Sudan Vote Leans Toward Secession

World, get ready for a new nation: Early results in Sudan's election strongly support the effort by the country's predominantly black southern region to separate from its Arab rulers in the north. In some cities, as well as among voters living in Europe, the vote favored secession by as much as 95 percent. Votes are still being counted, but all signs suggest that the move to secede will pass. Even if it does, the final vote will not be announced until Feb. 14, and independence would not come until July, when an American-backed peace agreement between the north and south expires. The elections came after years of bloody violence—a 20-year civil war that ended in 2005.