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US Urges South Sudan President to Release VP Machar, Who is Reportedly under House Arrest

South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar addresses a news conference, as the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country, in Juba, South Sudan April 5, 2020. REUTERS/Samir Bol/File Photo
South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar addresses a news conference, as the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country, in Juba, South Sudan April 5, 2020. REUTERS/Samir Bol/File Photo
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US Urges South Sudan President to Release VP Machar, Who is Reportedly under House Arrest

South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar addresses a news conference, as the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country, in Juba, South Sudan April 5, 2020. REUTERS/Samir Bol/File Photo
South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar addresses a news conference, as the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country, in Juba, South Sudan April 5, 2020. REUTERS/Samir Bol/File Photo

The United States on Thursday called on South Sudan President Salva Kiir to release his rival First Vice President Riek Machar who was reportedly under house arrest, saying it was time the country's leaders demonstrated their commitment to peace.

Machar's SPLM-IO party said on Wednesday that the defense minister and chief of national security "forcefully entered" Machar's residence and delivered an arrest warrant.

Machar was being held at his house with his wife and two body guards, accused of being implicated in fighting between the military and White Army in Nasir, Upper Nile State this month, Reath Muoch Tang, a senior SPLM-IO official said in a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday.

"We are concerned by reports South Sudan's First Vice President Machar is under house arrest," Washington's Bureau of African Affairs wrote on X.

"We urge President Kiir to reverse this action & prevent further escalation of the situation."

Under a peace deal which ended a 2013-2018 civil war between forces loyal to Machar on one side and Kiir on the other, South Sudan has five vice-presidents. Kiir's longtime rival and opposition leader Machar is currently serving as first vice-president.

The United Nations has warned that recent clashes in Nasir between the army and the White Army, a militia with historical ties to Machar, and a rise in hate-speech could reignite along ethnic lines the civil war which ended in 2018.

Machar's SPLM-IO party denies ongoing links with the White Army.

"It is time for South Sudan's leaders to demonstrate sincerity of stated commitments to peace," Washington's Bureau of African Affairs wrote on X.

South Sudan's army and government spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CALL FOR RESTRAINT

Political analysts say that the peace deal, under which Kiir and Machar have been serving in a fragile coalition government, is on the brink of collapse.

The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called for restraint, saying that the country's leaders stood on the brink of relapsing into widespread conflict.

"This will not only devastate South Sudan but also affect the entire region," UNMISS said in a statement.

Earlier this month Kiir's government detained several officials from Machar's party, including the petroleum minister and the deputy head of the army, in response to the clashes with the White Army in Upper Nile State.

On Wednesday the UN reported fighting between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar close to the capital Juba.

The 2013-2018 civil war, which was fought largely along ethnic lines, resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths in the world's youngest nation.

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World

Prince William, Kate 'Deeply Concerned' by Latest Epstein Revelations

Britain's Prince William (R), Prince of Wales and Catherine (C), Princess of Wales arrive to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally at Lambeth Palace in London on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP)
Britain's Prince William (R), Prince of Wales and Catherine (C), Princess of Wales arrive to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally at Lambeth Palace in London on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP)
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Prince William, Kate 'Deeply Concerned' by Latest Epstein Revelations

Britain's Prince William (R), Prince of Wales and Catherine (C), Princess of Wales arrive to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally at Lambeth Palace in London on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP)
Britain's Prince William (R), Prince of Wales and Catherine (C), Princess of Wales arrive to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally at Lambeth Palace in London on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP)

Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine have been "deeply concerned" by the latest revelations linking William's uncle Prince Andrew to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Kensington Palace said Monday.

"I can confirm that the Prince and Princess of Wales have been deeply concerned by the continued revelations," the palace said in a statement.

The statement -- first public comments from the heir to the throne and his wife on the scandal since the latest release of Epstein files more than a week ago -- added that "their thoughts remain focused on the victims" of Epstein, who died in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.

King Charles III’s 65-year-old brother is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The king last week forced Mountbatten-Windsor to leave his longtime home at Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle, accelerating a move that was first announced in October but wasn’t expected to be completed until later this year.

Mountbatten-Windsor is now living on the king’s Sandringham estate in eastern England. He will live temporarily at Wood Farm Cottage while his permanent home on the estate undergoes repairs.

World

Russian Strikes Kill 4 in Ukraine, Including Child

A general view on a damaged building at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 04 February 2026. (EPA)
A general view on a damaged building at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 04 February 2026. (EPA)
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Russian Strikes Kill 4 in Ukraine, Including Child

A general view on a damaged building at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 04 February 2026. (EPA)
A general view on a damaged building at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 04 February 2026. (EPA)

A barrage of Russian drones and missiles on Ukraine overnight killed at least four people in cities across the country, including a 10-year-old boy, regional officials said Monday.

