DR Congo tense ahead of key talks on Kabila's future

Tension ran high in DR Congo today, with police out in force in the capital and activity slowed following deadly protests against President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down as his mandate ends.
Life very slowly resumed in Kinshasa, a megacity of 10 million, with few buses and taxis on the streets at morning rush-hour, trading slack at the market, and troops and police posted at major crossroads.
A day after at least 11 people died in street protests, eyes were on talks due to resume Wednesday that were launched by the Catholic Church in hopes of finding a peaceful way out of the political crisis.

Kabila's second and final term in office ran out Tuesday with no election on the near horizon and no sign of plans to leave power any time soon.
So far the mainstream opposition has called for "peaceful resistance" from Democratic Republic of Congo's 70 million people in hopes of clinching a deal at the negotiating table.
But gunfire rang out across the vast and troubled nation as protests erupted yesterday.

Officials said nine people had died in Kinshasa and two in the country's second-largest city, Lubumbashi.
Rights group Human Rights Watch said at least 26 protesters had been killed countrywide.

A day after the UN's large DR Congo mission, MONUSCO, voiced alarm over the detention of 113 opposition leaders and civil society activists in just four days, there were fresh arrests in eastern Goma.
In what Kabila's opponents dubbed "a provocation", a new government was announced overnight Monday to Tuesday, headed by Samy Badibanga.
The freshly appointed cabinet is part of an October deal struck between the ruling party and tiny fringe opposition groups enabling Kabila to remain in office pending elections in April 2018.