Confusion, anger grow as Congo faces Sunday’s election; NEWS BRIEFING; Staff and news services; Japan to leave whaling body, resume commercial hunting; GoFundMe says donations for fake feel-good story refunded ; Thailand’s legislature legalizes medical use of marijuana; Mexico invites U.S. to help investigate copter crash ; Under duress, Netanyahu still front-runner in Israeli poll

KINSHASA, Congo - As Congo hurtles toward Sunday's already troubled election, the opposition on Tuesday urged mobile phone companies to disable SIM cards provided for voting machines as concerns grow about how the ballots of 40 million people will be counted and shared.

This vast Central African country for the first time is using the voting machines as it chooses a successor to longtime President Joseph Kabila after more than two years of election delays. In the past week some electoral workers said they still hadn't seen, much less been trained on, the machines.

Among those who have been trained, a serious concern has emerged: Several electoral workers allege the voting machines will be used to send results electronically, opening the door to possible manipulation.

The machines have faced months of criticism, with opposition figures, diplomats and others asking how, with little reliable electricity, and many voters without computer experience, can a vote be done single day.

Earlier this month, nearly 8,000 of the voting machines were destroyed in a fire, leading to the latest election delay.

Electoral officials insist the machines will be used only as printers after voters tap on touchscreens to select preferred candidates.

But several people being trained to be electoral agents said they have been taught about the machines' electronic transmission capabilities, saying the machines will be used to directly transmit voting data to the central server.

"What they're saying on TV is different from what we are being taught," said one, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Japan to leave whaling body, resume commercial hunting

TOKYO - Japan says it is leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial hunts but says it will no longer go to the Antarctic to hunt.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday that Japan's commercial whaling will be limited to its territorial and economic waters.

The IWC imposed a commercial moratorium in the 1980s due to a dwindling whale population.

Japan switched to what it calls research whaling and says stocks have recovered enough to resume commercial hunt. The research program was criticized as a cover for commercial hunting.

Japan has said the IWC has become more like an opponent of whaling than an organization aiming for sustainability.

Japan has cut back on its catch as Japanese consume less whale meat.

GoFundMe says donations for fake feel-good story refunded

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. - GoFundMe says it has issued refunds to everyone who contributed to a campaign involving a homeless veteran from Philadelphia who prosecutors allege schemed with a New Jersey couple to scam donors out of $400,000.

A GoFundMe spokesman said Tuesday that "all donors who contributed to this ... campaign have been fully refunded."

Burlington County prosecutors allege that Johnny Bobbitt conspired with Katelyn McClure and her boyfriend at the time, Mark D'Amico, to concoct a feel-good story about Bobbitt's giving McClure his last $20 when her car ran out of gas. Prosecutors say the couple actually spent the money. McClure alleged she was duped by D'Amico, whose lawyer denied the allegations.

Thailand's legislature legalizes medical use of marijuana

BANGKOK - Thailand's legislature on Tuesday agreed to amend the country's drug law to allow the licensed medical use of marijuana, as well as kratom, a locally grown plant traditionally used as a stimulant and painkiller.

Thailand is the first country in Southeast Asia to take such action, which is also under consideration in neighboring Malaysia. New Zealand's government earlier this month enacted a law liberalizing the medical use of marijuana, which had previously been tightly restricted.

The Thai legislation passed its final reading at the National Legislative Assembly by a vote of 166-0 with 13 abstentions.

Recreational use of the drugs remains illegal and subject to prison terms and fines commensurate with the quantities involved.

Mexico invites U.S. to help investigate copter crash

MEXICO CITY - Mexico has invited experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board to participate in the investigation of a helicopter crash that killed the governor of the western state of Puebla and her husband.

Mexico's assistant transportation secretary said the invitation was made "to leave no doubts" about the crash on Monday that killed opposition Gov. Martha Erika Alonso and her husband, former Gov. Rafael Moreno Valle.

Carlos Moran said Tuesday that the manufacturers of the helicopter and its engines will participate in the investigation, and it was too early to determine whether mechanical problems played a role.

Two pilots and a third passenger also died in the crash. The pilots were described as experienced, though one had spent much of his career flying fixed-wing aircraft.

Under duress, Netanyahu still front-runner in Israeli poll

JERUSALEM - A day after snap elections were called in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged as the overwhelming early front-runner Tuesday, with rivals pinning their primary hopes of unseating him on a potential corruption indictment.

With Netanyahu holding a commanding lead in the polls, all eyes are on Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and whether he will decide before April's elections on whether to press charges.

The Panels Politics poll in the Maariv daily showed Netanyahu's ruling Likud party securing 30 seats in the 120-seat parliament and a majority for his current right-wing, nationalist bloc. Coming in second at 13 seats was the still hypothetical party headed by former military chief Benny Gantz, who has yet to declare whether he is even running.

In Japan: The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average tumbled 5 percent into a bear market as the global equity rout continued unabated in the last week of the year, with renewed turmoil in Washington rattling investors.

Tuesday's selloff took its cue from the S&P 500's worst-ever trading session before Christmas.

In Israel: Roseanne Barr said Monday she will travel to Israel in January and has been invited to address the parliament. She said her aim is to speak against a Palestinian-led movement seeking a boycott of Israel. ABC canceled "Roseanne" after Barr tweeted racist remarks about ex-Obama aide Valerie Jarrett.

Caption: Somersaulting Santa: A costumed participant in the 109th edition of the Christmas Cup swimming competition in Barcelona, Spain, makes a dramatic entrance Tuesday into the race course that runs for about 200 yards and drew about 300 challengers.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty-AFP