Top 10 books about Sudan

Despite 30 years of repression that have hit writers unusually hard, Sudanese literature remains vigorous. Here is some of the best available in English

I was lucky to grow up in Khartoum in a house filled with books, at a time when Sudan’s public libraries flourished. One of the most startling discoveries I made as a child of about 13 was finding a couple of Tayeb Salih’s books on a shelf at home. Until that moment, I thought literature was something that took place elsewhere – in Dickens’s England or the Latin America of Borges, say. But here were stories that described the world right outside our front door. It was a moment of revelation and stirred the idea that it was possible to write.

Related: A Line in the River by Jamal Mahjoub review – Khartoum, city of memory

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Amid din over Brexit and US border wall, spare a thought for South Sudan | Father James Oyet Latansio

Civil war has ravaged the world’s youngest state, killing 400,000 people. The international community must prioritise peace

I have met both Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in the course of my work. You might associate one man with his campaign to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, and the other with Brexit. But I was trying to convince them to spare a thought for my country, South Sudan.

I quite understand that they have other things on their minds. When I visited parliament on the fraught opening day of the Brexit debate, Johnson recognised me from his trip to South Sudan, and sought to reassure me. But he had resigned as foreign secretary, because of Brexit.

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South Sudan’s war: a relentless litany of almost unimaginable horrors

A report laying bare the abominations associated with conflict in the world’s youngest state will shock the most hardened observer

There are wars that seem to slip under the wire almost unnoticed – where human rights abuses are rife and you would expect them to command far greater global attention.

Last week’s UN report into South Sudan is a case in point. An almost endless litany of human rights abuses, its 200-plus pages make for the most dismal reading, a portrait of the world’s youngest state as one of the latest additions to the category of failed state.

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South Sudan peace deal funds spent on renovating politicians’ homes

Guardian investigation reveals government allocated money for home improvements while appealing for support from international community

South Sudan’s cash-strapped government is spending almost half of the money ear-marked for the country’s fragile peace deal on funding renovations for politicians’ homes.

Two sets of internal government documents seen by the Guardian show that in December and January more than $135,000 (£105,000) was authorised by the National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC) – the group charged with overseeing the initial phases of the peace deal and managing money allocation – to renovate two politicians’ houses. They include the home of first vice president Taban Deng Gai, and that of the late Dr John Garang. His widow, Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, is expected to be one of the country’s five vice presidents under the new agreement.

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The Guardian view on Ethiopia: change is welcome, but must be secured | Editorial

Though Abiy Ahmed’s record to date is impressive, the developments he has set in train need a proper political roadmap and institutional backing

Ethiopians could be forgiven for their scepticism when their new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, promised sweeping reforms last spring. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition which appointed him toyed with change in 2005 – only to revert to its usual autocratic form. Now wariness has been replaced by genuine enthusiasm; the transformation is happening at dizzying speed. But the obstacles and perils are also clearer.

Mr Abiy, 42, has followed symbolic shifts with more substantive action. His president, chief justice and half of his ministers are female. He freed thousands of political prisoners and journalists, before arresting senior officials for human rights abuses and corruption. He overturned bans on opposition groups and invited an exiled dissident home to head the election board. The next polls are scheduled for 2020. Last time, not one opposition MP was elected. Mr Abiy’s overtures to Eritrea led to the end of a long-running conflict. He oversaw the meeting of South Sudanese leaders that produced a fragile but desperately needed peace deal. This – along with Eritrea’s ensuing rapprochement with Somalia and Djibouti – led the UN secretary general António Guterres to speak of “a wind of hope blowing in the Horn of Africa”.

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Famine again a threat in South Sudan, new report says

Over 40 years after becoming the first city to walk away from an Olympic bid, Denver is considering whether to try to again to host the Winter Games. . A man signs a banner as people pay tribute at a memorial for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, in Parkland, Fla.

US reviewing policy toward South Sudan – USAID chief

After four years of civil war marked by brutal attacks on civilians, the United States is reviewing its support for South Sudan, USAID administrator Mark Green told the country's President Salva Kiir in talks in the capital Juba. WAU, South Sudan: After four years of civil war marked by brutal attacks on civilians, the United States is reviewing its support for South Sudan, USAID administrator Mark Green told the country's President Salva Kiir in talks in the capital Juba.

1 million South Sudan refugees now in Uganda, UN says

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 7, 2017 file photo, children look through a tear in the tarpaulin tents that serve as extra classrooms, for a mixed class of South Sudanese refugee children and Ugandan children, at the Ombech... . FILE - In this Friday, June 9, 2017 file photo, women and children return home with plastic containers of water, in a section of the sprawling complex of mud-brick houses and tents that makes up the Bidi Bidi refugee settle... .

South Sudan no longer in famine, but situation is critical

The family of an Ohio woman who died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a North Carolina outdoor recreational park. The family of an Ohio woman who died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a North Carolina outdoor recreational park.

South Sudan’s Sacked Head of Army Returns to Nation’s Capital

Paul Malong , returned to the capital on Saturday, allaying fears that he would take up arms and further intensify the African nation's three-year civil war. Malong arrived in Juba accompanied by four bodyguards aboard a chartered plane from Yirol, the capital of Lakes state, presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said by phone from Juba.

Key US senator pushes back against Trump’s proposed foreign aid cuts

Senator Bob Corker, center, speaks to recent refugees from South Sudan at a registration center in Bidi Bidi, Uganda, Friday, April 14 2017. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, strongly defended U.S. foreign assistance on Friday while visiting the world's fastest growing refugee crisis in northern Uganda, just across the border from war-torn South Sudan.

AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan who ordered use of the "mother of all bombs" to attack an Islamic State stronghold near the Pakistani border didn't need and didn't request President Donald Trump's approval, Pentagon officials said Friday. The officials said that even before Trump took office in January, Gen.

US Senator Pushes Back Against Trump’s Proposed Foreign Aid Cuts

Face-to-face with victims of South Sudan's famine and civil war, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee strongly defended U.S. foreign aid on Friday despite President Donald Trump's proposed deep cuts in humanitarian assistance. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee visited the world's fastest-growing refugee crisis in northern Uganda, just across the border from South Sudan, in a pointed response to Trump's "America First" platform that would slash funds for diplomacy and foreign aid.

US senators say food aid constraints delay help amid famine

As President Donald Trump seeks to cut foreign aid under the slogan of "America First," two U.S. senators are proposing making American food assistance more efficient after meeting with victims of South Sudan's famine and civil war. Following a visit to the world's largest refugee settlement in northern Uganda with the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware told The Associated Press on Saturday that the U.S. "can deliver more food aid at less cost" through foreign food aid reform.

Uganda at ‘breaking point’ as South Sudan refugees pour in

Donald Trump Jr. is facing criticism for tweeting in the hours after Wednesday's London attack a months-old comment from London Mayor Sadiq Khan that terror attacks are part of living in a big city. Donald Trump Jr. is facing criticism for tweeting in the hours after Wednesday's London attack a months-old comment from London Mayor Sadiq Khan that terror attacks are part of living in a big city.