BREAKING NEWS

US extends long-standing sanctions on Sudan

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday extended sanctions on Sudan for another year, saying Khartoum's policies had not yet improved enough to warrant their removal.
Obama's order maintains several sets of US sanctions imposed since 1997 which restrict US trade and investment with Sudan and block the assets of the Sudanese government and certain officials.
The United States had offered Khartoum the chance to put relations on a better footing if it cooperated with the January referendum that set South Sudan on the path to declare its independence on July 9.
While the vote went off relatively smoothly, Khartoum and the South Sudan government in Juba have remained at loggerheads over the main oil-producing border state of South Kordofan, where rebels and government forces have repeatedly clashed since June.