Top of the Morning: Conflict Forced Nearly 100,000 to Flee South Sudan

Top stories from DAWNS Digest. 

Civil Conflict Makes Nearly 100,000 South Sudanese Into Refugees

 There are now 50,000 South Sudanese who have fled to Uganda alone. Some 89,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled fighting in South Sudan in one month, with more than 1,000 crossing into neighbouring countries every day, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday. South Sudanese refugees crammed in poorly-equipped, overcrowded camps are at risk of contracting deadly diseases such as malaria. MSF said it is already treating serious cases of malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory infections at the Dzaipi settlement in Uganda, a camp that was built to host 3,000 people and now shelters over 25,000. (AlertNet http://bit.ly/1gj9fq1)

Syria Peace Talks Deadlocked

 A plan to end the siege of Homs also seems to be faltering. “Opposition delegates said the talks on Monday had been meant to focus on what they considered the central issue of the conference: the establishment of a transitional governing body for Syria with ‘full executive powers,’ chosen ‘by mutual consent.’ But Mr. Assad’s delegation appeared to reject even talking about such an issue.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/19Y3YBs)