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AU Urges South Sudan Parties to Complete Arrangements before Government Formation

Rebel fighters hold up their rifles in Upper Nile State, South Sudan February 13, 2014. (Reuters)
Rebel fighters hold up their rifles in Upper Nile State, South Sudan February 13, 2014. (Reuters)
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AU Urges South Sudan Parties to Complete Arrangements before Government Formation

Rebel fighters hold up their rifles in Upper Nile State, South Sudan February 13, 2014. (Reuters)
Rebel fighters hold up their rifles in Upper Nile State, South Sudan February 13, 2014. (Reuters)

The African Union (AU) urged parties of the South Sudan Peace Agreement to double their efforts to ensure the completion of all arrangements of the pre-transitional period, which was extended for an additional six months to November.

AU’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa and Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters that parties of the peace agreement should double their efforts to ensure that all arrangements for the pre-transition period are completed.

The Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) endorsed extending the pre-transitional period by six months effective from May 12, 2019 to enable the execution of the critical pending tasks.

Odinga called on the leaders of South Sudan to quickly restore stability so that the country can claim its share in the development of infrastructure in Africa.

The deadline for the formation of a national unity government in November should not be missed again, he warned. 

“I would like to see peace and calm reinstated in South Sudan and to end the deadlock in the implementation of the peace agreement until it is possible to form a government.”

He noted that citizens are eager for peace, development, stability and security, admitting there are challenges to be solved if everyone agrees to work together, pointing out that he held talks with President Salva Kiir and urged him to prioritize peace and development in South Sudan. 

In related news, the South Sudan National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC) decided to end the accommodation of the negotiating delegations that discuss the implementation of the peace agreement, and asked them to leave the hotel.

Head of the Committee for Accommodation Dhieu Mathok Diing issued a letter to the members informing them that their housing in the hotels will end as of Monday May 27 and the NPTC will not be responsible for the accommodation of any member who remains in the hotel from that day.

For his part, a top opposition figure told Asharq Al-Awsat that his party is concerned about the opposition delegations after the decision to terminate their stay in the hotels.

The member, who preferred to remain unnamed, warned that such decision will disrupt the implementation of the agreement to activate peace and will reflect negatively on the mutual trust between all the parties.

Civil society organizations welcomed the move, saying South Sudanese people had repeatedly called for the leaders to return to their own homes.

Civil society raised question marks on the government’s decision to host officials in luxury hotels while claiming lack of funds to implement the terms of the peace agreement, especially the security arrangements.

The organizations accused some peace delegates of spending lavishly on guards, families and friends rather than providing services to citizens.

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World

US Lawmakers Say Israel Hasn't Held to Account Those Involved in 2023 Strike That Killed Journalist

US Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) speaks during a press conference about an Israeli strike that hit a group of journalists in southern Lebanon in October 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, December 11, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) speaks during a press conference about an Israeli strike that hit a group of journalists in southern Lebanon in October 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, December 11, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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US Lawmakers Say Israel Hasn't Held to Account Those Involved in 2023 Strike That Killed Journalist

US Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) speaks during a press conference about an Israeli strike that hit a group of journalists in southern Lebanon in October 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, December 11, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) speaks during a press conference about an Israeli strike that hit a group of journalists in southern Lebanon in October 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, December 11, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Four US lawmakers on Thursday said there has been no accountability for an October 2023 attack by the Israeli military that struck a group of journalists in Lebanon, killing a Reuters correspondent and wounding others.

US Senator Peter Welch from Vermont, the home state of one of the journalists wounded in the attack, accused Israel of not conducting a serious investigation into the incident, saying he had seen no proof of that.

He did not specify what details he had requested from the Israeli government, or what, if anything, he had been given.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm what specific efforts Israel has made to investigate the attack, which it has pledged publicly to review.

On October 13, 2023, an Israeli tank fired two shells in quick succession from Israel as journalists were filming cross-border shelling. The attack killed Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah and severely wounded Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi.

