The Republic of South Sudan will officially mark its independence as a new country tomorrow. It comes after a half-century of brutal civil wars that left more than two million people dead. The transition to independence has been comparatively peaceful and full of hope. But fears of a renewed conflict are being stoked by new fighting between the north and the south.

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Today's guest host was Mike Finnerty.

Part One of The Current

Satire

It's Friday July 8th.

Australia has introduced the world's first plain-package cigarette laws with the goal of cutting the country's number of smokers in half by 2018.

Big Tobacco argues it can accomplish the same goal through customer mortalities.

This is the Current.

Southern Sudan Independence - Peter Martell

The people of South Sudan are getting ready to mark their first day as an independent nation. The Republic of South Sudan will officially come into existence tomorrow. It has been a long time coming and it cost the Sudanese people dearly. North and South Sudan have been at war for most of the last 50 years. More than two-and-a-half million people have died in the fighting.

And across South Sudan, people are hoping that a new country will mean a new chapter in their history. Amidst the hope, there is fear too ... fear that fresh fighting in the Nuba Mountains, in the state of South Kordofan, which is in the North but along the border between the north and the south, could re-ignite an all-out war at a time when the United Nations' peacekeeping mandate there is running out.

Alain Le Roy is the head of U.N. Peacekeeping operations in Sudan. We heard from him. The U.N. Peacekeeping mission's mandate will expire tomorrow at midnight.

Freelance journalist Trevor Snapp has been visiting the Nuba Mountains, one of the areas in South Kordofan where there's been fighting this week. South Kordofan will remain part of the north even after the South becomes a republic tomorrow... its proximity to the South could destabilize both countries. Trevor spoke to a junior commander with the Sudan People's Liberation Army which has been fending off a fresh attack by Sudanese forces in Kadugli.

It's a different scene in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Peter Martell is the BBC's correspondent in Juba.

Southern Sudan Independence - Morris Batali

Southern Sudanese around the world are watching as this historic moment unfolds. Morris Batali is one of them. He fled Southern Sudan during the civil war and eventually came to Canada. He's now the deputy head of the Government of Southern Sudan's Mission to Canada. He was in Ottawa.

Southern Sudan Independence - Calestous Juma

The still-disputed border is just one of the challenges facing South Sudan. The new country will be one of the poorest on earth. It has very little infrastructure, a suspicious if not outright hostile neighbour, and a number of different ethnic groups which may compete for power after independence.

For his thoughts on whether South Sudan will be able to meet those challenges, we were joined by Calestous Juma. He's Kenyan by birth. He teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School. And he's the author of The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa. Calestous Juma was in Washington this morning.

Related Links:

• Development in north and south Sudan - interactive By
• Paddy Allen, Claire Provost and Jenny Ridley - The Guardian
• Explainer: Sudan's unresolved issues By Mark Tran - The Guardian
• South Sudan: Failed State in Waiting By Rob Crilly - Huffington Post
• Sudan Referendum: Birth of a Failed State? By Peter Martell & Adrian Blomfield - The Telegraph
• Southern Sudan has many lessons to learn from Juba University By Calestous Juma - The Guardian
• South Sudan needs to retain its army - to fight for development by Calestous Juma - The East African
  

Other segment from today's show:

• The Silencing of St. Andrews (Documentary)