With the vast majority of votes now counted in the southern Sudanese referendum, nearly all of those polled have voted for the south to become an independent country.
Provisional
figures have been announced by the Southern Sudanese Referendum Commission. James Copnall reports from Khartoum.
Almost 99% of the valid votes cast and tallied so far are in favour of separation, according to the website of the referendum commission. This leaves little room for doubt, particularly as all of the votes from northern Sudan and from out of the country and nearly 99% of the votes from the south have been processed. The full southern results are due to be released at the end of this month, and the final results early in February. Separation will not happen until July.
There are still many problems to resolve, including the border region Abyei and
tricky
issues like resources, legal matters and citizenship.
The Green Party in Ireland has
pulled out of
the coalition government in a move that could lead to an early general election. The party's leader John Gormley said there had been a breakdown in trust and the Irish people were losing confidence in politics. From Dublin, Mark Simpson reports.
The Irish government is
unravel
ling. Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen is now leading a minority administration. The likelihood is that the Irish general election scheduled for mid-March will be