The Israeli military has said it does not target journalists but has not offered an explanation for why that Israeli tank unit fired at the group of journalists.

In a news conference organized by two advocacy groups, Welch, a Democrat, said he had been given no written proof of an Israeli investigation into the attack, nor any evidence that Israeli officials have spoken with victims, witnesses, shooters or any of the independent investigators.

In June 2025, Senator Welch’s office was told by the Embassy that the army had conducted an investigation into the incident and the conclusion was that none of the soldiers acted outside of the army's rules of engagement.

Standing next to AFP journalist Dylan Collins, an American citizen who was also wounded in the attack, Welch said the Israeli authorities have "stonewalled" him on his pleas for an investigation and gave him conflicting answers. Welch did not give further details about the interactions.

"The army has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident," Welch said. "The army claimed they conducted an investigation but there's absolutely no evidence that there was any investigation," he added.

Welch said the Israeli government told his office the investigation was closed but separately told the AFP that the investigation was active and the findings have not been concluded.

"So which is it? Both can't be true," Welch said.

Asked by Reuters about Welch's comments and whether its investigation is concluded, an Israeli army spokesperson said: "The event is still being examined." The spokesperson did not provide further details.

AFP Regional Director for North America Marc Lavine said they had been seeking full accountability for what happened for more than two years.

"AFP calls on the Israeli authorities to reveal the results of any investigation and to hold those responsible to account,” Lavine said.

Since 2023, Reuters has asked the Israeli military to carry out a swift, thorough and transparent probe into the strike that killed Abdallah. It has still received no explanation from the army on the reasons for that strike, according to the news agency.

Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen said at the news conference that more needs to be done.

"We have not seen accountability or justice in this case," Van Hollen said. "It is part of a broader pattern of impunity, of attacks on Americans and on journalists by the government of Israel," he said.

US Representative Becca Balint and independent US Senator Bernie Sanders, both of whom are also from Vermont, said their efforts to seek justice for the journalists would continue.

In August this year, Israeli forces struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 20 people including journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other outlets.

An Israeli military official told Reuters at the time that the two journalists for Reuters and the Associated Press who were killed in the Israeli attack were not "a target of the strike".

World

US Bombers Join Japanese Jets in Show of Force after China-Russia Drills, Tokyo Says

The 6th Air Wing of Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-15 fighters hold a joint military drill with the US B-52 bomber over Sea of Japan, in this handout picture taken by Japan Air Self-Defence Force and on December 10, 2025, and released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan - Reuters
The 6th Air Wing of Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-15 fighters hold a joint military drill with the US B-52 bomber over Sea of Japan, in this handout picture taken by Japan Air Self-Defence Force and on December 10, 2025, and released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan - Reuters
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US Bombers Join Japanese Jets in Show of Force after China-Russia Drills, Tokyo Says

The 6th Air Wing of Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-15 fighters hold a joint military drill with the US B-52 bomber over Sea of Japan, in this handout picture taken by Japan Air Self-Defence Force and on December 10, 2025, and released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan - Reuters
The 6th Air Wing of Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-15 fighters hold a joint military drill with the US B-52 bomber over Sea of Japan, in this handout picture taken by Japan Air Self-Defence Force and on December 10, 2025, and released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan - Reuters

US nuclear-capable bombers flew over the Sea of Japan alongside Japanese fighter jets on Wednesday, Tokyo said, in a show of force following Chinese and Russian drills in the skies and seas around US allies Japan and South Korea.

Japan and the US "reaffirmed their strong resolve to prevent any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force and confirmed the readiness posture of both the Self-Defense Forces and US forces," Japan's defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The flight of two US B-52 strategic bombers with three Japanese F-35 stealth fighters and three F-15 air-superiority jets was the first time the US had asserted its military presence since China began military exercises in the region last week amid heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing, Reuters reported.

However, a US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, played down the bomber flights, saying they were pre-planned well before the Chinese-Russian drills and that US and Japanese military aircraft carried out similar joint sorties last month, also involving US B-1B bombers. At the White House, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said US President Donald Trump can maintain both a "good working relationship" with China and a "very strong alliance" with Japan, even as tensions have risen between those two countries.

