A South Sudanese soldier played the trumpet during a parade rehearsal in Juba Thursday, two days before South Sudan is scheduled to formally secede from the north to become the world’s newest nation.

A soldier in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army stood in line Tuesday during a rehearsal for an Independence Day ceremony in Juba. South Sudan is expected to declare its independence on July 9.

Cows drank from a pond as a boy stood in the middle in Kadugli, Sudan, Tuesday.

Southern Sudanese celebrated the announcement of independence-referendum results in Juba, South Sudan, Monday. Nearly 99% of voters cast ballots in favor of independence from the majority Muslim northern Sudan.

A southern Sudanese woman showed off her inked finger after voting Monday on the second day of a referendum that could see the mainly Christian south split from the Muslim north. Meanwhile, violence in the disputed region of Abyei killed at least 30 people.

A boy stood near a trash fire at a market in Juba, Sudan, Tuesday. Southern Sudan is preparing for an independence referendum vote on Jan. 9.

Two girls traveled on a boat from Kosti to Juba, Sudan, Friday. The girls joined thousands of Sudanese who are going home to register and vote in a January 2011 referendum that could see southern Sudan spilt from northern Sudan.