About 32,000 South Sudanese have entered Sudan since the start of the year, with tens of thousands more expected to arrive fleeing a famine in their country, the UN refugee agency said. South Sudan declared famine in some regions, saying 100,000 people faced starvation and another million were on the brink of famine. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said it was initially expecting up to 60,000 South Sudanese to arrive in Sudan in the whole of 2017, but “the level of new arrivals has thus far surpassed initial expectations. So far, nearly 32,000 refugees are estimated to have arrived in Sudan in 2017,” UNHCR said in a report. “The food security situation is expected to deteriorate further in coming months” in South Sudan given that a famine has been declared in parts of the country’s Unity State, it said. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2lNrYkF)
Top Stories
A U.N. operation with an attack helicopter dispersed heavily armed militiamen in the remote Central African Republic town of Bambari town, the peacekeeping mission said in a statement. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2lsa5W0)
The United Nations World Food Programme is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation facing families in western Mosul, where more than 750,000 people are living in dire conditions. (WFP http://bit.ly/2lsf8FP)
Torrential rain over the weekend in Chile has prompted mudslides into the Maipo river, cutting off clean water to millions of people in Santiago. (BBC http://bbc.in/2l5VZxr)
About 100 people ransacked shops in Johannesburg overnight, police said on Monday, in the latest of a wave of looting incidents in South African cities. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2lsg1y8)
A car bomb went off in the Somali capital on Monday, wounding three people, a Reuters witness said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2lNDdth)
Mexico’s foreign minister warned the United States that his country will impose tariffs on US products if President Donald Trump taxes Mexican imports to finance a border wall. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2ls26bs)
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the government to take all necessary measures to help resettle Christians who have fled Egypt’s Northern Sinai after Islamic State killed several members of the community. (Reuters https://yhoo.it/2mE2K5J)
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday broke a month-long silence to describe the assassination of one of her top legal advisers as a great loss for the country. (AP https://yhoo.it/2m4kGdj)
The EU is facing calls to rethink its cooperation with Sudan on migration flows after scores of refugees were whipped, fined, jailed and deported from Khartoum last weekend following a peaceful protest over a huge rise in visa processing fees. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2ls1IK8)
The World Health Organization is scaling up its response in Somalia to provide critical health services for 1.5 million people currently affected by severe drought conditions and a worsening food crisis. However, the Organization urgently requires $10 million as part of the United Nations appeal for the first 6 months of 2017. (WHO http://bit.ly/2lseA2F)
Sales of Fairtrade goods in the UK have risen for the first time since 2013 as the increasing popularity of bananas and coffee sold under the ethical label offset falling sales of cocoa and sugar. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2ls98Nq)
Opinion/Blogs
This is Trump’s First Big Test at the UN (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2lPoLiQ)
Syria expert Joshua Landis is on Global Dispatches podcast http://bit.ly/2m4GIMX)
Fact checking universal basic income: can we transfer our way out of poverty? (Development Impact http://bit.ly/2m3hu1K)
Will the World Bank Eat Humble Pie? (IPS http://bit.ly/2lYMfUK)
Oscars 2017: Why Are Celebs Wearing Blue Ribbons? (Yahoo https://yhoo.it/2l5NX7X)
Win-win Solution for Migrant Worker Issues (Sunday Times http://bit.ly/2m4i9jv)
Politicized humanitarian aid is fuelling South Sudan’s civil war (IRIN http://bit.ly/2mDZlUE)
Experts – African Hunger Crisis Largely Man-made (VOA http://bit.ly/2lsfVGW)
Community Stations Fight for Frequencies in El Salvador (Inter Press Service http://bit.ly/2lsmTvu)
For Syrian refugees in Lebanon, a drive to build community amid pressing challenges (CSM https://yhoo.it/2m4fm9Y)
Syrian refugee resettlement: are Australia and New Zealand doing their fair share? (Dev Policy http://bit.ly/2l5Q6jL)
