Monday January 23, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

Oral arguments will be presented today in embattled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's appeal against his five-year suspension from the ANC. Malema's lawyers submitted heads of argument to the ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeals last week. Malema and other senior Youth League leaders were suspended after being found guilty of sowing division within the ANC and of bringing the party into disrepute. This was a result of comments made on bringing about regime change in Botswana.

Tribal fighting in South Sudan has left 120 000 people in need of emergency food aid, twice the previous estimate, the UN said on Friday. The organisaton was in a race against time to reach people displaced by fighting between the Lou Nuer and Murle tribes in Jonglei state, said UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan Lise Grande. The UN initially said around 60 000 people needed food aid after fleeing into surrounding bush and seeing many of their grain stores destroyed.

The Muslim Brotherhood won by far the biggest share of seats allocated to party lists in Egypt's first freely elected Parliament in decades, final results confirmed, giving it a major role in drafting the country's new Constitution. Banned under former leader Hosni Mubarak and his predecessors, the Brotherhood has emerged as the winner from his overthrow. Islamists of various stripes have taken about two-thirds of seats in the assembly, broadly in line with their own forecasts. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has promised all Egyptians will have a voice in the new Parliament, but Islamists are now set to wield major influence over a new Constitution to be drafted by a 100-strong body Parliament will help pick.

Also making headlines:

Madagascar's exiled former leader Marc Ravalomanana was back where he started on Saturday after a plane flying him home was ordered to turn around mid-flight and returned to Johannesburg's main international airport.

And, the deputy head of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council said he was resigning after a series of protests against the new government which the country's leader warned could drag Libya into a "bottomless pit."

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.