NEWSLINE

The South Sudan government has announced two days as national public holidays for the celebrations of the Muslims Eid ul-Fitr. Muslims at a Ramadan dinner organised by Western Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Rizik Zakaria Hassanlast week [Gurtong File] JUBA, 18 August 2012  - According to the Ministry of Labor and Public Service, Christians are designated to have a one day public holiday and Muslims two days. “The Ministry of Labor, Public Service, and Human Resource Development is hereby informing all the civil service institutions, Commissions, Diplomatic Missions, UN agencies, NGOs and the public at large that, 19 – 22 August will be a public holiday for marking Eid ul-Fitr,” said the release. Christians are given one day and are to resume duty on 21 August 2012 while Muslims are to report on 23 August 2012. Eid ul-Fitr is a Muslim holiday that is celebrated at the end of the holy month of Ramada

                                   Rule 1: Life is not fair; get used to it. Rule 2: The world does not care about your self-esteem.   The world expects you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You will not be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both. Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. She does not have tenure. Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.   Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity. Rule 6: If you mess up, it is not your parents' fault, so do not whine about your mistakes. Learn from them. Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents were not as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rainforest from the

A very imp. lesson to learn n practice ...specially in today's time ... when most of us r so stressed n caught up with life's problems . Let's learn to put our glass down! and relax...   Once A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students, "How much do you think this glass weighs?' 50gms!’?.... '100gms!' ......'125gms' ......the students answered.    ‘I really don't know unless I weigh it’, said the professor, ‘but my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?' Nothing' the students said. ‘OK what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked.  ‘Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the students. ‘You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?'   ‘Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to

Nzara County School in Dire Need of Classrooms Pupils at Nabagou Primary and Nursery School in Nzara County are studying under a tree. Pupils at Nabagou Primary school where a tree serves as a classroom. [Gurtong] YAMBIO, August 2012 – The school in Western Equatoria State lacks crucial facilities to enable smooth learning. The headmaster Gelisama Andrew Mbikonigbia said the school faces a number of challenges, including lack of classrooms, since it was opened in 1996. Despite the poor teaching and studying environment, the school’s performance has been improving slightly over the years. Most pupils have been forced to drop out of the school due to lack of support from parents, most of whom who are poor and unable to educate their children. According to the headmaster, early pregnancies have also led to the dropping out of girls. “The unfortunate bit is that they don’t return to school after delivery”, said Mbikonigbia. The headmast

The Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman Philip Aguer Payang has denied reports that its top officials have been arrested. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). [Gurtong/File]  WAU,  August 2012 [Gurtong] – There has been information circulating that the Deputy Director of Military Intelligence Major General Mac Paul and a SPLA Senior Marial Nuor have been arrested after an attempted coup against the South Sudan government. “It is not true that some of our SPLA high rank officers were attempting to overthrow the South Sudan government”, Aguer said. Aguer has also denied rumours that Colonel Garang Deng and Colonel Alfred Sebit are under detention.  The SPLA spokesman said the rumours have been created by the Khartoum government as part of diverting the attention of the people of South Sudan. Aguer said that the SPLA forces are mandated to defend the South Sudan territory and are not part of any political allegiance. He warned Khart

Sudan and South Sudan have struck a deal on an oil payments dispute that brought the two countries to the brink of war earlier this year. 04 August 2012 President Omar al-Bashir (R) walks out with Thabo Mbeki (left) and President Salva Kiir Mayardit after a meeting in 2011 [©Reuters] ADDIS ABABA, 04 August 2012 [BBC] - They will also discuss a timetable for resuming oil exports through the north, said mediator Thabo Mbeki. Landlocked South Sudan shut down oil production in January after failing to agree a deal on oil transit fees with its northern neighbour. The dispute has severely impacted the economies of both countries. A United Nations deadline for the neighbouring countries to resolve their differences - including the oil payments dispute and disagreements over borders - expired on Thursday. Economic woes Former South African president and African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki said all outstanding issues had been resolved, but gave no furth