Angolan drug mule remains in custody

Gunfire was heard in Democratic Republic of Congo's two largest cities as the opposition leader called on citizens to reject President Joseph Kabila whose mandate expired Tuesday with no sign he was ready to leave.

With fears of fresh violence high in the vast and unstable nation, shots rang out in the capital Kinshasa and the country's second city of Lubumbashi.

An AFP correspondent said streets of the Lubumbashi neighbourhood of Matuba were strewn with rocks and burnt tyres early Tuesday amid a heavy police presence.

A policeman in Matuba told AFP that his men were facing hostile groups of demonstrators.