U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Congo, Yemen, northeast Nigeria and South Sudan rank ``among the largest food crises in the world.''

A day after President Salva Kiir dissolved the previous government, opposition leader Riek Machar was sworn in as his deputy, an arrangement that twice collapsed in fighting during the conflict that killed nearly 400,000 people.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Thursday the aircraft will be supported by as many as 25 Canadian Armed Forces personnel.

Both Sudan and South Sudan claim ownership of the oil-rich Abyei area.

With 19,000 children associated with armed groups, South Sudan has one of the world's highest rates of child soldiers, according to the UN

Ten-thousand dollars, 500 cows and three cars: that was the winning bid for a South Sudanese child bride who was auctioned off into marriage by her father — on Facebook.

JHR is training journalists in the world's newest country: South Sudan.

Anisa, a radio station in South Sudan, is using Journalists for Human Rights training to report on local human rights issues.

"The plane crashed and killed 17 people and we have three survivors," Abel told Reuters by phone from Yirol. The plane carried a total of 22 people and two were still missing.

Israel has defended the killing of 15 Palestinians during Friday's demonstration.