South Sudan crisis: Conflicts hits three states By BBC News 10 November 2014 Government and rebel forces have clashed in three states in South Sudan, just days after their leaders agreed to unconditionally end fighting. A rebel spokesman blamed the government for attacking their positions, including oil fields. But the army accused the rebels of restarting the conflict, saying their attacks were repelled. On Friday, regional body Igad gave the two

South Sudan famine temporarily averted, but risks remain: U.N. By Drazen Jorgic, Reuters 4 November 2014 Aid and some small harvests have helped stave off a feared famine in South Sudan, but any more fighting there could still leave millions facing severe hunger next year, a senior World Food Program (WFP) official said on Friday. The United Nations had warned in May that up to 4 million people would be on the brink of starvation by the end of

‘No alternative to silencing the guns,’ UN South Sudan envoy tells Security Council UN News Centre 22 October 2014 There is no alternative to silencing the guns and immediately agreeing a comprehensive peace deal so South Sudan can return to the path of peace and stability, the United Nations envoy for the strife-riven country said today, urging the Security Council and regional leaders to help bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.

South Sudan sexual violence 'rampant,' two-year-old raped: U.N. By Louis Charbonneau, Reuters 20 October 2014 Rape and other forms of sexual violence by all sides in South Sudan's civil war have become so widespread that a 2-year-old child was among the victims, the U.N. special representative on sexual violence in armed conflict said on Monday. "In my 30 years of experience, I've never witnessed anything like what I saw in Bentiu," Zainab Hawa Bangura

AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL By Eric Reeves 10 October 2014 Volume 55, No. 20 http://www.africa-confidential.com/article/id/5809/The_world_according_to_Khartoum The world according to Khartoum The smuggling out of what appear to be top secret state documents points to a major security breach in the government The Khartoum government is yet to react to the circulation of what purport to be detailed minutes of a meeting on31 August of top security and military

South Sudan: amid ongoing tensions, UN confirms situation back to normal at protection site UN News Centre 2 October 2014 The United Nations confirmed today that an incident involving troops from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and internally displaced persons seeking refuge at a UN camp in South Sudan has “returned to normal.” According to information provided by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), around a dozen armed soldiers

Gods of History An interview with Eric Reeves, on failure in Darfur. Eric Reeves is Professor of English Language and Literature at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. He has spent the past fifteen years working virtually full-time as a Sudan researcher and analyst, publishing extensively both in the US and internationally.  Reeves has written widely on Darfur in the LA Times, The Washington Post, The Nation and the New Republic, among

U.S. warns South Sudan: Strike a peace deal or face U.N. sanctions By Michelle Nichols/ Reuters 1 October 2014 The United States warned South Sudan's president and rebel leader on Tuesday to engage in serious peace talks to end nearly a year of violence in the world's newest state or face United Nations sanctions. Fighting erupted in December in South Sudan - which declared independence from Sudan in 2011 - after months of political tension between

“Looking Directly into the Heart of Darkness: What the Khartoum Regime Really Thinks” (leaked minutes of critical August 2014 meeting of senior military and security official) Eric Reeves, 24 September 2014 [Full Word document] I received on 22 September 2014, from a source within Sudan whom I trust implicitly, a truly extraordinary, indeed explosive document, containing the “Minutes of the Military and Security Committee Meeting held in the

South Sudan: civilians fleeing violence nears 2 million with no likelihood of return soon UN News Centre 24 September 2014 The United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that gross violations committed by all parties to the conflict in South Sudan have declined but the number of civilians forced to flee the violence now nears 2 million “with no likelihood that people will return to their homes soon.” Referring to the