GENEVA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Record flooding has hit two-thirds of South Sudan, affecting over 900,000 people, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.

UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov told a press briefing in Geneva that the Sudanese capital Bentiu has become an island surrounded by floodwaters.

All roads in and out of the city were flooded, with boats and the airstrip serving as lifelines for humanitarian aid to reach the 460,000 people already displaced by both flooding and conflict.

He called for international support for humanitarian efforts in the country, in the face of a fourth consecutive year of record-breaking rains, with worse to come as the climate crisis accelerates.

"Camps for the internally displaced are below the current water level, protected from floodwaters only by dikes -- large, compacted mounds of earth -- erected by the United Nations, the government, and the inhabitants themselves," he said.

There is an increasing need for food, shelter, water, and sanitation supplies, Cheshirkov added.

According to UNHCR, South Sudan's refugee crisis is the largest in Africa, with over 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees having fled to neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, an estimated 2.2 million people were internally displaced within the country, which also hosts over 340,000 refugees.

Wracked by civil war for most of its brief history, South Sudan is afflicted by widespread intercommunal violence, the devastating effects of climate change, and severe food insecurity affecting 60 percent of its population of 11 million. - Xinhua

Liz Truss announced her resignation after a turbulent six weeks in office. (PA)/Photo Courtesy

The UK will have a new prime minister by the end of next week after Liz Truss announced her resignation. Her premiership will be the shortest running in British history, having only stepped into 10 Downing Street on 6 September.

What little was left of her authority crumbled on Wednesday following home secretary Suella Braverman's resignation and reports of "manhandling" and "bullying" of Conservative MPs over a vote on fracking.

Now, key details of the leadership race have been confirmed: candidates will need the backing of 100 MPs to be in the running; the Tory membership could still get a say via electronic voting; and one the favourites to emerge is none other than Boris Johnson.

Here's what we know - and what happens next:

What happens next?

Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers and whose role means he is responsible for overseeing leadership elections and votes of confidence, told reporters he expected a new leader to be in place before Friday, 28 October.

This would be just in time before the upcoming fiscal statement on Halloween, setting out a medium-term fiscal strategy and independent economic forecasts.

Read more: How an almighty migration row led Suella Braverman to turn against Liz Truss

Brady confirmed that nominations to be the next leader will open on Thursday evening.

He said hopefuls will need the backing of at least 100 MPs by Monday at 2pm to be in the running.

The first ballot of MPs will then be held between 3.30pm and 5.30pm that day.

If there are three candidates, the candidate with the fewest number of votes will be eliminated - with the result announced at 6pm.

If two candidates remain, MPs will hold an indicative vote between 6.30pm and 8.30pm, with the result announced at 9pm.

Tory party members will then have the opportunity to vote on their preferred candidate online, with the ballot closing at 11am on Friday 28 October and the result announced later that day.

However, if only one candidate reaches the 100 MP threshold needed on Monday, they will automatically become the next leader of the Conservative party and the next PM.

The process will be considerably speedier than the previous leadership contest, which ran from 13 July to 5 September – longer than Truss' time in Number 10.

Who is in the running?

With the Conservative Party now bitterly divided, there will be some struggle finding a unity candidate to replace Truss, who succeeded Boris Johnson on 6 September.

Some of the main contenders to replace Truss include Rishi Sunak, who came second to her in the last Conservative Party leadership race.

Penny Mordaunt is also another favourite, but chancellor Jeremy Hunt is understood to have ruled himself out.

Former leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has also said he will not stand, while other figures who have been suggested include Kemi Badenoch, Kemi Badenoch and Ben Wallace.

There is speculation that Boris Johnson could attempt a return to Number 10.

According to The Times, Johnson will announce his intention to run shortly, and considers his decision to be "a matter of national interest".

A number of Conservative MPs have already backed him to take over, leading to widespread criticism from opposition figures.

Will Conservative Party members definitely have a say?

Tory members will only get to vote on a candidate if more than one leadership hopeful reaches the 100 MP threshold needed to qualify for the leadership contest.

Allowing the members to have a final say on the next leader could pave a route back for Johnson, should he reach the 100 MP threshold, with polling in August revealing 53% of Tory members believed he should have remained PM. By James Hockaday and Nadine Batchelor-Hunt, Yahoo News

The government yesterday said it will change the structure of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) scheme towards achieving universal health care.

President William Ruto said though there has been progress in enrolling more members, the challenge with NHIF is that it is more of an occupational scheme for salaried people in the public and private sectors. 

Saying it is not a social insurance scheme as it ought to be, Ruto said the Government will change the contribution structure from an individual contributory scheme to a household model.

“Reforming NHIF is a necessary imperative. Progress has been made in enrolling more members. In the past 10 years, 12 million Kenyans have joined the fund,” said Ruto during the Mashujaa day celebrations.

“The challenge, however, is that the NHIF is an occupational scheme for salaried people on the payroll in the public and private sectors and not the social insurance scheme it ought to be. We shall change the contribution structure from an individual contributory scheme to a household contribution model,” he added. 

Ruto noted that health is front and centre of socio-economic development and that failure of a healthcare system undermines prosperity.

According to the President, Kenyan families spend a total of Sh150 billion out-of-pocket expenditures on health services a year mobilised from various sources, including harambees, Whatsapp MPesa, loans, sale of land and other assets, to pay hospital bills for loved ones.

Similarly, he said that many small businesses fail when owners fall ill and cannot work, or divert money to pay medical expenses.

“It is no wonder, then, that it is commonly said that most families and individuals in Kenya are one illness away from poverty. 1 million Kenyans sink into poverty every year because of medical expenses,” he explained.

“We want to lift this punitive burden from the shoulders of Kenyans and their businesses through our universal health care plan,” Ruto added. 

He said the plan is to revitalise primary healthcare by laying more emphasis on preventive and promotive strategies.

Many critical health illnesses, including cancer, heart complications, kidney failure and hypertension, he said, can be detected and addressed at this level without the need for a hospital. 

JUBA – At least twenty-seven people have been killed in separate villages this month in Fashoda and Panyikang Counties of Upper Nile state following attacks by armed men believed to have come from neighboring Jonglei State, Governor Abudhok Anyang told Sudans Post on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, thousands of Gawaar White Army who are said to have joined the political conflict between opposition commanders in the oil-rich state in support of General Simon Gatwech Dual attacked several villages in Fashoda and Panyikang killing dozens of people.

Speaking to Sudans Post on Wednesday evening, Upper Nile State Governor Abudhok Anyang said the attack has resulted in the killing of at least twenty-four (24) people as well as the death of three (3) people who he said drowned in the river Nile while on the run.

“The total number of the people who have lost their lives since this senseless attack is now 27. Among the 27 are 3 people who drowned in the Nile while 24 people were intentionally killed. So, this is the entire statistic that we have for now,” Governor Abudhok said.

The top government official further that the number of the people who died might be higher given the lack of proper communication means in the state and said that authorities were still investigating and will update the number accordingly.

“Up to now as I said, those who died are 27, but the government of Upper Nile State is investigation and is reaching out to remote villagers to understand if there are any deaths as result of this attack which have not been reported,” he said.

“So, once we find out, we will update the public accordingly. It is a very unfortunate situation and it is sad that after signing the peace agreement, our people have continued to die but the government in Juba has not taken any measures to help,” he added. - Sudans Post