South Sudan lifts suspension of Facebook and TikTok
The graphic images, which sparked violent protests and retaliatory killings across the country, have been removed from the social media platforms, the National Communications Authority said in a Jan.27 letter to telecoms and internet providers
"The rise of violence linked to social media content in South Sudan underscores the need for a balanced approach that addresses the root causes of online incitement while protecting the rights of the population," Napoleon Adok Gai, the director of the National Communications Authority, said in the letter.
Rights groups blamed the Sudanese army and its allies for ethnically-targeted attacks on civilians in Sudan's El Gezira state earlier this month, after they captured the state capital Wad Madani from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The Sudanese army condemned what it called "individual violations", which were captured on video and shared widely on social media.
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Reuters
38 minutes ago
- Reuters
Investors temper Ukraine hopes ahead of Trump and Putin summit
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Investors are tempering expectations that Friday's summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will deliver a significant breakthrough on the war in Ukraine despite some hopeful signs. Ukraine's government bonds - key indicators of the mood - rallied when news of the summit emerged this month but have largely stalled at a still-distressed 55 cents on the dollar amid the pre-meeting posturing. Trump himself said it will be more of a "listening exercise" although he hopes it will go well enough for another involving Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy soon afterwards - and threatened "severe consequences" if it doesn't. Europe's leaders meanwhile have been encouraged by Trump's signals on participating in security guarantees, while Putin has praised Trump for "sincere efforts" to stop the hostilities. Kathryn Exum, an analyst at emerging market-focused fund Gramercy, said the fact Ukraine's bonds remain well below the highs they hit when Trump regained the White House despite their near 20% rally this month reflected limited market expectations. "The bar is pretty high for any meaningful progress given the red lines of the parties seem deeply entrenched," Exum said. "I think the market is pricing in a symbolic truce," such as on long-range missiles and drones, she added. "Ultimately though is doesn't change the game for any side." Diliana Deltcheva, head of emerging market debt at Robeco, said EU leaders' calls with Trump on Wednesday, when he offered a potentially significant but vague security offer, were a "modest positive". But she too thinks Friday's summit is unlikely to yield substantive progress. "We had a small overweight (in Ukraine bonds) but now we have neutralised it," Deltcheva said. "From our position, is it too difficult to call the situation... there have been too many false starts." Geopolitical analyst at research firm TS Lombard, Christopher Granville, thinks whatever its ostensible outcome, Friday's meeting will mark the "definitive start of the concluding phase of the Ukraine war". "One way or the other, the situation is on a quickening path," Granville said. Either the sides would find a path towards a lasting ceasefire, or the war would ratchet up and ultimately force the issue. Ukraine's bonds, part of a $20 billion restructuring last year, were up as much 1 cent Thursday, just below the five month highs they hit earlier in the week , . Oil and gas prices have fallen over the last fortnight too, traders say, on hopes of a post-summit "peace dividend" that could avoid costly 'secondary' tariffs being put on major Russia crude buyers like India and China. Investment bank surveys show the majority of fund managers have a small 'overweight' position on Ukraine's bonds, although it has been reducing over the last six months. Gramercy's Exum said investors remain wary because Trump has repeatedly changed tack on the war. His trolling of Zelenskiy as a "dictator" in February and the ugly Oval Office clash shortly afterwards, was "a wakeup call" for overly optimistic investors she said. Robeco's Deltcheva described that meeting as "traumatising", both in terms of the human aspect and for assumptions around the U.S. position. "We all saw how Zelenskiy got treated and how Trump's opinion changed," she said, which made it more difficult for investors to rely on Trump's stance. If Friday's discussion surprises on the positive side though, "then we will probably have to react," she said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Trump asked Norwegian minister about Nobel Prize, newspaper says
OSLO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - When U.S. President Donald Trump called Norway's finance minister last month to discuss trade tariffs, he also asked about the Nobel Peace Prize, Norwegian business daily Dagens Naeringsliv reported on Thursday. Several countries including Israel, Pakistan and Cambodia have nominated Trump for brokering peace agreements or ceasefires, and he has said he deserves the Norwegian-bestowed accolade that four White House predecessors received. "Out of the blue, while Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg was walking down the street in Oslo, Donald Trump called," Dagens Naeringsliv reported, citing unnamed sources. "He wanted the Nobel Prize - and to discuss tariffs." The White House, Norway's finance ministry and the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not immediately reply to requests for comment. With hundreds of candidates nominated each year, laureates are chosen by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, whose five members are appointed by Norway's parliament according to the will of Swedish 19th century industrialist Alfred Nobel. The announcement comes in October in Oslo. The Norwegian newspaper said it was not the first time Trump had brought up the prize in conversation with Stoltenberg, a former secretary general of the NATO military alliance. It quoted Stoltenberg as saying the call was to discuss trade tariffs and economic cooperation ahead of Trump's call with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Stoere. Asked if Trump made the Nobel prize an issue, Stoltenberg said: "I will not go further into the content of the conversation." Several White House officials, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were on the call, Stoltenberg said. The White House on July 31 announced a 15% tariff on imports from Norway, the same as the European Union. Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that Norway and the United States were still in talks regarding the tariffs.
