Jeremy Clarke

South Sudan started rolling out its new currency on Monday — the South Sudan Pound — escalating a point of simmering disagreement with Khartoum.

For the southern Sudanese it was a night to stay out dancing. For people in Khartoum it was a time of sadness mixed with defiance.

Thousands of South Sudanese danced in the streets on Saturday to mark their long-awaited independence.

When north and south Sudan split into separate countries on July 9, their capitals will already be worlds apart.

At least 20 people died in a shoot-out between Sudanese soldiers in a southern town, the military said, warning there was a risk of more clashes.

Turnout at south Sudan’s independence referendum has defied gloomy expectations and is almost guaranteed to reach the 60% needed for a valid poll.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir made his final trip to the southern capital, Juba, on Tuesday before a January 9 vote on secession.

Millions of ballot papers were delivered to South Sudan on Wednesday, removing one uncertainty ahead of a referendum on southern independence.

More than a dozen mining firms are now working in Eritrea, but villagers are also increasingly using their bare hands to claim some of the riches.

Fears mounted on Monday that downpours that have killed dozens in Africa, uprooted hundreds of thousands and devastated crops could continue past the end of the rainy season and…