South Sudan’s president sacks vice president and potential successor

South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir, has sacked one of his five vice presidents in a series of firings that come amid escalating internal conflict.

Benjamin Bol Mel was appointed in February and had been widely rumoured to be Kiir’s preferred successor.

The powerful vice president was also stripped of his position as deputy leader of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party, and was demoted from general to private…