JUBA// Voters turned out in droves for the second day at polling stations across the South Sudanese capital, which remains abuzz with arguably the most important event in the embattled history of Africa's largest country.
The week-long self-determination vote is widely expected to split the nation and put the seal on five decades of north-south conflict, in which about two million people were killed and another four million fled their homes.
The prospect of southern independence was not lost on any of the voters in Juba.
As former US president Jimmy Carter worked the crowds yesterday at a polling station under a tree in Juba, voters shouted their greetings to him, inevitably delivering the refrain: "We are going for separation."
That sentiment is nearly unanimous, and the joyous atmosphere permeating the process is a marked contrast to the suffering endured by this oil-rich but underdeveloped area, nestled in the volatile Horn of Africa.
"I am happy because I've been waiting for this since I was born," said Francis Andugu, 47, a carpenter. He would have come to vote on the first day of polling, he said, but his seven-year-old daughter was sick with malaria and he had to take her to a clinic.
Mr Andugu said he hopes for independence because he does not want the next generation to suffer.
"We want them to get a better education, a better life," he said, referring to his seven children, as he stood in a queue that wound around a school room.
On the other side of the building, a grinning Cecilia Tete, 35, said that, to her, the referendum means freedom for her and her fellow citizens. She too had wanted to vote on the first day but caring for her infirm mother-in-law at home kept her from queueing up. Today, she and her husband were in line when polls opened by 8am, and were still waiting after two hours.
The scale of the turnout on the first of the seven days of polling has already put the south well on the way to reaching the 60 per cent threshold set by a 2005 peace deal between the north and south for the referendum to be valid.
"The percentage of those who voted yesterday [Sunday] in the northern states was 14 and in the southern states it was 20 per cent," Paulino Wanawilla Unango, of the South Sudan Referendum Commission, told reporters yesterday in Khartoum. More than 3.7 million people registered to vote in the south are expected to cast their ballot, some at polling centres so remote that ballots had to be delivered by helicopter. Some will walk for hours to reach their centre, which, even in the southern capital, may be found under a tree, where a cardboard stand draped with bright yellow cloth allows voters to make their decision in secret.
Despite the sense of triumph and hope in the air, southern Sudanese such as 27-year old Gabriel Lago understand that development and democracy may not blossom in the new state overnight.
"It will not happen fast but, little by little, people will have more chances - chances of work, chances of education - more than before," he says.
Overshadowing the massive referendum turnout was a flare-up of violence in the disputed Abyei district on the north-south border, where the feuding Misseriya Arab and Ngok Dinka peoples both reported heavy losses over the past three days totalling at least 33 dead.
Tensions in the district have been rising with the launch of the vote in the south. Abyei had been due to hold a simultaneous plebiscite on its own future, which has been indefinitely postponed.
There was also deadly fighting in Unity state, a key oil-producing area near the north-south border where voting was suspended in some areas on Sunday after troops killed six militiamen over the previous two days, the southern army said.
Independence for South Sudan would also present a host of post-vote issues to be settled, all of them related to the future of relations between Sudan's north and south.
Yesterday, Mr Carter said Sudanese President Omar al Bashir is ready for the north to take on all of the country's US$38 billion (Dh135bn) debt, freeing the war-ravaged south of any liabilities if it votes for independence. "I spoke with President al Bashir. He said the entire debt should be assigned to north Sudan and not to the southern part," Mr Carter told CNN in an interview.
Provisional results for the southern states will be not be announced until January 30, but polling stations will begin declaring their returns from Saturday, Wanawilla said. Collating of the results takes so long because of the problems involved in collecting ballot boxes in a vast, war-ravaged region that has just 40km of tarmac road.
Mr al Bashir, an army man who led the north's war against the south for a decade and a half before signing the peace deal six years ago, has said he will respect the vote's outcome if it is "free and transparent".
mfick@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Associated Press
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
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Engine: 3.7-litre V6
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Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
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Dust and sand storms compared
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Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
BOSH!'s pantry essentials
Nutritional yeast
This is Firth's pick and an ingredient he says, "gives you an instant cheesy flavour". He advises making your own cream cheese with it or simply using it to whip up a mac and cheese or wholesome lasagne. It's available in organic and specialist grocery stores across the UAE.
Seeds
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Umami flavours
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Onions and garlic
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What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
The view from The National
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
UAE Falcons
Carly Lewis (captain), Emily Fensome, Kelly Loy, Isabel Affley, Jessica Cronin, Jemma Eley, Jenna Guy, Kate Lewis, Megan Polley, Charlie Preston, Becki Quigley and Sophie Siffre. Deb Jones and Lucia Sdao – coach and assistant coach.
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
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RESULTS
Main card
Bantamweight 56.4kg: Mehdi Eljamari (MAR) beat Abrorbek Madiminbekov (UZB), Split points decision
Super heavyweight 94 kg: Adnan Mohammad (IRN) beat Mohammed Ajaraam (MAR), Split points decision
Lightweight 60kg: Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) beat Faridoon Alik Zai (AFG), RSC round 3
Light heavyweight 81.4kg: Taha Marrouni (MAR) beat Mahmood Amin (EGY), Unanimous points decision
Light welterweight 64.5kg: Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE), Unanimous points decision
Light heavyweight 81.4kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Haroun Baka (ALG), KO second round
Biog
Age: 50
Known as the UAE’s strongest man
Favourite dish: “Everything and sea food”
Hobbies: Drawing, basketball and poetry
Favourite car: Any classic car
Favourite superhero: The Hulk original
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The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
All or Nothing
Amazon Prime
Four stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
AUSTRALIA SQUADS
ODI squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Twenty20 squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
The biog
Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb
Age: 57
From: Kalba
Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge
Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.