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Two weeks after Election Day -- as Donald Trumpassembles his Cabinet -- votes in many states are still being counted. And the tally shows that Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote, with Michigan's 16 electoral votes still up for grab, continues to grow..

And so the question: How confident can Americans be in the results announced in the wee hours of Nov. 9, given the problems that continue to beset our election system? Here are some answers:

Q: Who won the popular vote?

A: Clinton's lead of more than 2 million votes, according to the Cook Political Report, continues to increase, largely due to an influx of absentee and provisional ballots still being counted in California. She has about 64.2 million votes to Trump's 62.2 million; her margin in California alone is more than 3.7 million.

Question: Who won the electoral vote?

Answer: As of today, Trump has 290 votes to Clinton's 232, with Michigan outstanding. Even if Clinton wins there – a possibility despite Trump's lead since election night – she still would trail, 290-248.

Among other states where the vote was close, only Florida could flip the election. But she trails there and in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by too many votes to trigger an automatic recount.

Q: Where are votes still being counted? 

A: Most states have yet to report officials results, meaning they are still counting absentee or mail ballots or, more likely, deciding whether to count provisional ballots. Those often are cast by voters whose names did not appear on registration lists, or who may have voted in the wrong place or lacked proper identification.

Q: Why does it take so long?

A: Millions of ballots come in at the last second -- or, in states that allow it, several days after the election with the proper postmarks. It takes money, manpower and accurate voting machines to get every vote counted correctly.

"We vastly underfund the way in which we run our elections," says Michael McDonald, a University of Florida associate professor who maintains a web site on the electoral system. "The bottom line is that you want to get the count right.”

Q: How close are the two candidates in key battleground states?

A: Three thousand votes are all that separate Clinton and Trump in New Hampshire. The margin is about 12,000 in Michigan, 27,000 in Wisconsin, 68,000 in Pennsylvania and 113,000 in Florida -- close, but nothing compared to the 537 votes that separated George W. Bush and Al Gore in Florida 16 years ago.

Q: Can the votes be recounted?

A: Several states, including Pennsylvania and Florida, require the vote difference between the two candidates to be less than one-half of 1 percentage point. In Michigan, a recount is triggered automatically if the margin is less than 2,000 votes. None of those states are close enough at the moment.

Le Sénégal est devenue la première nation africaine de football, d'après le nouveau classement Fifa. Ayant engrangé 755 points, les “Lions” ont relégué en deuxième position les “éléphants” de Côte d'ivoire, qui ont obtenu 738 points, soit le même score que la Tunisie, classée troisième.

L’Argentine, avec 1 634 points, domine le classement FIFA. Elle est suivie du Brésil et de l’Allemagne.

Interrogé par la Rfm, le directeur technique national (Dtn), Mayacine Mar, salue les "nombreux efforts" faits par les autorités en charge du football national pour stabiliser ce secteur.

Cyril Ramaphosa has won the support of Cosatu, the biggest union federation, to be the ANC party's next leader ©Rajesh Jantilal (AFP/File)

Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said it had "resolved to support and lobby" for Ramaphosa, a former anti-apartheid activist and trade unionist who helped negotiate the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

The 64-year-old made a failed bid to succeed Nelson Mandela as president in 1999, before becoming a wealthy businessman and then returning to politics.

Cosatu does not have voting power in the ANC, but boasts over a million members.

"We shall work to lobby and influence the ANC structures to support comrade Cyril Ramaphosa," said Ntshalintshali.

Among the other names in the running to succeed Zuma are African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is Zuma's ex-wife, and ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize.

Zuma has shrugged off growing calls to step down after a series of corruption scandals and weakening economic data.

Two weeks ago, he survived a motion of no confidence after a public watchdog raised accusations over his relationship with the Guptas, a business family accused of wielding undue political influence.

Zuma's presidential term expires in 2019.

Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh, president of Gambia, rose to power in a July 1994 military coup and was elected as President in 1996; he was re-elected in 2001, 2006, and 2011.

The metal gates lock behind Fatoumatta Sandeng as she leads the way across a small dirt yard into the concrete structure where her family of 10 sleeps on foam mattresses on the floor. This home, in a dusty town in Senegal, is where the Sandeng family has been hiding since Fatoumatta’s father, activist Solo Sandeng, was allegedly tortured to death in detention by Gambia’s secret police after they arrested him for participating in a peaceful protest on April 14.

Solo was a prominent member of the opposition United Democratic Party in Gambia. He was marching for electoral reform with youth activists near the capital, Banjul, when he was arrested. “My father and the other protesters took to the streets to demand reforms for a free and fair election that could bring a change,” says Fatoumatta. “There had been a lot of killings and illegal arrests by the government, and nothing was coming out of it because the judiciary and the media are censored. Everything that goes on in the Gambia is controlled by the government.”

Gambia’s state-sponsored intimidation could come to an end on December 1, when voters go to the polls in an election that opposition activists say is their best chance yet to oust autocratic President Yahya Jammeh, who took power through a military coup in 1994. Human rights organizations have long criticized Jammeh’s government for what they describe as the frequent use of torture, arbitrary detention and the intimidation of journalists by members of the security forces. Jammeh has won four previous elections; rights groups have described the fairness of those results as deeply compromised.

Michelle Obama called 'ape in heels'