South Sudanese scholars charged in US with planning to illegally export arms to Juba to overthrow government
A federal criminal complaint unsealed on Monday in Arizona charges Ajak and Abraham Chol Keech, 44, of Utah, with conspiring to purchase and illegally export through a third country to South Sudan a cache of weapons in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Export Control Reform Act. The weapons that were considered included automatic rifles like AK-47s, grenade launchers, Stinger missile systems, hand grenades, sniper rifles, ammunition and other export-controlled arms.
Top UN official calls for greater political investment in South Sudan ahead of elections set for December
With both IGAD and the AU having expressed support for the elections the UN “will, therefore, offer as much support as possible in line with its mandate,” he said, stressing the importance of having the requisite architecture to ensure that polls are peaceful and credible.
This man ‘Barbeque’ Cherizier: Haitian gangs’ king who’s sworn to ‘eat’ PM Ariel Henry for lunch
In the wake of Moise’s murder, the security situation in Haiti deteriorated further. Cherizier catapulted the G9 alliance to international notoriety after taking control of Haiti’s main fuel port, essentially holding the country hostage as transport was frozen and hospitals lost their energy supplies.
Jailbreak: Haiti prime minister’s whereabouts unknown after Kenya trip, neighbours prepare for ‘drastic escalation’ in violence
Heavy gunfire was seen near Port Au Prince’s international airport during the day, airport authorities said. The United States urged its citizens to leave Haiti “as soon as possible.” A spokesperson for the US State Department said he believed Henry was returning to Haiti.
Republican ticket frontrunner Trump wins Colorado ballot ineligibility case at US Supreme Court
The justices unanimously overturned a December 19 decision by Colorado’s top court to kick the former president of the state’s Tuesday Republican primary ballot after finding that the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment disqualified him from again holding public office. The Colorado court had found that Trump took part in an insurrection for inciting and supporting the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
An online protest movement exposes corruption in Uganda that has rattled officials and MPs
Mathias Mpuuga, a former opposition leader in the National Assembly, was said to have received a $131,000 “service award” for his work in Parliament. Mpuuga denies any wrongdoing, but another opposition figure who nominated Mpuuga to the parliamentary post is accusing him of abuse of office.
Latest UN report warns rising violence, rights abuses threaten South Sudan’s stability
The commission also found that the armed forces were still using child soldiers. In 2019, the year after the peace agreement, the UN found there were still more than 19,000 child soldiers in South Sudan, one of the highest rates in the world.
US envoy to Singapore in trouble over $48,000 misuse, failure to model integrity and threats to staff
The report faulted Kaplan, an entrepreneur, for failing to follow procedures in hiring consultants who submitted bills of $5,650 for “a furniture research project” and of $4,250 to redesign the embassy’s cafeteria.
Navalny’s parents bury son as thousands chant name of fiercest critic of Russian President Putin
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic inside Russia, died at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony on February 16, sparking accusations from his supporters that he had been assassinated. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death.
UN experts blacklist Sudan’s paramilitary forces as perpetrators of ethnic killings, rape and war crimes in Darfur
The ongoing conflict has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis and displaced approximately 6.8 million people – 5.4 million within Sudan and 1.4 million who have fled to other countries, including approximately 555,000 to neighbouring Chad, the experts said.