"Japan is a great ally of the United States as evidenced by their personal relationship and our continued trade relations with Japan," she told a press briefing.

"With respect to China, the president also has a good working relationship with President Xi, which he believes is a good thing for our country." The US bomber flights follow a joint flight of Chinese and Russian strategic bombers in the East China Sea and western Pacific on Tuesday and separate Chinese aircraft carrier drills that prompted Japan to scramble jets that Tokyo said were targeted by radar beams. That latter incident prompted US State Department criticism of Beijing, although Trump, who plans to visit the Chinese capital next year for trade talks, told Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month he did not want to see further escalation of the dispute over Taiwan, according to two Japanese government sources.

Tensions flared last month when Takichi said in parliament that a Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing, could trigger a military response from Tokyo. Taiwan sits just over 100 km (62 miles) from Japanese territory and is surrounded by sea lanes on which Tokyo relies.

China denied Tokyo’s accusation about the carrier aircraft encounter, saying Japanese jets had endangered its air operations south of Japan. On Tuesday, the State Department said China's actions were "not conducive to regional peace and stability" and reaffirmed the US alliance with Japan as "unwavering."

SHOW OF FORCE

Both Japan and South Korea host US forces, with Japan home to the biggest concentration of American military power overseas, including an aircraft carrier strike group and a US Marine expeditionary force.

Japan's Chief of Staff, Joint Staff General Hiroaki Uchikura, said the Chinese and Russian joint bomber flight was clearly a show of force directed at Japan.

"We consider it a grave concern from the standpoint of Japan's security," Uchikura told a press briefing.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi also shared Japan's concerns with NATO chief Mark Rutte in a telephone call on Wednesday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the drills with Russia were part of an annual cooperation plan to show determination to "safeguard regional peace and stability".

"The Japanese side has no need to make a fuss about nothing or to take this personally," he said.

ACTIVITY NEAR SOUTH KOREA, TAIWAN

South Korea’s military said it also scrambled fighter jets when the Chinese and Russian aircraft entered its air defense identification zone on Tuesday, an area that extends beyond its airspace and is used for early warning.

Chinese military ships and aircraft operate almost daily around Taiwan, in what Taipei says is part of Beijing's ongoing pressure campaign. On Thursday, Taiwan's defense ministry reported a stepped-up Chinese military presence for a second day in a row. It said it had detected 27 aircraft, including nuclear-capable H-6K bombers, conducting a "joint combat readiness patrol", along with warships around the island.

World

Iran Appeals to UN Over 'Tightening Restrictions' on Its Diplomats in New York

The United Nations logo adorns a window at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
The United Nations logo adorns a window at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
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Iran Appeals to UN Over 'Tightening Restrictions' on Its Diplomats in New York

The United Nations logo adorns a window at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
The United Nations logo adorns a window at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

Tehran called on the United Nations to intervene in what it called the "tightening of restrictions on Iran's diplomatic mission to the United Nations in New York", according to a foreign ministry statement published on Thursday.

The statement also condemned a decision by the US State Department "to prevent the continuation of the activities" of three employees of Iran's mission in New York, Reuters reported.

The statement did not specify when the restrictions had been tightened, but in September, the United States imposed strict limits on the Iranian delegation attending the UN General Assembly in New York, curbing their movement and banning access to wholesale stores and luxury goods.

"The imposition of extensive restrictions on the residence and movement of Iranian diplomats, tightening restrictions on bank accounts, and imposing restrictions on daily purchases are among the pressures and harassment ... to disrupt the normal and legal duties of Iranian diplomats," the statement said.

Prior to the September restrictions, Iranian delegation members were allowed to travel between the United Nations, the Iranian UN mission, the Iranian UN ambassador's residence and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington heightened after the two countries engaged in five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations that ended with a 12-day air war in June in which Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites.