The world’s population has reached (and now surpassed) seven billion. We may not have had a hand at creating the seven billionth human being (it’s also nearly impossible to pin point the exact baby), but let us all welcome this new joy into our family (homonidae).

When the one billionth song was downloaded by Alex Ostrovsky (“Speed of Sound” by Coldplay), he was given ten iPods, an iMac, and a $10,000 music gift card. Not to mention, a scholarship to Julliard was established in his name.

So what’s our prize?

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Rewind to November 16, 1993, Bologna, Italy.

It’s the qualifying match for the World Cup. England versus San Marino. England kicks off the game with a back pass and suddenly BAM, interception by forward David Gualtieri. Mere seconds later, the score is 1-0 to San Marino.

Within 8.3 seconds, San Marino scored, setting the record for the fastest goal ever scored in a qualifying match. It happened so fast that it memorably caughtJonathanPearce, the sports announcer, mid sentence.

That would be the first and last goal scored by San Marino that day as San Marino would later go on to lose 7-1 to England. Despite the loss, Gualtieri’s goal would go on to be internationally celebrated and a national hero to Scotland.

Fast forward to 2009 in the Czech Republic.

Blesk, a Czech tabloid, makes a proposition. If San Marino beat Slovenia in the qualify match for the 2010 World Cup, the Czech Republic would reward the team with $55,000 or “all the beer its players could drink” (The New York Times, 2011).

San Marino lost 3-0. Said San Marino coach Giampaolo Mazza, “I knew it was beer I would never drink.”

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President of CENI (Congolese electoral Committee) Daniel Ngoy Mulunda

Hey Guys,

Welcome to another round of Congolese news. This time around, I am focusing on the elections because as some of you already know, the election date is set for November 28^th which is less than a month and a half away.  At the end of this month, Congo will be plunged into massive electoral campaigns throughout the country.  The population will be voting for the lower house representative and the head of state. Currently, around 19,500 individuals are running for the House of Representatives and 11 others for the Presidential seat. As I informed you guys in a previous post, several tones of electoral materials are still arriving in the Congo and being distributed in centers throughout the country. The Ceni (electoral committee) and the monusco (UN) are facing a serious deadline with the distribution of the electoral material in all provinces. I would like to remind everyone that Congo is a country four times the size of France and lacks the infrastructure such as roads and railroads to reach every corners of the country. In an interview on La prosperite (Congolese newspaper), a Congolese politician part of the opposition movement expressed concerns with the electoral committee (CENI). His first point was that the CENI had yet to locate the 62,000 voting centers; his second point was that the list of voters still had not been published. Lastly, he proclaimed that the law states that if a voter possesses a voting card but is not on the voting list, the entire elections have to be canceled.  The CENI has reassured everyone including the international community that the elections will go on as planned but serious concerns are being raised every day.  The questions being raised are; should Congo go to the elections with possible deficiencies and face post-election backlash from the losing side? Or should they reports the elections, and take care of every single element to provide a fair and transparent election?

Peace for all,

Leny