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
I escaped horror house fire that killed my two kids – trolls said I should have saved them… but I couldn't breathe
The mother only narrowly escaped sustaining serious injuries 'MOTHER'S NIGHTMARE' I escaped horror house fire that killed my two kids – trolls said I should have saved them… but I couldn't breathe Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MUM who escaped a house fire which killed her two children says vicious trolls tell her she should have saved them. Jade Horton desperately tried to rescue her two children, Issac and Sienna Jenkins, aged three and seven, in the horror blaze at their family home five years ago. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Jade Horton's two children, Issac and Sienna Jenkins, aged three and seven, died in a house fire at their family home Credit: FACEBOOK/JADE HORTON 4 The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning in December 2020 Credit: BPM 4 Jade survived the blaze but suffered serious injuries after jumping out a second floor window Credit: FACEBOOK/JADE HORTON A fire broke out in the early hours at the townhouse in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, in December 2020. Jade was woken to the terrible sound of her daughter screaming in her bedroom. Upon opening her door, Jade was quickly overpowered by the smoke and heat emitting from the floor below. The neighbours had already phoned the fire brigade from the family's back garden as Jade rushed to her bedroom window to scream for help. She was also trying frantically to get in touch with her partner Andy who had already left for work. Racing back from work, Andy tried to make it into the house with two other neighbours but the blaze was too strong for them to reach Jade and the kids upstairs. Firefighters reached the house within minutes but couldn't enter the property as the fire had advanced so quickly. Jade had previously told an inquest into the tragedy: "I heard Sienna calling for me. I tried to open her door but couldn't. There was smoke coming from Sienna's bedroom. "I couldn't get downstairs. The heat was so intense. "I went to my bedroom window and shouted as loud as I could 'Help, help." At least one dead as wildfires spread across Europe with Mount Vesuvius closed in Italy & French vineyards turned to ash After she could no longer hear Sienna, Jade thought her children had been saved. She says that if she knew her children were still in the house she would have "died with them". Jade escaped by jumping from her window and sustained traumatic injuries leaving her body broken. Screaming for her children, covered in glass and blood, her neighbours avoided her gaze as her partner said "they're gone". "I remember hearing this guttural, animal-like scream that must have come from me – but it was like I wasn't in my own body," she told The Mail. Jade broke both her heel bones, ankles, pelvis, her sternum, right wrist, three fingers and all ten toes from the jump. Her spine was also broken in four places and shattered her right-hip socket - her chances of survival were slim. After numerous surgeries, Jade was told she would be left permanently paralysed. When the tragic story hit the news, she was subject to a barrage of abuse and vicious online trolling accusing her of abandoning her children to save herself. She said every article she read on what happened was accompanied by comments saying she had "left her children to die". "I thought I couldn't be in any more pain, but that hurt the most," she said. Even Jade began to doubt herself and questioned whether she could have done more. But an official inquest later revealed she couldn't have done anything else to save Issac and Sienna. The inquest also heard how the blaze reached around 1000C and the house's fire alarms didn't work with a "perfect storm" of conditions drawing the fire and smoke upwards. It also ruled that TV electrics in Issac's bedroom likely caused the blaze - Jade was paid a settlement by the manufacturer last year. Speaking five years later, Jade smiles at her final memories of her children. She sang Issac his favourite nursery rhymes and read Sienna her favourite story that night as she tucked them into bed. "I'm glad I cuddled them and kissed them before watching them both fall asleep happy that night," she said. Jade was treated in hospital for months but still managed to walk again despite doctors saying it wasn't possible. But mentally she was broken, haunted by flashbacks and suicidal thoughts. Since then, Jade turned to alternative therapies and has retrained as a spiritual healer finding peace in helping others. She has moved house and even won a Woman of Courage award for building a holistic business in the face of adversity. When she went on stage to collect her award, she said she could hear Issac and Sienna cheering "louder than anyone else".
