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Ten People Killed in Plane Crash in South Sudan, Says Governor

A South-Sudanese government soldier stands guard as a South Sudanese flag flies in the background. (File photo: AP)
A South-Sudanese government soldier stands guard as a South Sudanese flag flies in the background. (File photo: AP)
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Ten People Killed in Plane Crash in South Sudan, Says Governor

A South-Sudanese government soldier stands guard as a South Sudanese flag flies in the background. (File photo: AP)
A South-Sudanese government soldier stands guard as a South Sudanese flag flies in the background. (File photo: AP)

At least ten people, including the two pilots, died when a plane crashed at an airstrip in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, the region’s governor and the airline said.

The airline said all aboard the commercial plane died late afternoon Tuesdaywhen it took off from the airstrip at Pieri on a return flight to Juba.

It could not give a specific death toll, saying up to 24 people could have been on the flight.

“It was with great shock and horror to receive the news of the plane crash (HK-4274) of South Sudan Supreme Airline,” Governor Denay Jock Chagor said in a statement sent to AFP Wednesday.

“Ten people including the two pilots lost their lives,” he added.

Ayii Duang Ayii, director of South Supreme Airlines, told AFP Wednesday that it was “not clear how many people” were on board the flight.

“But the first information communicated to us was that there were 11 people on board,” the director said.

“We are still working to send a team... to establish for us the facts. All on board died,” he said.

“The plane left to Pieri well, landed well and when it was taking off back to Juba that was when it crashed,” Ayii Duang Ayii added.

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US Agency Focused on Foreign Disinformation Shuts Down

The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
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US Agency Focused on Foreign Disinformation Shuts Down

The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP

A leading US government agency that tracks foreign disinformation has terminated its operations, the State Department said Tuesday, after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of Republican criticism.
The Global Engagement Center, a State Department unit established in 2016, shuttered on Monday at a time when officials and experts tracking propaganda have been warning of the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries such as Russia and China, AFP reported.
"The State Department has consulted with Congress regarding next steps," it said in a statement when asked what would happen to the GEC's staff and its ongoing projects following the shutdown.
The GEC had an annual budget of $61 million and a staff of around 120. Its closing leaves the State Department without a dedicated office for tracking and countering disinformation from US rivals for the first time in eight years.
A measure to extend funding for the center was stripped out of the final version of the bipartisan federal spending bill that passed through the US Congress last week.
The GEC has long faced scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, who accused it of censoring and surveilling Americans.
It also came under fire from Elon Musk, who accused the GEC in 2023 of being the "worst offender in US government censorship [and] media manipulation" and called the agency a "threat to our democracy."
The GEC's leaders have pushed back on those views, calling their work crucial to combating foreign propaganda campaigns.
Musk had loudly objected to the original budget bill that would have kept GEC funding, though without singling out the center. The billionaire is an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump and has been tapped to run the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reducing government spending.
In June, James Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the GEC, announced the launch of a multinational group based in Warsaw to counter Russian disinformation on the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The State Department said the initiative, known as the Ukraine Communications Group, would bring together partner governments to coordinate messaging, promote accurate reporting of the war and expose Kremlin information manipulation.
In a report last year, the GEC warned that China was spending billions of dollars globally to spread disinformation and threatening to cause a "sharp contraction" in freedom of speech around the world.