The Daily Blog

South Sudan Becomes World’s Newest Nation.

JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan became the world’s newest nation early Saturday, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of at least 2 million people.

Residents of the new nation – the Republic of South Sudan – danced in the streets, banged on jerry cans and chanted the name of the world’s newest president, Salva Kiir.

South Sudan earned independence at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the culmination of a January independence vote guaranteed in a 2005 peace deal that ended the most recent north-south war.

Saturday’s early morning celebrations were joyous for the freedom gained but tinged with the memories of family members lost.Chol Allen, a 32-year-old minister, escaped Sudan in 2003 and eventually settled in Memphis, Tennessee. He returned to Juba two months ago for the midnight party, though he plans to go back to the U.S.

“I came here for this moment,” he said. “We were all born into war. All of us,” he said while pointing at a crowded pick-up truck of youngsters. “This generation will see the hope of the newborn nation.”

Abdule Taban wore a wide smile during the night’s street party, but the 25-year-old was also reflective.

“We are brothers and sisters who suffered for a long time and that’s why we are now celebrating, what we will achieve,” said Taban, as South Sudanese dusted in white cow dung – a traditional camouflage here – danced around him. “In independence we are going to have hospitals and schools and a lot of development around here. Our mothers and sisters died in the past. Hospitals were very far from us.”

Later Saturday, world leaders will attend a celebratory ceremony. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon already has arrived. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell also will attend, as will Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whose country already has recognized South Sudan.

John Kuach, a former child soldier who joined the army after his father died in fighting with the north, first fought at age 15. He said Saturday was a big day for the new nation.

“But some people are not happy because we lost heroes, those who were supposed to be in this celebration. So we are thinking, ‘Is this true? Is this a dream? A new country?’”

Back-to-Back Storms, More Subzero Cold This Week.

Back-to-back storm systems and widespread cold will bring more harsh winter weather to the eastern two-thirds of the nation this week.

One storm will spread snow and rain along a path from the Tennessee Valley to the Northeast from today through Tuesday, while the next storm will bring significant snowfall to the central and southern Plains from late tonight into Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a new blast of arctic air will spread southward and eastward, with subzero low temperatures extending over a large area from the Plains to the Northeast on Tuesday night.The first storm will be too disorganized to produce the type of intense snowfall that has been common so far this winter, but snow — or rain changing to snow — will occur from Arkansas to New England. Some travel delays may occur, especially from Arkansas to western and northern Kentucky, where communities do not have as much snow removal equipment, and in interior New England, where snow will accumulate up to several inches.Sharply cold air will follow the passage of the storm, setting the stage for widespread bitter cold by Tuesday night and the likelihood of a significant accumulation of snow fairly far south into the Plains by Wednesday, including the Dallas region.

Winter storm watches are in effect in northern Texas and much of Oklahoma. Up to 10 inches of snow is expected in Oklahoma, where strong winds will create drifts of 2 to 3 feet. Wind chill temperatures are expected to approach minus 30 in western Kansas from later Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Accumulating snow is likely to occur as far south as north-central Texas by Wednesday, marking the third accumulating snowfall in this region in the past two weeks.Accumulating snow will likely spread eastward into Arkansas and northern Louisiana during the day Wednesday, and light snow or flurries are possible from northern Mississippi to the Carolinas Wednesday night as the storm weakens.

The cold air currently across the northern Plains and northern Rockies — high temperatures today will remain below zero in parts of Montana and North Dakota — will become more widespread across the Plains, upper Midwest and Northeast during the next couple of days.Low temperatures on Tuesday night will be below zero from western Kansas to northern Illinois, including Chicago, and many locations in Nebraska and Iowa will have low temperatures of at least minus 10. In the Northeast, temperatures will approach minus 15 in the coldest locations in interior New England and upstate New York, with temperatures in the teens in New York City.

The colder than normal weather will continue from the Plains to the East through at least Thursday, with a significant warming trend across the Plains by late in the week. Warmer air will begin to move into the Northeast late in the weekend or early next week.

Obama voices concerns about Mideast peace talks.

