JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan said Monday that restricted access to the conflict-hit eastern state of Jonglei has left thousands of people in need of lifesaving medical care and food assistance at risk, as the United Nations raises concern over a growing number of displaced people.
The International Rescue Committee's country director for South Sudan, Richard Orengo, said that “intensified fighting and the militarization of key areas have forced the suspension of services.”
Medical organization Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, said that the government has suspended all humanitarian flights, cutting off medical supplies, staff movement and emergency evacuations. At least 23 critically ill patients, including children and pregnant women, urgently require evacuation, MSF said.
The World Food Program, a Rome-based U.N. agency, has warned that escalating violence threatens to cut off food assistance to hundreds of thousands of people, as nearly 60% of Jonglei’s population is expected to face crisis-level hunger during the upcoming rainy season. The rains typically cut off access roads, and the violence has prevented the early delivery of aid.
Civilians are bearing the brunt of the escalating fighting in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, which is pushing one of the country’s most fragile regions toward collapse and raising fears of a slide back into full-scale war after an eight-year peace deal, the United Nations and aid groups said.
Homes have been destroyed, civilians killed in the crossfire, and families repeatedly forced to flee as fighting between government forces and opposition fighters loyal to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army–In Opposition, or SPLA-IO, spreads.
Forces loyal to opposition leader Riek Machar, alongside allied “White Army” fighters, have recently made gains against government troops.
The U.N. and human rights groups have also expressed alarm over inflammatory rhetoric by a senior army commander, who urged troops advancing in Jonglei to “spare no lives.”
The U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan expressed “grave alarm” at developments that it said “significantly heighten the risk of mass violence against civilians.”
The opposition said that the commander’s words were an “early indicator of genocidal intent.”
Speaking to The Associated Press, government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny called the comments “uncalled for” and “a slip of the tongue.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all parties to halt the fighting, protect civilians and ensure safe humanitarian access, saying that South Sudan’s crisis requires a political, not military, solution.
The renewed clashes have displaced more than 230,000 people since December, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.
The renewed conflict has placed South Sudan’s fragile 2018 peace agreement under severe strain and intensified political tensions before the country’s first general election scheduled for December.
FILE - South Sudanese women line up for food rations at a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution point organized by Catholic Relief Services in Jonglei state, South Sudan, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Florence Miettaux, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Wild swings that swept through financial markets overnight eased as trading headed westward to Wall Street on Monday. U.S. stocks rose following sharp drops in Asia and then gains in Europe, while gold and silver prices rallied back from severe earlier losses.
The S&P 500 added 0.7% and is on track to snap a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 537 points, or 1.1%, as of 2:08 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.
Stocks of companies that make computer storage helped lead the market, adding to gains from last week following several profit reports that topped analysts' expectations. Airlines and cruise-ship operators were also strong, benefiting from a sharp easing of oil prices.
The center of the action in financial markets was again precious metals, where momentum has suddenly halted after gold’s price had roughly doubled in just 12 months.
Gold briefly dropped below $4,500 per ounce in the overnight hours, down more than $1,000 from its high point reached just last week. It has since pulled back to $4,672.10, down 1.5%.
Silver’s price has been on an even wilder ride recently, and it swung from a 9% loss overnight to a gain of 0.1%.
Gold and silver prices had been surging as investors looked for safer things to own amid a wide range of worries, including a Federal Reserve that may be set to become less independent, a U.S. stock market that critics say is expensive, threats of tariffs and heavy debt loads for governments worldwide.
Their prices cratered on Friday, including a 31.4% plunge for silver. Some on Wall Street saw it as a result of President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Fed. Warsh’s reputation as a former Fed governor may have raised expectations among some investors that he may keep interest rates high to fight against inflation, which would reduce the need to hide out in gold and silver for protection.
But many on Wall Street are also skeptical of that initial reading and say the expectation from Trump is likely that Warsh will cut interest rates, something the president has been demanding. That could give the economy a boost, but also inflation.
The Fed chair has a big influence on the economy and markets worldwide by helping to dictate where the U.S. central bank moves interest rates. That affects prices for all kinds of investments, as the Fed tries to keep the U.S. job market humming without letting inflation get out of control.
The job market has been broadly weakening and is being closely watched by the Fed. The next big monthly update for January was scheduled to be released on Friday, but is now postponed because of the partial federal government shutdown.
The recent swoons for gold and silver are likely more about the washout for some traders who had borrowed money to bet on metals’ prices continuing to soar, rather than about a wholesale change in expectations for demand for metals, according to Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer for Wealth & Investment Management at Wells Fargo
On Wall Street, Sandisk leaped 16.1% to lead the S&P 500. The data-storage company added to its 6.9% gain from Friday, after it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It credited demand created by the artificial-intelligence boom, among other things.
That helped offset a 0.6% drop for Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world’s move into AI technology. The losses were worse in Asia, where AI winners plunged. South Korea’s Kospi fell 5.3% from its record for its worst day in almost 10 months after chip company SK Hynix lost nearly 9%.
The Walt Disney Co. fell 6.8% even though the entertainment giant reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It warned of challenges keeping international visitors away from its U.S. theme parks, among other things.
Oil prices dropped more than 5% after Trump told reporters that Iran is “seriously talking to us.” It’s a potential signal of improving relations between the two countries, which could prevent a possible disruption to the global flow of oil.
That could mean less painful fuel bills for airlines and cruise ships. Carnival steamed 8.2% higher, and United Airlines climbed 5.7%.
In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher after a report said that U.S. manufacturing grew last month, when economists were expecting a contraction. The yield on the 10-year Treasury erased an earlier dip and rose to 4.27%, up from 4.26% late Friday.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes rose roughly 1% following Asia’s washout. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.3%, while stocks fell 2.2% in Hong Kong and 2.5% in Shanghai.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Trader Michael Capolino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Robert Charmak works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Traders Drew Cohen, left, and Dylan Halvorsan work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
