International News Roundup for Jan.3-Jan.16

This is not original reporting. All information has been compiled from the Washington Post and Reuters. Silver Chips Online posts this news summary to provide readers with a forum for discussion.

Juba, Sudan

Jan. 9 - Southern Sudan began a historic, week-long independence referendum in which thousands of exiled Sudanese returned to their villages. They will vote on seceding from an oppressive north government. The vote follows a 2005 peace agreement that ended the nation's long-stretched civil war between the Muslim north and Christian south. The conflict killed countless and created permeating instability throughout the state. As of this past Saturday, a sampling of several voting sites' results showed a nearly unanimous vote in favor of secession. Official results will be released early next month.

Tehran, Iran
Jan. 3 - Iran invited Russia, China and the European Union, among others, to visit several of its key nuclear plants. The U.S., U.K., France and Germany - countries all opposed to Iran's nuclear program - were not invited. Geoge Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank believes this gesture was a staging of transparency on Iran's part. Iran and six other world powers are scheduled to meet later this month in Istanbul to discuss Iran's disputed nuclear program.

Kiev, Ukraine
Jan. 5 - Ukrainian authorities declared the bombing of a Joseph Stalin statue in Kiev an act of terrorism. The statue was the first public monument dedicated to Stalin in decades. Unveiled last May, the landmark stirred controversy between those who view Stalin as a figure of past Russian oppression and those who praise him as a leader who led Soviet forces defeat the Nazis during World War II.

Tunis, Tunisia

Jan. 14 - Massive street demonstrations forced Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile in Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power. The country has since been ridden with riots over poor living conditions, citizen rights and political corruption. This past December, a produce vendor set himself on fire to protest the police confiscating his street cart. The series of events over the past few weeks seemed to cause several similar protests in Egypt, Jordan and Algeria. After Ali was ousted, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi took over as acting president and made plans to organize elections and usher in a new government.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Jan. 12 - Haitian officials raised the official death toll of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake to over 316,000 deaths on the first anniversary of the disaster. Previous estimates were around 250,000 deaths. At a somber anniversary ceremony at the National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, many paid respects to the deceased and prayed for more progress in reconstruction. Despite donations from countries worldwide, much of the country is still in wreckage. About 800,000 are still left homeless and currently live in tent camps.