Upper Nile State’s Ministry of Health says Malakal is leading in HIV case load in the state; health authorities in South Sudan’s Jonglei state say they are seeing HIV-positive pregnant women in Bor; U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan calls for an end to hostilities in Sudan; plus, more.

The suspended minister of finance in Jonglei State, Abraham Riek Yuek, has been placed under house arrest; South Sudan is due to hold long-delayed general elections in December 2026; Kenyan president supports mass vaccinations; plus, more.

The governor of South Sudan’s Jonglei State has suspended the minister of finance following a second impeachment vote in the State; communities in Ruweng Administrative Area accuse their Chief Administrator of infringing their rights; plus, more.

With the Christmas festivities approaching, criminals are active on the streets of South Sudan’s capital, Juba, snatching handbags, phones and other valuables from commuters; Nigerian international relations expert says it may be difficult to dissuade three west African countries from leaving ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States; Human Rights Watch has accused Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allied militias of rape and other acts of sexual violence against women and girls in South Kordofan state; plus, more.

South Sudanese do not trust banks with their money despite an order from the Central Bank to end limits on cash withdrawals; HIV/AIDS Commission in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State expresses concern over the lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS in the state; China trains African journalist on press freedom; plus, more .

This weekend marks South Sudan’s eleventh year of conflict that has devastated the population, sending millions to refugee camps in Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Sudan and Ethiopia. The archbishop of the Internal Province of Western Bahr El Ghazal state says power struggles are to blame for the ongoing conflict. Archbishop Moses Deng, is the South Sudan Council of Churches' peace envoy at the Kenyan-brokered South Sudan talks; rights groups are urging Zimbabwean president to sign into law a bill that would abolish the death penalty; Elon Musk is expected to take aim at U.S. government spending; plus more.

A delegation from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan engage stakeholders on advancing human rights in South Sudan; the commissioners of the eight counties in Eastern Equatoria State are instructed to collect taxes for paying civil servants’ salaries across the state; authorities in Western Equatoria State’s Yambio County developed a bylaw to address gender-based violence; plus, more.

Traders in South Sudan’s capital Juba say they are experiencing price hikes after a drivers’ strike that lasted for two weeks; HIV/AIDS Commission in Lakes State say they are witnessing an increase of infections; teachers who were dismissed in Upper Nile State’s Melut County are in court fighting their dismissals and demanding back-salary payments; plus, more.

Sudan's ambassador to the United States, Mohamed Abdallah Idris, is calling on humanitarian groups to provide much-needed relief items to families trapped by conflict in the country's cities, Ghanaians vote for a former president; Syrian rebels control Damacus; plus, more.

South Sudan in Focus airs at 7:30 pm in Juba (1630 UTC) and can be heard on FM stations throughout South Sudan, on shortwave, and on VOA’s 24-hour channel in Nairobi at 8:30 pm. The program is hosted by John Tanza in Washington D.C., and a network of reporters around South Sudan and in Washington.