MILESTONE

South Sudan Flag to Fly at 2016 Olympics

IOC accepts country as 206th member nation.

South Sudan athletes will compete under the nation's own flag after the International Olympic Committee accepted the world's youngest nation as its 206th member at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, plans to send at least four runners to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic games next August. The IOC could not recognize the war-torn nation until it met a requirement to establish five sports federations. Four years later, South Sudan is recognized in basketball football, handball, judo, table tennis and tae kwon do federations. Thousands of people have died and more than 2.2 million others displaced since conflict erupted in December 2013 between President Salva Kiir's government and rebels.