JAKARTA, Indonesia -President Barack Obama, visiting the world’s most populous Muslim nation, expressed deep concern Tuesday that Israelis and Palestinians aren’t making the “extra effort” to secure a breakthrough for achieving Middle East peace.Obama said he hasn’t seen the kind of progress in negotiations that “could finally create a framework for a secure Israel living side by side in peace with a sovereign Palestine.” Asked at a news conference with Indonesia’s President Suslilo Bambang Yudhoyono about Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem, Obama said, “Each of these incremental steps can end up breaking that trust between these parties.”Obama raised his Mideast concerns while appearing with Yudhoyono during his first visit to Indonesia as president to the country where he lived for four years as a child. He marveled over “sights and sounds” that evoked memories of the past and said that Indonesia’s landscape of today barely resembles the land where he went to live at age 6 in 1967 after his mother married an Indonesian man.The U.S. sees Indonesia as a counterweight to China’s growing strength, though Obama said Tuesday he’s not seeking to stop China’s growth.”We think China being prosperous and secure is a positive,” Obama said. “We’re not interested in containing that process.”Still, with the controversy over how China values its currency looming as Obama heads to the G-20 economic summit in South Korea later this week, Obama said all countries must operate within, “an international framework and sets of rules in which countries recognize their responsibilities to each other.”Without mentioning China by name, he pointedly noted that the global economy hasn’t achieved balanced growth.”We have seen some countries run up very big surpluses and intervening significantly in the currency markets to maintain their advantage,” Obama said.Obama will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday, but officials say they don’t expect the currency issue to be resolved.The president said he believes the administration has improved relations with the Muslim world but called it an “incomplete project,” saying much more work needs to be done. Obama said policy differences with Muslim countries will linger, but that building better ties between the people of the United States and the Muslim world will foster improved overall relations.He voiced support for Yudhoyono’s efforts to nurture a rapidly growing society even in a time when Indonesia has been hit by earthquakes, a tsunami, and now a volcanic eruption. Concerns about volcanic ash caused the White House to shorten Obama’s stay here and expedite his takeoff Wednesday for the G-20 summit in Seoul.Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most volatile volcano, began erupting two weeks ago, unleashing a flood of volcanic gas, rock and debris that smothered whole villages and cut down people who tried to fleeing. More than 150 people have died.As scheduled, the trip was less than 24 hours, with Obama arriving late afternoon Tuesday and leaving midday Wednesday. The trip was shoehorned into a jam-packed 10-day Asia trip, between three days spent in India and economic meetings in South Korea and Japan that start Thursday.Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived on a gray, humid day in Indonesia’s capital, and were greeted by dozens of dignitaries at Istana Merdeka, a white columned presidential palace reminiscent of the White House. Obama greeted some of the officials in Indonesian as he shook their hands.Indonesians all over this country of more than 17,000 islands gathered around television sets in their houses, coffee shops and office buildings as Obama’s plane touched down.Notwithstanding the likely change in schedule for his time here, Obama’s quick stop to visit a country that is increasingly important player in Asia allowed him to speak to the values of democracy and religious tolerance and reflect on his time here as a boy.The U.S. has increasingly embraced Indonesia as a moderate Muslim nation and partner in counter-terror efforts in the wake of attacks in Bali, Jakarta and elsewhere in the region between 2002 and 2005. The nation of 250 million people is made up of a string of islands stretched through the Indian Ocean between Australia and Malaysia.”Lots of U.S. interests and lots of challenges and opportunities intersect in Indonesia,” Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told reporters Monday.Concerns over the volcanic ash cloud forced the White House to move up events Obama has planned for Wednesday, including a stop at Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque and a speech at the University of Indonesia. However, nearly all of the press traveling with Obama opted to leave Indonesia before the speech in order to make it to the next stop — South Korea — ahead of the president.

Marijuana Measure Loses in California; Tax Issues Vary by State.

California voters rejected Proposition 19, the measure that would have made the state the first in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana. Well-funded activists fought hard to pass Proposition 19 and end the state’s prohibition on pot, but California’s political and law enforcement establishment carried the day.

With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Prop 19 was trailing 55 percent to 45 percent late Tuesday night, leading analysts to project defeat. Proposition 19 would have allowed possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults over 21, and would have allowed local officials to tax it.Polls went back and forth in months leading up to the election, but in the final days, the “no” forces gathered steam.

Proponents of legalized marijuana said the ballot measure was a milestone and predicted it would be back on the ballot in 2012 in California and other states.

Otherwise, there were few discernible trends among the 142 initiatives and legislative measures on midterm ballots.
In Colorado, an initiative to block the new federal health care law was projected to lose. But voters in Oklahoma were on the verge of overwhelmingly approved a similar measure. Similarly, Oklahoma voters turned away from a measure to increase spending on public education, but voters in Massachusetts refused to cut their sales tax in half.

Marijuana:

California was the only state with a measure on recreational pot, but South Dakota and Arizona ballots included medical marijuana initiatives, South Dakota’s Measure 13 went down in flames, 63 percent to 37 percent. Arizona’s Proposition 203 was on the fence; the measure was 50 percent for, 50 percent against, with 92 percent of the precincts reporting late Tuesday night. There are currently 14 states, and the District of Columbia, with forms of medical marijuana laws.

Health care:

In several states, voters had a chance to weigh in on the debate over the future of the new health care laws. In Colorado, Amendment 63, which would create a constitutional right to a “health care choice,” trailed by a 55-45 margin. Arizona voters seem more receptive to Proposition 106, which would bar any law requiring a person to participate in a health care system. In early voting, Proposition 106 led 60-40 percent. And Oklahoma voters were soundly supporting the state’s proposed “Health Care Freedom” Amendment, State Question 756, by a margin of 65-35 percent with roughly one-third of the votes counted.

Taxes:

With the economy and unemployment a major talking point this election, several ballot measures around the country focused on taxes. In the state of Washington, Proposition 1098 sought to tax wealthy state residents in order to provide tax relief to small businesses and the middle class. But Washington voters turned it down 65 percent to 35 percent, with 59 percent of precincts counted, according to the Associated Press.

In Oklahoma, with a third of the precincts reporting, voters were rejecting by a margin of 80-20 percent a taxing measure called Helping Oklahoma Education Act. State Question 744, which would require the legislature to fund the state’s public school system on a par with per-student costs in neighboring states, was trailing. But voters in Massachusetts refused to roll back the Commonwealth’s sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent. With 70 percent of precincts reporting, the tax rollback measure was down 57-43 percent.

Other notable measures:

In California, via Proposition 23, voters in early returns were rejecting an attempt to put off greenhouse gas regulation in the Golden State until its economy turns around.

In Colorado, Amendment 62, a measure that would give fetuses constitutional rights from the moment of inception, went down to defeat, 70 percent to 30 percent.

In Missouri, voters appeared headed toward defeating dog-breeding restrictions. With roughly one-third of the precincts reporting, the measure to restrict puppy mills was trailing 58-42 percent.