The government says the fighting in South Sudan is politically motivated but outside observers say that although it began as a fight for political power, it rapidly degenerated into an ethnic crisis.
South Sudan ranks 171st out of 175 countries that were ranked for perceived corruption by Transparency International, but a government official dismisses the annual ranking as "mere opinions."
Advocacy group Global Witness says in a report that a deal is being negotiated behind closed doors between a Spanish oil company and the government of South Sudan.
A spokesman for the UNHCR says the fighting pitted members of South Sudan's two main ethnic groups against each other.
Three factions of South Sudan's ruling SPLM party accept responsibility for 10 months of fighting and vow to end what they call South Sudan's civil war.
Amnesty International urges President Salva Kiir to send the bill - which grants the National Security Service (NSS) the power to arrest suspected criminals without a warrant, access information and seize property - back to parliament for revisions.
In her first news conference since arriving in South Sudan, Ellen Margrethe Loej says she will "impartially" carry out the revised mandate for UNMISS, which is focussed on protecting civilians.
An UNMISS spokesman says it is still too early to apportion blame for the attack, but indicates in a statement that militia leader Peter Gadet threatened to shoot down U.N. aircraft around a week before the Aug. 26 crash.
U.N. agencies say the militia group accused of killing at least six aid workers in Maban County is targeting its victims based on their ethnicity.
Days before leaving for the United States, President Kiir accused the West of seeking to grab South Sudan's oil -- a statement a South Sudan official says was an unintended slip of the tongue and an analyst says is wrong-footed.
In a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry before he left for Ethiopia and South Sudan, two leading rights groups say sanctions will help to convince South Sudanese leaders to end months of bloodshed in the country.
Participants at a conference in New York say the sanctions have been well received by South Sudanese and express the hope that they will push the warring sides back to the negotiating table.
USAID Assistant Administrator Nancy Lindborg says the United States is focused on saving lives in South Sudan, where just over 100 days of fighting have erased hard-fought development gains and left millions at risk of hunger.
Germany's Minister for Cooperation and Development, Gerd Mueller, says during a visit to Juba that the aid will be available immediately, and vows not to abandon the South Sudanese people.
A legal expert says Information Minister Michael Makuei's assertion that broadcasting an interview with members of the anti-government forces violates South Sudan's penal code, is untrue.
