ethnic violence

A displaced man at the UN 's Tomping camp, where some 15,000 displaced South Sudanese are sheltered.

Peace talks started in South Sudan, but quickly hit a roadblock

Government and rebel forces in South Sudan threaten to plunge their young nation into civil war. Today, the two sides sat down to peace talks, and the US is working behind the scenes to support the talks.

Peace talks started in South Sudan, but quickly hit a roadblock
south sudan

South Sudan remains on the brink of civil war

South Sudan remains on the brink of civil war
A South Sudan army soldier, in Malakal, on Monday, after government forces re-captured the city.

The fighting is getting worse in South Sudan, even as peace talks loom

The fighting is getting worse in South Sudan, even as peace talks loom
Salva Kiir and Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta

So far there are few signs of any progress in ending the violence in South Sudan

So far there are few signs of any progress in ending the violence in South Sudan
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir (L) poses for a photograph with his host, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, at the latter's office in Juba, South Sudan.

Is Sudan saying 'I told you so' to South Sudan?

Is Sudan saying 'I told you so' to South Sudan?

At this Christmas, Santa will be looking somewhere new for many refugees

NORAD started tracking Santa by accident, when a phone number was misprinted in a Colorado Springs newspaper. Now the Santa tracking has turned into a digital empire that will delight thousands, perhaps millions, of children around the world on Christmas Eve.

At this Christmas, Santa will be looking somewhere new for many refugees
Muslim men organized in militias with machetes rough up a Christian man while checking him for weapons in the Miskine neighborhood of Bangui, Central African Republic.

A photographer captures the violence in the streets of the Central African Republic

Associated Press photographer Jerome Delay chose to stay in the Central African Republic when many of his peers went to South Africa to cover the death of Nelson Mandela. He felt he needed to show the world what was going on in the chaotic African nation.

A photographer captures the violence in the streets of the Central African Republic

'We'll be home for Christmas' may be a reality for Pussy Riot and the Arctic 30

Russia's President Vladimir Putin seems to have once again pulled off a PR "master stroke" by having a routine amnesty law expanded to free two groups at the center of global human rights protests, just before the Sochi Olympics. The world's youngest nation, South Sudan, is suffering from renewed ethic violence. And the illegal practice of shark finning —stripping sharks of their fins — proves hard to end in Costa Rica. All that and more, in today's Global Scan.

'We'll be home for Christmas' may be a reality for Pussy Riot and the Arctic 30
A TIG camp outside Kigali, Rwanda.

Part III: Reintegrating Rwanda's killers

Rwanda faces a huge challenge nearly 13 years after the genocide. Huge numbers of people were killed but huge numbers of people have also been implicated in the killings. The Rwandan government wants justice for the victims but it also wants to promote reconciliation. So it's created a program of community service. It's designed to help confessed killers ease back into society.

Part III: Reintegrating Rwanda's killers
A gacaca court in session in Ruhango, Rwanda.

Part II: Rwanda's gacaca courts

In Rwanda, a huge legal experiment is underway. It's called Gacaca. Since 1994 the government has struggled to administer justice to hundreds of thousands of genocide suspects. A UN court was set up in Tanzania to try high level suspects. The regular Rwandan courts began processing the rest. But they were soon overwhelmed. So the government adapted a traditional form of dispute resolution into a grassroots apparatus for trying genocide cases.

Part II: Rwanda's gacaca courts