JUBA: The president of South Sudan has dismissed his interior minister, the wife of a detained opposition leader with whom he was running a unity government following a peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war.
President Salva Kiir on Monday evening removed Interior Minister Angelina Teny, a senior opposition figure and the wife of detained First Vice President Riek Machar. No reasons were given for the dismissal.
Kiir replaced her with Aleu Ayieny Aleu, a veteran loyalist who previously served as interior minister from 2013 to 2015.
The move further weakens the 2018 peace agreement, which allocated the Interior Ministry to the opposition under a power-sharing arrangement.
The opposition accused Kiir of undermining the power-sharing framework.
Machar, a former rebel leader who joined the unity government in 2020 following the peace agreement, remains in detention with several associates, facing treason charges linked to violence in Nasir in Upper Nile state.
Forces loyal to Machar, alongside allied White Army fighters, have made gains against government forces in Jonglei state. They recently captured Pajut, a strategic town in Duk County on the main road to Bor, the state capital, heightening fears of a broader offensive. The government has deployed reinforcements in an attempt to secure Bor.
Clashes have also flared in recent weeks in Unity, Upper Nile, and parts of Central and Eastern Equatoria states, alarming regional and international observers who warn of a wider escalation and the unraveling of fragile security arrangements. Key provisions of the 2018 peace deal — including security sector reforms and the unification of forces — remain unimplemented.
Teny had headed the ministry since a reshuffle in March 2023, when Kiir transferred her from the defense portfolio and assumed control of the defense ministry himself.
She has been largely absent from the Interior Ministry since March 2025, when Machar was placed under house arrest. In June 2025, security agents reportedly confiscated her phone, laptop and a modem.
Pal Mai Deng, spokesperson for the opposition, on Tuesday described Teny’s removal as “a clear sign of desperation” and said it reflected a government that is “crumbling under pressure” as the security situation deteriorates.
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South Sudan president fires interior minister in a move threatening peace agreement
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South Sudan president fires interior minister in a move threatening peace agreement
- Kiir removed Interior Minister Angelina Teny, a senior opposition figure and the wife of detained First Vice President Riek Machar
- The opposition accused Kiir of undermining the power-sharing framework
Macron squares up to Trump in rebel shades at macho Davos gathering
- French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, wore sunglasses on stage
- A broken blood vessel has left him with a bloodshot eye since last week
PARIS: Top Gun or Terminator? French President Emmanuel Macron’s sporting of aviator shades at Davos this week tickled the press and inspired viral memes online, while prompting a surge in visitors to the eyewear brand’s website.
Macron, speaking at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, wore sunglasses on stage due to a broken blood vessel that has left him with a bloodshot eye since last week, according to the Elysee’s chief physician.
While the French president stood up for European sovereignty and blasted “unacceptable” threats by his US counterpart Donald Trump to impose tariffs on countries opposed to his plans to seize Greenland, it was Macron’s flashy blue sunglasses that grabbed much of the attention.
“Top Gun or Terminator?,” read a headline in Le Parisien daily, highlighting the viral commentary which ranged from memes photoshopping laser beams shooting from Macron’s eyes to his face on the “Miami Vice” film poster.
Other images on social media showed Macron playing the rebel Maverick from the Top Gun franchise, while facing off to Trump.
“These sunglasses were unintentionally a very fitting visual vocabulary for the message he wanted to convey,” said communications professor Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet at Paris’s Sciences Po university.
“It gave a Hollywood-style dimension — cool and masculine at once — that answered Trump.”
Trump mocked the look, stating: “I watched him yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?“
“But I watched him sort of be tough,” Trump added, after Macron said France rejected “bullies.”
The UK’s Telegraph newspaper published the headline “Can Macron’s sunglasses save the West?” in an analysis of the heated and divisive tone taken by largely male world leaders at the summit.
“Testosterone is the primary currency in Davos this year, and the French president’s aviators have placed him at the top of the pecking order,” the Telegraph wrote.
The hype surrounding Macron’s look led to a surge in traffic to the French eyewear maker Henry Jullien’s website, causing it to crash.
“Our eShop website is experiencing an exceptional volume of visits and enquiries” following the “significant visibility” given to the sunglasses by Macron, said a notice on the brand’s website.
It added that it had launched a “temporary page” featuring solely the ‘Pacific’ model worn by Macron, “to ensure stable and secure access for everyone.”
Macron, speaking at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, wore sunglasses on stage due to a broken blood vessel that has left him with a bloodshot eye since last week, according to the Elysee’s chief physician.
While the French president stood up for European sovereignty and blasted “unacceptable” threats by his US counterpart Donald Trump to impose tariffs on countries opposed to his plans to seize Greenland, it was Macron’s flashy blue sunglasses that grabbed much of the attention.
“Top Gun or Terminator?,” read a headline in Le Parisien daily, highlighting the viral commentary which ranged from memes photoshopping laser beams shooting from Macron’s eyes to his face on the “Miami Vice” film poster.
Other images on social media showed Macron playing the rebel Maverick from the Top Gun franchise, while facing off to Trump.
“These sunglasses were unintentionally a very fitting visual vocabulary for the message he wanted to convey,” said communications professor Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet at Paris’s Sciences Po university.
“It gave a Hollywood-style dimension — cool and masculine at once — that answered Trump.”
Trump mocked the look, stating: “I watched him yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?“
“But I watched him sort of be tough,” Trump added, after Macron said France rejected “bullies.”
The UK’s Telegraph newspaper published the headline “Can Macron’s sunglasses save the West?” in an analysis of the heated and divisive tone taken by largely male world leaders at the summit.
“Testosterone is the primary currency in Davos this year, and the French president’s aviators have placed him at the top of the pecking order,” the Telegraph wrote.
The hype surrounding Macron’s look led to a surge in traffic to the French eyewear maker Henry Jullien’s website, causing it to crash.
“Our eShop website is experiencing an exceptional volume of visits and enquiries” following the “significant visibility” given to the sunglasses by Macron, said a notice on the brand’s website.
It added that it had launched a “temporary page” featuring solely the ‘Pacific’ model worn by Macron, “to ensure stable and secure access for everyone.”
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