free and secure access for responders working in the area, as part of efforts to contain the disease.

APRNEWS - Former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Democratic Republic of Congo said he was headed Wednesday for Kinshasa to throw his hat into the ring for a December presidential election after spending 11 years abroad — most of them behind bars.

APRNEWS - DR Congo on Tuesday officially declared the end of an outbreak of Ebola, bringing the curtain down on a 10-week re-emergence of the disease which claimed 33 lives.