Fresh Crisis in South Sudan

This situation is totally untenable from a humanitarian perspective. “A new humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Malakal, South Sudan, just days after an attack by government soldiers on a camp sheltering displaced people – the challenge of caring for tens of thousands of survivors.Eighteen people died in the violence that began on 17 February following growing ethnic tensions between Dinka and Shilluk communities in the camp. Government soldiers broke into the UN-administered protection of civilians (PoC) facility and were involved in the fighting that intensified the next day, sending people fleeing the gun battles and a fire that destroyed half the camp. About 15,000 people, mostly Nuer and Shilluk, have sought shelter on a narrow strip of land near the UN Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss)peacekeeping base, 500 metres from the PoC. About 5,000 mainly Dinka have fled into nearby Malakal town, hoping for the protection of the largely Dinka army. About 25,000 people are still living in parts of the PoC that escaped destruction.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/1RYSdi2)

Libya is running out of essential medicines…Libya faces severe shortages of life-saving medicine and about one million people will soon be in dire need of help, a U.N. humanitarian official warned, as warring factions hamper efforts to end chaos and form a unity government. “Our estimation is that by the end of march, Libya may run out of life saving medications which will impact about one million people.” said Ali Al-Za’tari, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the North African country. “If there is no medication and medical supplies coming in that will be a real issue for Libya.” (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1RZ4V0t)

Stat of the day: The number of migrants and refugees arriving in Italy and Greece since the start of the year has risen sharply compared to the same period 2015, totalling 102,500, and hundreds are stranded at European borders due to rising restrictions, aid agencies said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1QAvzgX)

Game of thrones…A luxury commode custom-built for a Thai princess’s visit to Cambodia was left unused despite its hefty $40,000 price tag, local officials said Tuesday, in a poor country where the majority of rural dwellers do not have access to a toilet. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1T4sKW8)

Math Equation of the day…Bill Gates wants to get CO2 Emissions to Zero. He’s crafted a simple equation to explain how. (Gates Notes http://bit.ly/1mVVAcC)

Come work with us! DAWNS Digest is looking to hire a part-time social media manager. More info → http://bit.ly/1mVVr99

Africa

A dozen people were injured in at least 10 grenade blasts overnight in Bujumbura, police said Tuesday, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Burundi. (AFP http://bit.ly/1RZ4T8F)

Burundi is to hold political talks to try to end months of violence, President Pierre Nkurunziza said on Tuesday after meeting U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. (Reuters http://yhoo.it)

Niger’s opposition parties on Tuesday said they did not recognise the first partial results of the recent presidential polls. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1RYSdPg)

The WFP says it is urgently looking for $38 million to buy food for nearly three million people facing starvation in Malawi. The appeal comes after the WFP extended its food relief operation by a month. (VOA http://bit.ly/1RZ4bbF)

Congolese authorities have released Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, a former army chief who is running against incumbent Denis Sassou Nguesso in presidential elections in March, Mokoko’s lawyer said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1PVX7Kn)

A control center set up in Uganda to monitor violence against women and other obstacles preventing women from voting in last week’s presidential election said it had received nearly 600 complaints. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1QvXSXC)

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta named a seven-person tribunal on Tuesday to investigate the conduct of a supreme court judge accused of corruption. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1QAvt9c)

South Africa will relax some of its tough rules on genetically modified crops so it can ramp up maize imports from the United States and Mexico to avert a potential food crisis amid a severe drought, officials said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1RYS5z2)

A $144 million Kenyan wind power project backed by a joint venture between Macquarie Group and Old Mutual Investment Group has been cancelled due to opposition from local landowners and farmers, developer Kinangop Wind Park said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/24niA6o)

MENA

An important Syrian government supply route to Aleppo was shut for a second day on Tuesday because of an Islamic State attack, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1QvXUi3)

The situation for journalists in Egypt has become “unacceptable” with dozens of reporters and bloggers being held in jail, Reporters Without Borders has said in an open letter to the president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1RYSbHd)

Yet more evidence that the Egyptian justice system is a sham, a 4 year old was given a hefty prison sentence, along with hundreds of others. (WaPo  http://wapo.st/1RlAQ99)

