NEWS FLASH

U.S. Officially Recognizes South Sudan | South Sudan became an independent state today. The AP reports that “the country’s flag was officially raised for the first time over Juba, South Sudan’s capital, on Saturday after the speaker of the legislature made a formal proclamation of independence from Sudan.” “I am proud to declare that the United States formally recognizes the Republic of South Sudan as a sovereign and independent state upon this day, July 9, 2011,” President Obama said in a statement. “This historic achievement is a tribute, above all, to the generations of southern Sudanese who struggled for this day,” he said. Yesterday, the U.N. Security Council voted to establish a force of up to 7,000 peacekeepers in the new republic, a move Germany’s ambassador said “is a strong signal of support to the new South Sudan.”