Leer, South Sudan | AFP | Thousands of people at the epicentre of a man-made famine in South Sudan emerged from the safety of the swamps this past weekend hoping to receive emergency deliveries of food. For months now Bol Mol, a 45-year-old former oil field security officer, has struggled …
Read More »2,000 South Sudanese already entered Sudan in 2017
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | About 32,000 South Sudanese have entered Sudan since the start of the year, with tens of thousands more expected to arrive fleeing a famine in their country, the UN refugee agency said Sunday. On Monday, South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation formed after splitting from …
Read More »Syria attack deals fresh blow to faltering peace talks
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A suicide assault which killed dozens in Syria Saturday dealt a further blow to already sputtering UN efforts to launch a new round of talks to end the six-year conflict. The Damascus regime vowed retaliation for the assault in Syria’s third city Homs — and …
Read More »UN warns Burundi’s president over fourth term
United Nations, United States | AFP | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza against seeking a fourth term, saying such a move risks deepening the crisis in the African country. In a report obtained by AFP, the UN chief says he is “very concerned” by recent …
Read More »Morocco urges UN to end Polisario ‘provocation’
Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Friday asked the United Nations to take urgent measures to end “provocation” by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front threatening the ceasefire in the disputed Western Sahara. Morocco insists that the former Spanish colony is an integral part of its kingdom, but …
Read More »In name at least, ISIL is defeated
Washington, United States | AFP | ISIL is no more. At least, that’s the case in the hallways of the Pentagon, where military officials have done an about-face and started calling the Islamic State group ISIS, not ISIL. The latter acronym, standing for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, …
Read More »South Sudan suffering ‘man-made’ famine
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan on Monday declared famine in some parts of the country, with more than three years of war leaving nearly five million hungry in what aid groups called a “man-made” tragedy. Isaiah Chol Aruai, chairman of South Sudan’s National Bureau of Statistics, said …
Read More »Aid for Sudan to drop despite US easing sanctions
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Global financial support for humanitarian work in conflict-riven Sudan is expected to drop this year despite improved aid access and the easing of US sanctions, the top UN aid official in the country said. “Sudan is taking some very positive steps which are recognised, and… …
Read More »Third South Sudan military official quits over ‘ethnic crimes’
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | A third top South Sudanese military official has resigned, accusing President Salva Kiir’s regime of war crimes and ethnic cleansing, according to a letter seen by AFP Saturday. Brigadier Henry Oyay Nyago, advocate general and director of military justice, was the latest military official …
Read More »South Sudan minister quits, rejoins Machar’s rebels
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s labour minister resigned Friday and declared allegiance to rebel leader Riek Machar, making him the second top official to quit in the war-torn country this week. Gabriel Duop Lam, who joined a unity government last year as a member of Machar’s opposition, …
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