This diplomatic dressing down is significant because the “troika”–particularly the USA–has typically backed the South Sudanese president. They are now signaling that this support is quite tenuous. “The United States, United Kingdom and Norway said that South Sudanese President Salva Kiir reneged on a promise when he failed to show up for the latest round of peace talks for his country…When the warring parties last met at the end of January, Mr. Kiir and his main rival in the South Sudan conflict, former vice president Riek Machar, signed a power-sharing proposal for a transitional government. The proposal was put forward by the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which has been trying to broker peace in South Sudan for nearly 14 months. IGAD gave the warring factions in South Sudan until March 5 to hammer out a final peace deal. (VOA http://bit.ly/1zcSJuK)
A Boost in the Fight Against AIDS…U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co has contributed an HIV medicine for children to an international shared patent pool in a move that should speed the development of cheap paediatric formulations for use in poor countries. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1LzufTo)
Still breaking story…A U.S. female citizen was kidnapped in central Nigeria’s Kogi state overnight, a security source and the website of her church the Free Methodist Church, said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1B8UlLQ)
Quote of the Day…”“When we talk about our mission statement which is to end poverty in our lifetime, some of the people who are most victimized by poverty are the LGBTI community because they were ostracized and they were cast aside,” –Acting USAID Chief Alfanso Lenhardt (Washington Blade http://bit.ly/1BR2wxE)
Africa
A bomb blast that killed at least 15 people in Nigeria’s Potiskum was caused by a female bomber who attempted to force her way onto a bus before detonating her device, two witnesses told Reuters by telephone. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1LzugXk)
Surging violence in the Central African Republic has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes in recent weeks to escape killings, rape and pillaging by militias, the United Nations said Tuesday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1BlXhGu)
Increased food production and use of land for agriculture in Tanzania means more food for the country – and more plague-carrying rats, says researchers. (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/1MQ0tgI)
A Japanese anti-Ebola drug being tested in Guinea should be made available across West Africa after initial trials showed it halved mortality rates in some patients, the medical charity administering it said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1Lzuiyq)
Zimbabwe’s state utility ZESA said on Tuesday four generating units at the Hwange power station had broken down, worsening power cuts in the southern African country. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1LzufCM)
Mozambique has extended the mission of foreign military observers deployed across the southern African country since October to ensure post-election peace. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1GoY3Ba)
In the South African bush, elephants are being trained in the art of “bio-detection” to see if they can use their exceptional sense of smell to sniff out explosives, landmines and poachers. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1B8UIpQ)
Cases of a tropical disease known as kala azar are on the rise in South Sudan. Last year, Médecins Sans Frontières treated more than 6,700 cases, more than double the number it had treated the previous year. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1LzxMkF)
Kenyan police said Tuesday they arrested 101 Ethiopian nationals suspected of traveling illegally through Kenya on their way to South Africa. (AP http://yhoo.it/1BlXkCm)
A Nigerian woman who has campaigned against Islamist extremists Boko Haram was on Tuesday awarded a Japanese peace prize worth $170,000. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1BlY5LA)
MENA
A planned offensive to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State insurgents, perhaps as soon as April, could send more than 1.5 million people fleeing, a senior United Nations humanitarian relief official warned Tuesday. (Charlotte Observer http://bit.ly/1BR3I4a)
The Islamic State has captured at least 70 Assyrian Christians in eastern Syria — including many women and children — in one of the militant group’s largest abductions targeting religious minorities, watchdog groups said Tuesday. (WaPo http://wapo.st/1BR3VEs)
The number of new homes under construction in Jewish settlements on the Israeli-occupied West Bank rose last year by 40 percent, the Peace Now anti-settlements watchdog said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1BlXnht)
Tunisia arrested about 100 suspected Islamist militants in the last three days, some of whom were preparing attacks, officials said on Tuesday, and published video footage showing evidence of an Islamic State influence on some of those detained. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1B8UGhv)
Despite Islamic State grabbing headlines over the past week with executions, bombings and even an attack on the residence of the Iranian ambassador, U.S. officials caution the group’s foothold in Libya remains tenuous. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wkgB5b)
Asia
India’s Rajendra Pachauri quit as chair of the U.N. panel of climate scientists on Tuesday, ending 13 turbulent years in charge of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group, after a sexual harassment complaint against him. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1GoY1t1)
Myanmar’s labor ministry is warning thousands of striking factory workers that unless they return to work, authorities will take action against them. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wkgExR)
The Americas
Cuban dissidents say that more than 100 anti-government activists have been arrested and they are awaiting word Monday on how many have been released. (AP http://yhoo.it/1GoYBqO)
Socialist Party legislators called on Monday for a probe of another Venezuelan opposition leader accused of conspiring against President Nicolas Maduro, days after the mayor of Caracas was arrested on similar charges. (VOA http://bit.ly/1zcSLTz)
Cases of Chikungunya rose to 34 in Bolivia, according to a report of the National Direction of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, published today in daily Cambio. (Prensa Latina http://bit.ly/1zcT68T)
Opinion/Blogs
From land grabs to anti union behaviour, businesses are increasingly being held accountable (The Guardian http://bit.ly/1zcSYpF)
Will sustainable palm oil surge exclude small farmers? (AFP http://yhoo.it/1GoYPyb)
The poor within our ranks (WhyDev http://bit.ly/1BkDZkQ)
Interview: Nicholas Kristof Sees ‘Slacktivism’ as ‘Gateway Drug to Greater Engagement’ (Asia Society http://bit.ly/1MPZ6yC)
Yes, the ICC is in Crisis. It Always Has Been. (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/1MPZNb0)
The Story of Syria Tracker & Child Killing Trends in Syria (Ushahidi http://bit.ly/1GrgvsT)
Africa as a Living Laboratory (An Africanist Perspective http://bit.ly/1GrgwwW)
Visualizing aid flows to Africa (Rachel Strohm http://bit.ly/1MPZNI3)
The Fight against Poverty: Humanitarian Idealism and the Elusive Quest for Development (CIHA Blog http://bit.ly/1MPZPzR)
On the road towards the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (People, Spaces, Deliberation http://bit.ly/1EOUt24)
Mediation Fail in the Central African Republic (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1MQ07GJ)
Gabon’s La Tropicale cycle race – in pictures http://bit.ly/1MQ0h0O