A private jet belonging to former Katanga Province governor Katumba Mwanke crashed at 1pm on Sunday near the airport of Bukavu, South Kivu Province. According to state radio and television broadcaster RTNC, Katumba Mwanke, the pilot, and the copilot were killed.

Unlike the Independent National Electoral Commission, which has published the results of the presidential election showing why it says Joseph Kabila won and for everyone to see and scrutinize, Etienne Tshisekedi has so far provided no proof to support his claim of an outright victory. Yet, the longtime opposition leader has said, once again, that he now considers himself president.

Polling stations have opened in the capital Kinshasa and all over the Democratic Republic of Congo for the presidential and parliamentary elections. Nearly 32 million Congolese will elect their president and 500 national Members of Parliament. Observers sent by the candidates are witnessing the votes.

During an interview with the French service of the Voice of America on Thursday, Etienne Tshisekedi denied telling his supporters to use violence last week. The presidential candidate repeated his claim that he is the current president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a press statement following a briefing by Roger Meece, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for DRC on the preparations for next month's elections, the Council emphasized the importance of free and constructive political debate, freedom of expression and assembly, equal access to all media and the safety for all candidates.

President Joseph Kabila told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that the Democratic Republic of Congo was going through a pivotal moment in its history with the organization of its second democratic elections, after those of 2006, and the return of peace all throughout the country.

A judge in North Kivu province sentenced a UN driver and his accomplice on Wednesday to three years in prison and a US$ 25,000 fine for trying to smuggle minerals to Rwanda. There have been other cases of UN peacekeepers involved in gold smuggling and even accused of providing weapons to rebels in eastern Congo.

A United Nations employee was arrested in North Kivu province Sunday night while attempting to smuggle over one ton of tin ore to neighboring Rwanda, Congolese officials said on Monday.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a year, with the force now scheduled to stay at least until 30 June 2012. The Council resolution, adopted unanimously, “reaffirms that the protection of civilians must be given priority” by the mission MONUSCO, which last year succeeded an earlier mission known as MONUC.

“There has been significant progress regarding the security situation in recent years in eastern DRC,” said Roger Meece, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), in a briefing to the Council.