Some 1.25 million people are facing starvation in war-torn South Sudan, double the number from the same time last year, according to a report by the United Nations and the country's government.

Guode wept and wailed throughout her sentencing hearing as the judge outlined her crimes and her troubled life that led to it.

A SUDANESE cargo plane caught fire and swerved off the runway as it tried to take off on Saturday from the southern city of Wau, slightly injuring three crew members and a boy in a nearby field.