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Le Programme des Nations Unies pour l'environnement (PNUE) a averti mercredi qu'il était nécessaire de reboiser le mont Kilimandjaro, la plus haute montagne d'Afrique, pour aider à protéger l'approvisionnement en eau en Afrique de l'Est.

Le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) des Nations Unies a annoncé jeudi l'acheminement d'une assistance alimentaire d'urgence à 8.000 personnes touchées par le regain de violences dans le nord de la République centrafricaine (RCA).

Unique femme dans la primaire de la droite, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet est aujourd'hui, après Alain Juppé et Jean-François Copé, à son tour auditionnée par la rédaction du « Parisien » - « Aujourd'hui...

Une gifle. Difficile de qualifier autrement le revers que vient d'essuyer Cécile Duflot. Celle qui se rêvait il y a encore quelques jours comme la « première présidente de la République écolo », n'aura...

Alors qu'il n'était encore que candidat, François Hollande avait déclaré, en avril 2012 : « Le chômage n'est pas une fatalité. Et j'inverserai la courbe ». Presque cinq ans plus tard, l'inversion de la...

Proche de Hollande, le maire (PS) de Dijon, François Rebsamen, a été son ministre du Travail d'avril 2014 à août 2015. Il s'exprime sur la promesse faite en 2012 par le candidat socialiste, devenu président,...

The ‘Let's Not Drown Belgrade’ moving is organising a protest concert timed to coincide with the anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade at the end of World War II.

More Albanians are again seeking aslyum in Germany, a year after Berlin listed Albania as a 'safe country of origin', though overall numbers have fallen since 2015.

Petar Dimitrov, a former minister of economy and energy, has been indicted in connection with the cancelled Belene nuclear power project, the State Prosecutor’s Office said on Wednesday.

The combative NGO, ‘In the Name of the Family’, is holding a conference in Zagreb to lobby for the return of single-sex education, with the support of high state officials, as part of their campaign to re-traditionalise society.

Victims of what looks like an organised campaign of intimidation tell how the ‘fear machine’ in Serbia works – and the impact it has on their personal and professional lives.

Arabic language courses are thriving in parts of Sarajevo that have seen an influx of cash, businesses and tourists from the Gulf states.

October 19, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan will levy a 100 per cent tax on alcoholic products in the proposed 2016/2017 financial budget.

South Sudan finance minister Stephen Dhieu Dau (Getty)

The new proposal, it finance minister said, will also see higher taxes placed on telecommunications companies and on tobacco sales.

“We will increase excise [duty taxes] on alcohol from 50% to 100% and tobacco from 30% to 50%. This tax on luxury [goods] will improve health,” Stephen Dhieu Dau told Parliament on Tuesday.

South Sudan fiscal year 2015/16 expired three months ago, but government was not able to prepare a new budget for 2016/2017.

However, the country's lawmakers now need at least one month to study the proposed resource envelope of SSP 22 billion. With inflation at more than 700%, SSP 22 billion is less than half a billion U.S dollars.

According to the finance minister, there will be financial deficit of $225 million, which translates into inability to raise 40% of the proposed budget to fund government for the next 12 months.

Dhieu also warned against borrowing from the country's Central Bank, which involves printing more cash to meet the financial gaps.

“We need to stop borrowing from the Central Bank of South Sudan in order to bring inflation down and prevent further depreciation of the currency and reduction of households' incomes,” he said.

The minister admitted that the current inflation in the country was “impossible to overstate the gravity, but called for operating within the limited ability to prevent severe depreciation and further conflict.

“As government we have run down of our foreign reserves and servings and we have limited ability to prevent the severe depreciation we have seen,” Dhieu told lawmakers.

He proposed tougher measures against individuals siphoning taxes, but did not elaborate on how government intends to undertake this.

South Sudan depends on oil revenues for more than 90% of its annual budget.

According to the finance minister, increasing taxes of non-oil revenues such as alcohol, tobacco and reducing government expenditure, will boost the young nation's economic outlook.

Telecommunication companies in South Sudan will now pay at least 50% of taxes.

Meanwhile, the finance minister has proposed a departure tax of $20 per person on international travels at the airport, emphasising that long term economic stability requires peace in the country.

“Improving security, transparency, and infrastructure will incentivize the development of our mining, forestry and agriculture sectors,” he said.

Dhieu further disclosed that donors were unwilling to support the budget in absence of full implementation of the peace agreement.

“We require external support to help our country (…), however, our international partners have made it clear that external support will not be offered without peace and economic reforms,” he said.

The peace agreement signed in August 2015 hangs in balance after renewed violence in July forced the armed opposition leader, Riek Machar to flee the country. Machar was replaced by former peace negotiator Taban Deng Gai, a move the former said was “illegal”.

(ST)

October 19, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour Wednesday belittled the allegations of use of chemical weapons in Darfur, saying his government was not concerned by these accusations.

Ibrahim Ghandour (Photo Suna)

"The government has not to respond to anyone who makes accusations against the Armed Forces" he said in press statements at the Sudanese parliament. "Up to date no one complained of any immoral practices or abuses," Ghandour further stressed.

The minister was commenting on the accusations by Amnesty International that the Sudanese army had carried at least 30 chemical weapons attacks in the Jebel Marra area of Darfur since January 2016.

Human rights activists have called for an international investigation on these claims, as the report says that 250 people may have died as a result of exposure to the chemical weapons agents.

Also, France and Britain called on the Sudanese Government to allow an international investigation of chemical weapons use. In addition, the head of the UN Peacekeeping Department, Hervé Ladsous urged Khartoum to cooperate with any investigation by the Organisation of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

However, Ghandour brushed aside calls to investigate Amnesty report, saying there was no complaint by any person injured by weapons that could be chemical. He further pointed that the peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) didn't receive any complaint from the IDPs supporting these allegations.

