Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Attempted Coup in South Sudan, Gunfire Erupts in Juba
Juba is under a 6pm to 6am curfew. “Soldiers loyal to the former vice president of South Sudan tried to overthrow the government, President Salva Kiir said Monday, continuing the political tension that has hung over the fledgling country for months. At a televised news conference, Mr. Kiir, dressed in a camouflage army uniform, told the nation that a “group of soldiers” allied with the former vice president, Riek Machar, had tried to orchestrate a coup in the capital, Juba. “The attackers fled and your forces are pursuing them. I promise you today that justice will prevail.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1ejEdgF)
UN Launches Largest Ever Humanitarian Appeal
The 2013 appeal was has only reached 60% of the required funding level, leaving agencies skeptical that donors will contribute all that is necessary to care for displaced populations in Syria and beyond. “The United Nations appealed for $6.5 billion for Syria and its neighbors on Monday to help 16 million people next year, many of them hungry or homeless victims of a 33-month-old conflict that has no end in sight. The Syrian appeal accounted for half of an overall funding plan of $12.9 billion to help 52 million people in 17 countries, announced on Monday by U.N. emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos at a meeting of donor countries in Geneva.” (Yahoo! http://yhoo.it/1ejDKuX)