AFP journalists at the scene of one strike on the southern city of Odesa saw gutted buildings and fire and emergency services working by lamplight to perform CPR on one of the victims.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 11 ballistic missiles and 149 drones -- including Iranian-designed Shaheds -- at the country from Sunday evening into the early hours of Monday.

Air defense units downed more than one hundred drones and several of the missiles, they added without elaborating.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine nearly four years ago, has bombarded its neighbor while joining recent rounds of US-brokered talks to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Mykhailo, a 32-year-old resident of the port city of Odesa who lives on the fourth floor of a residential building damaged overnight, told AFP that his apartment windows had been blown out and his car was damaged.

"First we heard the buzzing of a Shahed, and then the hit -- and then another hit," the postal worker said.

A seventeen-year-old student, also named Mykhailo, told AFP when he stepped out onto his balcony he saw the doorframe had been dislodged by the blast.

Local officials in the city said that a 35-year-old man was killed and that two more were wounded, including a 19-year-old woman.

Farther north in the Kharkiv region, state emergency services said they had recovered the bodies of a woman and a 10-year-old boy after a drone attack.

And a 71-year-old man was killed by Russian drones in his bed in the settlement of Novgorod-Siversky in the northern Chernigiv region, local authorities said.

Though Washington wants to see the war end by mid-year, Kyiv and Moscow remain at odds over territorial divisions, with Russia pushing for full control of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal.

Russia occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine's land.

World

Thousands Protest Israeli President Herzog’s Visit to Australia

Demonstrators gather at Town Hall Square to protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's state visit to Australia following a deadly mass shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025, in Sydney, Australia, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Demonstrators gather at Town Hall Square to protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's state visit to Australia following a deadly mass shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025, in Sydney, Australia, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)
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Thousands Protest Israeli President Herzog’s Visit to Australia

Demonstrators gather at Town Hall Square to protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's state visit to Australia following a deadly mass shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025, in Sydney, Australia, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Demonstrators gather at Town Hall Square to protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's state visit to Australia following a deadly mass shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025, in Sydney, Australia, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)

Thousands gathered across Australia on Monday to protest the arrival of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is on a multi-city trip aimed at expressing solidarity with Australia's Jewish community following a deadly mass shooting last year.

Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the December 14 shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach that killed 15.

The visit has attracted the ire of some people in Australia, who accuse Herzog of being complicit in civilian deaths in Gaza. Pro-Palestine groups have organized protests ‌in cities and ‌towns across the country on Monday evening.

In Sydney, thousands gathered ‌in ⁠a square ‌in the city's central business district, listening to speeches and shouting pro-Palestine slogans.

"The Bondi massacre was terrible but from our Australian leadership there’s been no acknowledgment of the Palestinian people and the Gazans," said Jackson Elliott, a 30-year-old protestor from Sydney.

"Herzog has dodged all the questions about the occupation and says this visit is about Australia and Israeli relations but he is complicit."

There was a heavy police presence with a helicopter circling overhead and officers patrolling on horseback.

About 3,000 police personnel ⁠will be deployed across Sydney during Herzog's visit to the city.

PRESIDENT COMMEMORATES LIVES LOST

Herzog began his visit at Bondi ‌Beach, where he laid a wreath at a memorial for ‍the victims of the attack. He ‍also met survivors and the families of 15 people killed in the shooting.

"This was ‍also an attack on all Australians. They attacked the values that our democracies treasure, the sanctity of human life, the freedom of religion, tolerance, dignity and respect," Herzog said in remarks at the site.

In a statement, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-Chief Executive Alex Ryvchin said Herzog's visit "will lift the spirits of a pained community."

Some Jews oppose the visit.

The Jewish Council of Australia, a vocal critic of the Israeli government, released an open letter ⁠on Monday signed by over 1,000 Jewish Australian academics and community leaders, urging Albanese to rescind Herzog's invitation.

POLICE DEPLOY SPECIAL POWERS

Authorities in Sydney have declared Herzog's visit a major event and have been authorized to use rarely invoked powers during the visit, including the ability to separate and move crowds, restrict their entry to certain areas, direct people to leave and search vehicles.

The Palestine Action Group organizing the protest failed in a legal challenge in a Sydney court on Monday against restrictions placed on the expected demonstration.

"We're hoping we won't have to use any powers, because we've been liaising very closely with the protest organizers," New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna told Nine News on Monday.

"Overall, it is all of the community that we ‌want to keep safe ... we'll be there in significant numbers just to make sure that the community is safe."