Top stories from DAWNS Digest
US Evacuates Embassy in Juba as South Sudan Troubles Escalate
Dozens have been killed and hundreds injured in fighting following failed coup attempt.“The United States ordered its citizens to leave South Sudan immediately Tuesday due to fighting in the capital after what its president called a coup attempt by soldiers loyal to his former deputy. Facing an escalating threat of violence, about 13,000 people sought refuge at U.N. facilities in Juba, the capital, where sporadic but heavy gunfire has been heard since Sunday as factions of the armed forces repeatedly clashed across the city.” (ABC http://abcn.ws/1bcHTcr)
Syria Peace Talks Will Happen Next Month
Geneva II is now Montreux I. “ The long-sought international peace conference on Syria is set to begin on 22 January with a one-day meeting in the Swiss town of Montreux, the United Nations confirmed today. The conference, originally scheduled to take place in Geneva, will now be held in two parts, with the opening session in Montreux, and, after a day’s break, moving on 24 January to the world body’s headquarters in Geneva. The conference will bring the Syrian Government and the opposition to a negotiating table for the first time since the conflict started in March 2011.” (UN http://bit.ly/1bcI6Mv)