And on earth, a peace shortage

South Sudan
South Sudanese women queue for water being distributed from a UN reservoir at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan compound in Juba on December 21, 2013 where tension remains high fueling an exodus of both local and foreign residents from the south Sudanese capital.
TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images

Violence that could lead to a full-blown civil war has flared recently in South Sudan, a nation still in its toddler phase after its creation in 2011. Hundreds have been killed, including U.N. peacekeepers. U.S. personnel have been wounded while evacuating Americans from the danger zone. We learn about the causes of the conflict and prospects for its resolution.

In Iraq, a new wave of attacks killed 20 people early this week, adding to the more than 8,000 who have been killed since the beginning of the year. We look at the latest news coming out of the country and ask whether it is heading for a state of chaos.

In Bangladesh, meanwhile, charges were brought against factory owners for "culpable homicide" in a fire that killed more than 100 workers a year ago. The country is scheduled to hold elections next month, but some opposition politicians are boycotting it and the United States has announced it will not send observers. We look at the state of affairs in Asia's fifth-most populous country.