South Sudan In Focus - VOA Africa

President Salva Kiir orders the removal of all roadblocks to allow humanitarian aid workers access to South Sudanese people in need; a new report shows at least six million South Sudanese are at risk of exposure to explosives in contaminated areas; and the Bor municipality mayor is told to revoke a recent order in which he sold public land to government officials.

Authorities in Torit admit they have a security problem; a

South Sudan military spokesman reacts to the latest defection of a high-ranking officer; and a civil society leader from South Sudan says the 2015 peace deal is dead.

At least three people are killed in two separate shoot-outs in Torit; hundreds of internally displaced persons living in a U.N. protection site express fear of returning home to Wau Town; and participants in a youth forum believe South Sudanese are more loyal to their tribes than the nation.

A former deputy governor says the stand-off between the South Sudan army and former army chief General Paul Malong could escalate tensions between clans from Bahr el Ghazal; the South Sudan government issues a deadline for foreigners to obtain work permits; and hospitals in Bor see an increase in cases of Hepatitis B.

The South Sudan military continues to surround the home of former Army Chief General Paul Malong; kidnappers demand ransom for three women in the border town of Nimule; and the National Bureau of Statistics says food security has shown a slight improvement during the harvest season.

Police in Yei Town investigate killings and abductions that some residents say have gotten out of control; Sudan and South Sudan sign several 'memorandums of understanding' aimed at reviving the cooperation agreement signed by the two countries in 2012; and soldiers on trial for last year's Terrain Hotel attack appear in court looking weak and malnourished.

The head of the E.U. delegation to South Sudan agrees to fund the IGAD-led initiative to revitalize the 2015 peace deal; the governor of Yei River State works to ensure that NGO-activities address the needs of the people; and a new report shows more than 8,000 children died of pneumonia in South Sudan in 2015, due to lack of primary health care.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir travels to Khartoum to discuss resumption of oil production between the two countries; a soldier with the South Sudan army is sent to prison for sexually assaulting a young child; and loggers illegally cut down trees in South Sudan’s forests to burn and sell as charcoal.

Leaders from Abyei ask the Presidents of Sudan and South Sudan to resolve their dispute over the area; a U.N. charity office in a Juba camp is destroyed by angry residents; and a South Sudanese man creates a video game to help build peace among South Sudanese communities.

Authorities order cattle keepers settled in Equatoria region to move their cattle back to Jonglei State; South Sudan’s media authority suspends two media associations for illegal operations; and the South Sudan government reduces work permit fees to foreign workers.