Juba – The Ministry of Interior is to campaign against the trade in the uniforms of military and other organized forces in the country, Aleu Ayeng Aleu of the Interior Ministry told Parliament prior to its recess Friday. Aleu’s statements follow urgent information raised by Joseph Ngere, MP from Western Equatoria, who said some companies … Read more
Juba – South Sudanese women have been told to expose Gender Based Violence (GBV) by reporting cases to the public, especially law enforcement agencies and community leaders. The call was made during the launch of a social norms marketing campaign by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) at Nyokuron Cultural Centre, attended by civil society organizations, women, … Read more
On December 17th the Federal Reserve’s FOMC released its meeting statement, forecast and held a press conference for chair Yellen. The Fed kept up its data dependent commitment to raise interest rates, but affirmed to be patient when deciding to do so. Janet Yellen once again reiterated that the decision is entirely data dependent. Meaning … Read more
With green space losing out to several large public infrastructure projects, local residents are worried about the future of Ho Chi Minh City’s urban environment. Michael Tatarski looks into one group’s conservation efforts and asks whether the city can develop without giving in to environmental tradeoffs. When news broke in November that the city would … Read more
Thousands of Russians assembled for an unlawful protest in Moscow Tuesday night, shouting slogans such as, “Putin is a thief!” “Crimea is not ours!” and “No Putin, no war!” Hundreds were arrested. Other chants included sentiments of solidarity with Ukrainians: “Russians! Ukrainians! Brothers forever!” “Putin is Russia’s shame!” “Russia doesn’t trust Putin!” besides the more topical, “Freedom … Read more
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was expected to receive a stiff sentence of up to 10 years for charges of fraud–charges widely believed to be a veil for the Russian government’s suspected interest in silencing the outspoken critic–but a surprising verdict saw Navalny walk out of court Tuesday with a suspended sentence, hours before his … Read more
Juba – The oil production in Bentiu, the capital of Unity state which was halted due to last year’s political crisis will soon re-start production, according to the Minister of Petroleum and Mining, Deng Dau. Unity state produces around 15 percent of South Sudan’s oil, while Upper Nile produces the remaining 85 percent. The fighting … Read more
Juba – The National Legislative Assembly will discuss the controversial national security bill which was returned to the house by the president, who declined to sign the bill. The president’s move follows concerns raised by local and international rights groups, Western countries, opposition political parties and members of his own ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement … Read more
Juba – Opposition political parties will have to take to legal measures to compel the government from holding the 2015 general elections as the conditions will not allow for free and fair vote, according to Dr. Lam Akol, the leader of SPLM-DC. “Before elections, we are going to take all legal measures to persuade them. … Read more
The dive in the price of oil combined with economic sanctions has hit Russia’s economy very hard. The Russians have experienced massive inflation, as well as large outflow of capital from its borders. To combat this, the Russian Central Bank has raised interest rates to 17 percent, hoping to constrict the rampant inflation by attracting … Read more
Monday South Korea proposed a series of talks with North Korea. It is an attempt to remove the gunpowder between the two borders which has led to a huge amount of fighting in the past few decades. Since the Korean War of 1950-1953 there has not been any major progress towards negotiations between the two countries. Unification Minister Ryoo … Read more
The ongoing Catalan bid for independence and the political crisis between the central government in Madrid and Catalonia has opened up a divide which is creating an internal conflict within Spain that runs deep into the social fabric of the country. The divide is threatening to unravel the progress made by the county since the … Read more