(Al Jazeera English Headlines: January 5, 2011) Senior international envoys are arriving in Sudan ahead of Sunday's referendum on independence for the south. They include Senator John Kerry, who said the U.S. is encouraged by President Omar al-Bashir's recent conciliatory comments toward the south, and is reviewing its sanctions on Sudan with a view to easing them. The funeral of the assassinated governor of Pakistan's Punjab province has taken place in Lahore. Salman Taseer's bodyguard has confessed to the killing. And the premier of the Australian state of Queensland says the ongoing floods have caused "catastrophic" damage.

(Al Jazeera English Headlines: January 5, 2011) Senior international envoys are arriving in Sudan ahead of Sunday's referendum on independence for the south. They include Senator John Kerry, who said the U.S. is encouraged by President Omar al-Bashir's recent conciliatory comments toward the south, and is reviewing its sanctions on Sudan with a view to easing them. The funeral of the assassinated governor of Pakistan's Punjab province has taken place in Lahore. Salman Taseer's bodyguard has confessed to the killing. And the premier of the Australian state of Queensland says the ongoing floods have caused "catastrophic" damage.