South Sudan rebel leader-turned-VP tests positive for coronavirus Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s first vice president, the former rebel leader Riek Machar, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said Monday. Machar’s wife, Defence Minister Angelina Teny, and “a number of his office staff and …
Read More »Coronavirus creeps along East Africa’s trucking corridors
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Every day hundreds of trucks fan out from East Africa’s main ports in Kenya and Tanzania carrying cargo to the landlocked hinterland, and fears are rising they are becoming a major vector for the coronavirus. Their drivers gather at truckstops, weighbridges and customs points, socialising …
Read More »War-ravaged South Sudan at a glance
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan is the world’s youngest country and also one of the poorest, crippled by a devastating civil war that has left tens of thousands dead. As rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as vice president ahead of the formation of a new …
Read More »Kiir changes mind, offers key compromise for peace
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s president said on Saturday he would return to a system of 10 states, a key opposition demand, paving the way for a unity government and an end to the country’s civil war. “The compromise we have just made is in the interest …
Read More »Kiir says will not change position on 32 states
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Friday dismissed international calls for compromise with his foes to break a deadlock that threatens a ceasefire in their six year war. Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar are under increasing pressure to resolve their differences by February …
Read More »Kiir back home from Machar talks without deal
S.Sudan’s Kiir returns home as diplomats call for urgent compromise Juba, South Sudan | AFP | President Salva Kiir returned Wednesday from talks on South Sudan’s future to organised crowds calling him a hero, as diplomats warned time was short to strike a deal for peace. Kiir and his long-term …
Read More »Salva Kiir pardons prominent South Sudan economist
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has pardoned a Harvard-educated economist whose conviction earlier this year on spying charges drew international criticism. Peter Biar Ajak was among 30 prisoners on a pardon list seen by AFP and dated January 1. A spokesman for the main …
Read More »SOUTH SUDAN: US envoy warns Kiir, Machar and ‘spoilers’
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | The US ambassador to South Sudan on Wednesday warned that Washington would not hesitate to slap additional sanctions on “spoilers” holding back peace in the war-torn African nation. Ambassador Thomas Hushek was recalled in November when South Sudan’s rival leaders failed to meet a …
Read More »UN: Kenya, Uganda fail to enforce South Sudan sanctions
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Ahead of a key IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government meeting due Friday in Addis Ababa, United Nations (UN) monitors have warned of the failure of Kenya and Uganda to enforce sanctions on war-stricken South Sudan The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is today …
Read More »South Sudan rival leaders given 100 days to form unity government
Entebbe, Uganda | AFP -Michael O’HAGAN | South Sudan President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have been given another 100 days to form a power-sharing government after failing to resolve differences over a peace deal. The two leaders, whose fall out in 2013 sparked a conflict that …
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