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The joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region said Monday an initial investigation has turned up no evidence of a claimed mass rape in a village there, but a U.N. envoy said there was a heavy military presence during the visit which could have affected the findings. […] Allegations first surfaced earlier this month of a mass rape of 200 women in Tabit and UNAMID said it intends to conduct further investigations. […] (Australia’s U.N. Ambassador Gary) Quinlan said (the U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Hawa) Bangura raised questions about whether “a wall of...

The chief editor of a Sudanese newspaper was attacked and beaten by an angry mob late Saturday just days after a televised appearance in which he called for “normalized ties” with Israel. AFP is reporting that Osman Mirghani, editor in chief of Sudan’s Al-Tayar daily newspaper, was taken to Al-Zaytouna Hospital after the mob stormed the paper’s offices Saturday night. …

Looks like the move to the US embassy in Khartoum has paid off for Meriam Ibrahim, the young Christian mother sentenced to death for her faith in Sudan. Now out of the reach of Sudanese security forces, Reuters reports that Sudan has now begun negotiations to get Ibrahim and her family out of the country: Sudanese authorities and U.S. officials in Khartoum are negotiating to allow a Sudanese woman, who married an American and was recently spared the death penalty for converting to Christianity, to leave Sudan, sources close to the case said. …“There are talks going on currently...

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just completed a series of landmark reports that chronicle an update to the current state of consensus science on climate change. Its conclusion: On our current path, climate change could pose an irreversible, existential risk to civilization as we know it, but we can still fix it if we decide to work together. But in addition to the call for cooperation, the reports also shared an alarming new trend: Climate change is already destabilizing nations and leading to wars. That finding was highlighted in last week's premiere of Showtime's climate change docu-drama...

UNMISS said in a statement that "the armed mob forced entry into the site and opened fire on the internally displaced persons sheltering inside the base". Its forces returned fire -- first firing warning shots and then taking part in a ferocious gun battle -- before the fighters retreated, it added. The civilians had fled into the base weeks ago amid brutal ethnic massacres in the world's newest nation. Information Minister Michael Makuei said that a "huge number" of gunmen had come seeking revenge for the rebel capture of the oil town of Bentiu two days ago hoping to kill...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending military aircraft and more special operations forces to Uganda to assist in the search for fugitive African warlord Joseph Kony. A senior U.S. military official confirmed Monday that the U.S. is sending at least four CV-22 Osprey aircraft about about 150 more Air Force special operations members and airmen to assist local forces in their long-running battle against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA. The official confirmed the plans, first reported by The Washington Post, on condition of anonymity without authorization to discuss them on the record.

<p>President Obama is committing more military resources, including aircraft and special operations forces, to the hunt for notorious African warlord Joseph Kony.</p> <p>Early Monday, the White House confirmed a Washington Post report that the U.S. was sending "associated support personnel," and a "limited number" of CV-22 Osprey aircraft to assist local forces in their long-running battle against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA. Obama sent about 100 U.S. troops to help the African forces in 2011.</p>

- FrontPage Magazine - http://www.frontpagemag.com - The Douala-Djibouti CorridorPosted By Jerome Vitenberg On February 6, 2014 @ 12:15 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 1 Comment The current French involvement in the Central African Republic, which follows in the footsteps of its ongoing “Operation Serval” in Mali, has led many to wonder about President Francois Hollande’s goals in his African campaigns.In recent months, the CAR’s ex-Séléka Muslim rebel fighters, bolstered by Sudanese and Chadian mercenaries, have waged a campaign of murder, rape and pillage against the country’s 80% Christian-majority population. With the government in disarray, Christians have organized defensive “anti-balaka” (“anti-machete”)...

South Sudan: Khartoum’s Aid to Reik Machar’s Tribal ViolenceBy South Sudan News StaffJuba — December 24 … During the weekend of 20-22 December, the Republic of South Sudan underwent a political crisis, an attempted coup and emerged to the next phase of putting down what's become known as the Machar Revolt. The African think-tank, The Fashoda Institute, has published a current analysis of the South Sudan’s crisis. “Juba entered the weekend having lost control over most of Jonglei State. However, this loss of control was the result of an uneasy cease-fire and tenuous cooperation between the predominantly Nuer ex-SPLA forces...

