Newscast for Friday, July 8, 2011

The Republic of South Sudan prepares to become the world’s newest nation

The Republic of South Sudan, set to become the world’s newest nation tomorrow when it officially separates from northern Sudan. Independence follows January’s referendum when nearly 99 of voters favored breaking away from the north.  The referendum was the result of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended two decades of conflict between South Sudan and the government in Khartoum.  Dignitaries from around the world will attend the celebrations tomorrow in the new capital Juba, including the African Union, EU, China and the US, as well as Sudan’s current President Omar al-Bashir. Many residents expressed excitement, happiness and elation, including this resident who spoke to the Enough Project:

“I’ve never been in this kind of situation so right now I’m feeling like I’m in my own country and I need to be happy.  It’s the biggest day in our lives.  No more going back to fight and we need to be very happy, very peaceful,  no corruption, no criminals, we need to be peaceful.”

Tomorrow will be historic, but the countries will need to deal with ongoing political and economic problems as well as armed conflict in South Kordofan. Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, a former United Nations and African Union diplomat, told UN Radio that South Sudan faces immediate challenges:

“Right now there are two problems which are a source of potential conflict.  The issue of Abyei, as well as what is going on in South Kordofan, there is the issue also of how do you deal with resources, the question of oil, the bulk of the oil is in the south but the infrastructure is in the north.”

Since January’s referendum there’s been increasing violence in the resource rich border areas of Abyei, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan .  The UN says during the last month at least 75,000 people have fled armed conflict in oil rich Southern Kordofan.  FSRN’s Trevor Snapp is in Southern Kordofan. He spoke to the Education Director of Nuba Rehabilitation Relief, and Development Fund in a bomb shelter outside his office. In recent weeks, the area has been under attack, with military planes flying low overhead:

“To me we still have a lot to do, right here in Southern Kordofan and we are pushing forward.  We need to be free from Arabs from the north, so they did a lot of things, so we can’t continue like that.  If people are just killing your people in cold blood like that so how do you stay with them you know? It’s better to be, you know, separated than just being under their control or get rid of them from power.”

In a statement this week, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos said all parties to the conflict are exhibiting total disregard for civilians, who are being killed, injured, terrorized and displaced by repeated attacks, including aerial bombardments. Amos said she was especially troubled by unverified but credible reports of disappearances of civilians, extra-judicial killings and mass graves.

Yesterday Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir pulled out of a peace agreement reached last month in Ethiopia that aimed to resolve the conflict in South Kordofan, according to Sudan Tribune.  Bashir also wants UN troops out of the country, and has rejected an extension of the UN mandate, which expires tomorrow. But the Security Council voted to send up to 7,000 UN troops to the new country, the Republic of South Sudan.

Progressive lawmakers in Washington try to defend Social Security from budget cuts

In Washington today, US lawmakers voted by 336-87 in favor of a defense spending bill worth nearly $650 billion dollars.  The bill boosts the Pentagon’s budget by $17 billion and is an overwhelming rejection of an attempt by the Progressive Caucus to link cuts in military spending to a deal on the debt ceiling.  As deficit and debt limit negotiations continue, talk that President Obama has considered cuts to Social Security is energizing Progressives who say the social insurance program is not the problem. Michael Lawson reports.

Ice Melt Series Part 2: Antarctica’s ice shelf melts from below

Yesterday we looked at Greenland’s melting ice sheets.  Today in the second part of our series on the world’s melting ice formations we’re focusing on Antarctica where stronger ocean currents beneath West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf are eroding the ice from below, speeding the melting of the glacier.   In a study released last month, scientists say this accounts for a 50% rise in melting in recent years.  We spoke with Stan Jacobs, an oceanographer at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, an author of this study.

In the Philippines, Shipyard workers fight for better working conditions

In the Philippines, an alliance of church and labor groups staged a caravan to support thousands of Filipino workers at the Korean Hanjin shipyard.  Hanjin workers say 31 employees have died over the past 5 years and there are 5,000 documented work-related accidents, mistreatment, illegal sackings and suspensions by the company.

Madonna Virola joined the caravan from Quezon City to Subic Bay Freeport Area and files this report.