120,000 people displaced by South Sudan violence: UN

The United Nations says more than 120,000 people have been displaced by continuing violence in South Sudan, and about half are now sheltering at UN compounds.

The number of internally displaced people has been rising since fighting started on Dec 15 in the capital, Juba, before spreading across the oil-producing East African nation.

Aid agencies now need at least $166 million to save lives, according to the UN, which has urged South Sudan's leaders to start talks.

Regional leaders under a bloc called IGAD are meeting today in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to discuss the crisis in South Sudan. That meeting is expected to produce a roadmap for peace talks between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and the political rival he accuses of mounting a failed coup.