The minister played down demonstrations and protests organized by activists abroad calling to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Darfur.

"We saw a lot of calls for rallies. In New York, there was a demonstration organized by 18 organizations denouncing the (human rights)violations by the government and calling for the fall of the regime, but there was only 12 people (at this protest)."

The purpose of these allegations is to impede the national dialogue and to spoil the improvement of Sudan's relations with the international community, he stressed.

Following the release of Amnesty's report on the use of chemical weapons in Darfur last September, OPCW Director-General Rogelio Pfirter requested the Sudanese government, a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, to provide "its official position and any other relevant information on the matter".

Sudan in its response to the request reiterated its commitment to the convention and denied the allegations reported by the international human rights group, says the OPCW in a statement released on 8 October.

"Sudan would not act in any way to undermine its obligations and responsibilities towards the Convention and Organisation and emphasized that the position of the Sudanese Government on this matter had been publicly expressed and confirmed ,'' said the Sudan's ambassador in his letter to the Hague based organization.

(ST)

October 19, 2016 (JUBA) - Four South Sudanese lawmakers in the country's national assembly have announced their defection to the armed opposition faction led by former First Vice-President, Riek Machar.

South Sudanese MPs stand during a parliamentary session in Juba on 31 August 2011 (AFP)

The lawmakers represent Maridi, Nasir, Nagero and Rubktna constituencies.

They include, Lam Puoch, from Nasir of the Upper Nile, Pasquale Clement Batali representing Nagero in Western Equatoria, Justin Joseph Marona of Maridi in Western Equatoria, and Martin Mabil Kong, from Rubktna in Unity region.

In a joint statement Sudan Tribune obtained, the defectors said recent waves of violence have watered down hopes and expectations from the people they represent in various constituencies, who, they say, are yearning for sustainable peace.

"Sadly, the breakout of the dog fight at presidential palace on July 8th 2016 marked the beginning of another era of senseless war. The fingers pointed largely on president [Salva] Kiir, and his JCE [Jieng Council of Elders] as primary instigators of the uncalled for violent", partly reads the statement.

However, the lawmakers said the renewed violence in the national capital, Juba in July was a coordinated attack to assassinate the first vice president Riek Machar to abrogate the 2015 peace accord.

The legislators condemned the violation of peace agreement, alleging president Kiir was responsible after replacement of his peace partner, Machar with former rebel chief negotiator, Taban Deng Gai.

"We have witnessed the apparent lack of political will to implement peace and absence of meaningful role of the government in providing services, security and space of freedom of expressions in all spheres of lives", the lawmakers further said in their joint statement.

The current Parliament, they claimed, does not function independently due to restrictions on lawmaker during debates, thus weakening legislators' abilities to freely oppose any given motion.

(ST)

Cette offre consiste à proposer aux Marines une solution composée :

- D’un navire conçu par OCEA qui préserve mieux la vie des équipages, la valeur des actifs navires et des systèmes embarqués grâce à une amélioration des prédispositions naturelles de l’aluminium ; il délivre ainsi un « potentiel augmenté de survie ».

• Lire la suite de Guerre des mines : Ocea, ECA et DCI présentent une offre commune

October 19, 2016 (JUBA) – The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the body overseeing implementation of the shaky South Sudan's peace agreement signed in August last year insisted that the peace deal is still “alive” and warned against suggestion that it has collapsed, although it has been “compromised” and “derailed' by the July's renewal of violence in the country.

JMEC Chairman, Festus Mogae, briefs the UN Security Council, on the implementation of the peace agreement on 31 March 2016 (ST Photo)

JMEC chairman and former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, told a meeting in Juba on Wednesday that an inclusive Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) is needed and urged for accommodating of political rivals of Juba government.

“The [August] 2015 Peace Agreement, which I hold here in my hand, is still alive. No one Party can unilaterally dissolve or renegotiate this Agreement,” said Mogae, speaking to JMEC meeting attended by government officials, peace guarantors and the media.

Eruption of fighting in Juba in July that forced SPLM in Opposition (SPLM-IO) leader and then First Vice President, Riek Machar, to flee Juba threatened the implementation of the peace agreement.

The SPLM-IO faction in Juba selected Taban Deng Gai to replace Machar, a move Machar has denounced as “illegal.” The former first vice president, who is now in South Africa for medical check-ups declared the agreement “dead” and pledged to revive it through another political process or using all means – including armed resistance against what he calls “fascist” regime of President Salva Kiir.

President Kiir, on the other hand, has warned Machar against returning to South Sudan's politics, claiming that his working relationship with the new first vice president, Gai, will restore peace.

JMEC chairman said “we do not make peace with our friends; we reconcile with those with whom we disagree” without referring to President Kiir.

“For the Peace Agreement to have legitimacy, it must be inclusive and representative and I am concerned that, whereas we welcome the commitment demonstrated by the TGoNU, regional guarantors and the international community to the continued implementation of the ARCSS, it is clear that not all Parties are currently included or fully represented,” he noted.

He acknowledged that the implementation of the peace agreement is “undoubtedly compromised and partially derailed” but remain optimistic for the future.

Mogae demanded end to violations of the permanent ceasefire and condemned both the government and the SPLM-IO forces for “hostility.”

“We are reporting an increase in offensive operations by both Government Forces and Opposition Forces, specifically in and around Yei, Leer, Jezeera and Nassir. The situation in Equatoria states is of particular concern, where we are deeply concerned about the unacceptable targeting of civilians,” he added.

He also encouraged the government to expedite the deployment of Regional Protection Force to Juba as authorized by the UN Security Council in August this year. He said the force “remains a prerequisite for a secure, peaceful and stable environment within which political inclusion can be pursued.”

(ST)