United Nations / AP The head of an international group monitoring South Sudan’s peace process said he will propose security arrangements to spur the return of rebel leader Riek Machar as vice president, a critical step to launching a national unity government that must urgently tackle escalating violence and the country’s “humanitarian catastrophe.” Festus Mogae told the UN Security Council …

kiev / AFP Ukrainians on Saturday sombrely marked the second anniversary of the bloody revolution that ousted Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych, as a fresh political crisis left many disillusioned with the current leadership. President Petro Poroshenko and his wife came early in the morning to light icon lamps at a memorial cross for the more than 100 people killed in …

Jerusalem / AFP The sniper barrel juts out of the ancient wall above Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, pointing down towards a young Palestinian being searched by Israeli policemen. A key tourist site and one of the entrances to the Old City, the massive white stone gate has become a backdrop for the violence between Israel and Palestinians that erupted almost five …