More than 700 migrants were rescued from six leaky boats in the sea between Tunisia and Sicily on Tuesday and four were found dead, the Italian navy said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1RYSdyJ)

The International Monetary Fund’s managing director is pressing the need for greater taxation and fiscal reforms as a pathway to political stability in the Middle East. (AP http://yhoo.it/1RYSfGE)

Asia

Shouting slogans and holding placards, thousands of students and teachers marched through the heart of the Indian capital Tuesday to protest the recent death of a student who faced caste discrimination and the arrest of a student leader on sedition charges. (AP http://yhoo.it/1RYS12x)

Afghan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes have killed dozens of insurgents loyal to Islamic State this week as they continue a push into areas occupied by the radical group, officials said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/21nSyh1)

Nepal ended five months of fuel rationing on Tuesday after persuading protesters to end a border blockade that cut supplies of oil and other goods to the Himalayan nation. (VOA http://bit.ly/1PVUWpV)

A political ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shouted down on Tuesday by a crowd angered by rioting in a northern state that destroyed businesses, paralyzed transport and cut water supplies to metropolitan Delhi. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1RZ4eEq)

Engineers were working to restore New Delhi’s full water supply Tuesday after protesters damaged a key canal in a neighboring state and disrupted supplies over the weekend — highlighting the extreme water vulnerability faced by the Indian capital’s 18 million residents. (AP http://yhoo.it/1PVUw2Q)

It’s not just difficult to predict who will win Philippine presidential elections this year — thanks to some of the candidates’ legal woes, it’s difficult to predict who will be allowed to run. (AP http://yhoo.it/1QvXU1C)

The Americas

Fourteen more people may have caught the Zika virus in the U.S. without traveling to affected zones, federal health officials said Tuesday — strong evidence that the virus is sexually transmitted fairly often. (NBC http://nbcnews.to/1ozQyna)

Joint teams of U.S. and Brazilian health workers will fan out across one of Brazil’s poorest states Tuesday in search of mothers and infants for a study aimed at determining whether the Zika virus is causing babies to be born with unusually small heads. (AP http://yhoo.it/1PVXaWq)

The U.S. Defense Department is expected to deliver a report to Congress Tuesday on how to close the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (VOA http://bit.ly/1PVFvy4)

…and the rest

A British nurse who was twice successfully treated after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone in 2014 was on Tuesday admitted to a special isolation ward in London for a third time, health officials said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1PVFgDd)

A French court will on Tuesday examine whether it is legal for local authorities to evict hundreds of migrants from the notorious “Jungle” camp in Calais, ahead of a demolition deadline. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1PVUubc)

Human rights group Amnesty International accused Austria on Tuesday of violating human rights by capping the number of asylum requests it accepts per day with the government saying it was acting within the law. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1RZ4vXG)

The United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday decried “restrictive practices” imposed by countries including Austria, Slovenia and Macedonia, and called on Europe to have a coordinated approach to share responsibility in the crisis. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1RYSd1E)

Opinion/Blogs

Why El Nino will make the Zika outbreak even worse. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/24np2u1)

If condoms are OK for Zika, why not Aids, Pope Francis? (Guardian http://bit.ly/1QvCAcu)

CAR Closer to Stability After Election? (DW http://bit.ly/1T4sKFv)

A Shot in the Arm Saves African Lives (Daily Maverick http://bit.ly/1T4sRki)

Is Bolivia a sign that Latin America’s ‘pink tide’ is turning? (GlobalPost http://bit.ly/21nRrhl)

Secret aid worker: is humanitarian work a career for escapists? (Guardian http://bit.ly/21nRhpY)

Development as coercion (Chris Blattman http://bit.ly/1Qw2gG5)

Kicking Inner City Press’ Matt Lee out of the UN is bad for media & development (Aidnography http://bit.ly/21cJX3V)

When growth alone is not enough (Africa can end poverty http://bit.ly/1Qw2pcF)

The Turkmen loophole (IRIN http://bit.ly/1QvXSGV)

Why don’t World Bank projects safeguard women’s rights? (Guardian http://bit.ly/1RYS667)