Africa Today spoke with Professor Lako Tongun on the independence of the Republic of South Sudan. Professor Tongun was in attendance during the celebrations in Juba, South Sudan on July 11, 2011.

Though much of the attention on land grabs in Africa has focused on Asian and Middle Eastern buyers, the Oakland Institute has been revealing that U.S.-based institutions are active as well. This is particularly true of South Sudan, where 'US investors are intimately involved' in land dealing.

The international relief organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treated over 100 patients in the town of Pieri and referred another 57 to hospitals in Leer and Nasir following a raid on the town of Pieri and twelve surrounding villages in Jonglei State, South Sudan. The majority of the referred cases were women and children with gunshot wounds.

At least 125 people were confirmed dead on Sunday as sectional fighting continued between two feuding tribes in Jonglei state in South Sudan, officials said. Sixty others perished in fighting between the army and a militia group in Upper Nile state on Saturday, according to the army spokesman. The caretaker Justice Minister, John Luk Jok, said 125 bodies were found dead on the ground in Uror County in Jonglei state since the fighting broke out on Thursday.