<p>US aircraft came under fire on Saturday on a mission to evacuate Americans from spiralling conflict in South Sudan and four US military service members were wounded.</p> <p>Nearly a week of fighting threatens to drag the world's newest country into an ethnic civil war just two years after it won independence from Sudan with strong support from successive US administrations.</p>

Rebel gunfire hit a U.S. military aircraft trying to evacuate American citizens caught in a remote region of South Sudan that on Saturday became a battle ground between the country's military and renegade troops, officials said. Four U.S. service members were wounded. The U.S. military aircraft were heading to Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and scene of some of the nation's worst violence over the last week. One American service member was reported to be in critical condition.

LONDON — The United Nations said Friday that it had sent helicopters to rescue personnel from a base in South Sudan that came under lethal attack amid a worsening political crisis, and President Obama warned that South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, “stands at the precipice.” The number of civilians seeking refuge in the United Nations’ other outposts there exceeds 30,000, and diplomats expressed fears about the potential for a civil war. Britain, which began evacuating its citizens on Thursday, said Friday that it would send a second airplane to Juba, the capital. “We strongly advise all British nationals in...

Two US military aircraft have been fired at during an evacuation mission in South Sudan, wounding two service personnel. One is said to be in a critical condition, and it is thought at least one of the planes was damaged. South Sudan has blamed the attack on renegade troops. Officials said the aircraft were heading to Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and the scene of some of the country's worst violence in the past week. After being fired at the planes turned around and headed to Kampala in Uganda. From there the wounded service personnel were flown...

South Sudan’s fugitive vice-president has denied mounting a coup after three days of fighting in the capital of the world’s newest countryclaimed at least 400 lives. Riek Machar, who was formally sacked as vice-president in July, said the clashes were caused by a “misunderstanding” and no attempt had been made to overthrow President Salva Kiir. The clashes began on Sunday night when military bases in the capital, Juba, were attacked. On Monday, Mr Kiir appeared in military uniform and said that his government had foiled a coup. The president has been locked in a power struggle with Mr Machar, reflecting...

President Kiir Declares Curfew In Juba As Attempted Coup FailsBy Joe Odaby South Sudan NewsJuba — December 16 … The President of the Republic of South Sudan H.E Salva Kiir Mayardit has imposed a curfew over Juba following heavy gunfire that started early Saturday, December 15, in the city and its suburbs. The situation though is under control; sporadic gunfire still continues to be heard in some parts of the capital. The curfew, the President says takes immediate effect. In a press briefing in the early hours of the day, President Kiir called for calm among the citizens while assuring...

Seventy global Holocaust and genocide experts in a letter asked U.S. President Bararck Obama to arrest Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir for his role in the Darfur genocide if he arrives at the United Nations General Assebly in New York City this week. The International Criminal Court indicted Bashir in 2009. The letter calling for his arrest was organized by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies in Washington, D.C. Signatories include Prof. David S. Wyman, author of "The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust 1941-1945," Prof. Yehuda Bauer, senior historian at Israel s Yad Vashem...

When a US delegate once confronted a Chinese diplomat about Beijing's uncompromising support for Pakistan, the Chinese reportedly responded with a heavily-loaded sarcastic remark: "Pakistan is our Israel". But judging by China's unrelenting support for some of its allies, including North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe and Sudan, its protective arm around these countries is no different from the US and Western political embrace of Israel - right or wrong. ..."China is trying to reassert its political clout at the United Nations as a counterweight to its defensive stand on currency and trade issues." The New York Times newspaper said on Tuesday...

You don’t wait for war to buy fighter jets, says Gen. Museveni One of the new Russian-made jet fighters prepares for a demonstration take-off during President Museveni’s tour. PHOTO BY MARTIN SSEBUYIRA By Martin Ssebuyira (email the author) Entebbe The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Gen. Yoweri Museveni, yesterday conceded calls by opposition for the government to give priority to infrastructure and healthcare ahead of military hardware are plausible but said defence cannot wait for war to purchase equipment. Mr Museveni, who was inspecting the new planes at the airbase in Entebbe, said the delivery of Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighters...

The group, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), said it attacked the facility, run by a Chinese-led consortium in the Defra oilfield. Jem said its action was a message to China to stop helping the Sudanese government with their war in Darfur.

The forceful projection of China's hard and soft power in recent months marks a stunning departure from the foreign policy axioms of late patriarch Deng Xiaoping. Deng, who anointed President Hu Jintao as the "core" of the Fourth Generation leadership, noted shortly after the Tiananmen Square massacre that China must "keep a low profile and never take the lead" in global affairs. Particularly in reference to the United States, Deng pointed out that China should "seek [opportunities for] cooperation and avoid confrontation." This advice was largely followed by Third-Generation leaders, such as ex-president Jiang Zemin and ex-premier Zhou Rongji, both...