Paul Feeney is correct (Letters, January 1 ), when he says follow the money for an explanation of the destruction wreaked on the Middle East since 2003.

A new toll has put the number of pilgrims killed during the crush and stampede that struck the hajj last month at 2,110 at least.

Italy’s Hacking Team, which makes surveillance software used by governments to police the web, appears to be the victim of hacking on a grand scale itself.

At least 129 children were killed, with boys castrated and girls raped and some victims thrown to their deaths into burning buildings, during a government offensive against rebels last month in South Sudan, according to the UN children’s agency.

Today, a message from the NGO, Concern, relating to the disastrous situation, in Sudan, dropped through my letterbox.

French bank BNP Paribas was sentenced to five years probation by a US judge yesterday in connection with a record $8.9bn (€7.95bn) settlement resolving claims it violated sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran.

Commerzbank and lawyers for the US government gained federal court approval of a $1.45bn (€1.32bn) agreement to defer prosecuting the lender for violating US laws, including sanctions on doing business with Iran and Sudan.

North Korea is experiencing serious internet problems, with experts warning that online access is “totally down”.

The US is reviewing whether to put North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism in the wake of the Sony hacking case, President Barack Obama said.

The Sudanese woman imprisoned for refusing to reject Christianity has said she was resolved to keep her faith even if it meant death.

A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for refusing to recant her Christian faith has arrived in Italy en route to the United States along with her family, including an infant born in prison.

Most little girls dream of being a princess — and one man has trekked across the Egyptian desert to "claim" a small piece of land as a kingdom to make his daughter’s fantasy come true.

The boss of BNP Paribas has written to staff warning that it will be fined heavily by US authorities.

The Sudanese Christian woman whose death sentence for apostasy was overturned but who was detained again this week is now at the US embassy for her own “safety”.

A Sudanese Christian woman whose death sentence for apostasy was overturned has been freed again after being detained on accusations of forging travel documents.

A Christian woman sentenced to death in Sudan and later freed has been detained at an airport while trying to leave the country, her lawyer said.

A court in Sudan has ordered the release of woman on death row for apostasy, the country’s official news agency said.

The brother of a Sudanese woman sentenced to death for refusing to recant her Christian faith after allegedly converting from Islam has said she should she be killed because his family are "Muslim people."

A woman was stoned to death by her own family in front of a Pakistani high court yesterday for marrying the man she loved, police and a defence lawyer said.

Sporadic gunfire rang out in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, overnight as the military “cleared out remnants” of a faction of soldiers accused of mounting a coup attempt, the country’s foreign minister said today amid an ongoing hunt for the former deputy president who is accused of leading the failed plot.

Thousands of Sudanese protesters took to the streets of the capital Khartoum, chanting “freedom” and renewing calls for their autocratic president to resign.

The Government has pledged €2m in funding to provide life-saving food, shelter, basic health care and water to some of the most vulnerable communities in Africa.

Five UN peacekeepers from India and up to seven civilians have been killed by rebels in South Sudan.

China’s Silent Army

South Sudan and Sudan have failed to reach an agreement on security arrangements and oil exports after several days of talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, officials said today.

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon has called on Sudan and South Sudan to reach a comprehensive agreement at a summit of its leaders in Ethiopia.

Middle East: Some analysts believe Israel continues to occupy the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967, in order to ensure control over water resources.

A Sudanese helicopter carrying a government delegation has crashed in a mountainous southern region, killing all 32 people on board including a Cabinet minister, a former presidential adviser, two generals and a TV crew.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has urged leaders of South Sudan and their counterparts in the north to quickly reach agreement on oil revenue and other pressing issues to resolve differences that threaten to reignite a decades-long conflict.

Sudan’s president has said that the conflict with Southern Sudan will not affect close relations between the two peoples.

Sudan has declared a state of emergency in areas bordering South Sudan, giving authorities there wide powers of arrest and detention.

Sudan has continued its bombing of South Sudan, as South Sudan’s president said the attacks amounted to a declaration of war.

Sudanese aircraft have bombed an area near Bentiu in South Sudan, killing a boy and injuring at least two other people, an official and a witness said today.

Fighting has spread further along the Sudan-South Sudan border with 22 troops killed in a clash between soldiers from both countries.

African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki urged the UN Security Council to take action to stop the fighting between Sudan and South Sudan, warning that both sides are locked in a "logic of war" with hardliners increasingly in control.

Sudanese planes bombarded a disputed oil town near South Sudan's border, a southern military official said, and a doctor said bombs aimed at strategic sites in the south's Unity State killed five people.

South Sudan's president has today vowed that the nation will not withdraw its troops that this week entered a disputed border region with Sudan.

What this tournament has shown, more than anything else, is the value of cohesion, of having a well-drilled side that knows its plan.

Adam Johnson insists he did not take a dive to set up Manchester City’s latest Barclays Premier League triumph.

Angola 0 Ivory Coast 2

THIS has been the tournament that restored the glee to the Cup of Nations.

Salomon Kalou’s early goal helped Ivory Coast book their spot in the African Nations Cup quarter-finals and consign opponents Burkina Faso to an early exit.

The smallest nation ever to host an African Nations Cup caused one of its biggest shocks last night, as Equatorial Guinea dumped Senegal out of the competition with a dramatic 2-1 victory in Bata.

THE Ivory Coast made hard work of winning their first game in this year’s African Cup of Nations last night, beating Sudan 1-0.