Ballots have been counted in an unofficial referendum in the flashpoint Abyei region to decide if it lies in Sudan or South Sudan.

Residents of the Abyei region, claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, have voted in an unofficial referendum to decide which country they belong to.

The government of South Sudan will have to cope with serious shortages in many areas, despite its bountiful oil reserves.

Jacob Zuma has planned to meet with Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir about unrest in the run-up to South Sudan’s independence due this weekend.

When northern Sudanese troops seized the disputed border town of Abyei, it was a sign that the fragile six-year-old peace was teetering.

South Sudan’s vice-president has flown to Khartoum to "ease tensions" over Abyei, a week after northern troops overran the contested border region.

Militiamen backed by the Sudanese government are heading south to the flashpoint town of Abyei, the United Nations says.

Satellite images indicate evidence of "war crimes" committed by Sudan’s northern army in the contested Abyei region, a monitoring group has said.

More than 15 000 people have fled Sudan’s Abyei region to Agok in the south after the northern army seized the disputed area, the UN has said.

A UN envoy warned on Tuesday that clashes in a border region between North and South Sudan risked casting a shadow over the peaceful referendum vote.

Negotiations between north and south Sudan over the future of contested oil-rich Abyei have broken down ahead of an independence referendum.

A court is to rule on Wednesday on the boundaries of the Sudanese oil district of Abyei, a dispute that has been a flashpoint for tensions.

Rival troops from north and south Sudan are withdrawing from the contested trouble spot of Abyei but traded barbs on Friday.

Up to 90 000 people could be displaced by fighting in Sudan’s bitterly contested oil region of Abyei where the United Nations is racing against time to provide aid relief and…

Thousands of civilians fled clashes between Sudan’s former north-south civil war foes in the oil-rich central town of Abyei on Thursday. The clashes, sparked by a local dispute,…