JUBA/KHARTOUM, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Thousands of south Sudanese started registering for their long-awaited independence referendum on Monday, the first concrete step towards a vote that could split Africa’s largest country in two.

The Sudanese government and the United Nations are “alarmingly” unprepared for a scheduled January 2011 referendum on south Sudan’s independence, according to a new report from a coalition of NGOs. The report, released on Wednesday,...

The whole village sprang into battle mode. Boys grabbed rusty rifles, women ran to the river to hide in the water, old men stood sentry on the village outskirts, training their yellow, rheumy eyes on the vast savannahs and malarial swamps that have kept...

Thousands had gathered under the shade of the trees by the airstrip in Akobo, waiting for the arrival of a United Nations helicopter packed with food aid. Bony-armed women in ragged clothes held children with distended bellies, slack skin hanging off...

The peace deal is also meant to revive a string of bilateral pacts on both sides The presidents of Sudan and Chad have agreed in principle to prevent armed groups from operating along their shared border area, including the conflict-ridden Darfur...