May 22, 2014
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:
 

The National Assembly elects Baleka Mbete as the new Speaker of Parliament and Jacob Zuma is elected President.

A US general says US–Egypt military ties will depend on Egypt's new government’s future actions.

And, a report reveals that developed economies beat large emerging nations on competitiveness.

The new National Assembly on Wednesday elected President Jacob Zuma unopposed for a second term as head of state after a failed bid by the Democratic Alliance (or DA) to argue that he wasn’t fit for the post.

After the African National Congress (or ANC) nominated Zuma, the DA's James Selfe rose to ask that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng rule that he was not a "fit and proper person", notably because of his inadequate response to reports from the Public Protector.

Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor countered that it was a "frivolous motion" because, constitutionally, any member of the Assembly could be elected president. The chief justice dismissed the point.

Meanwhile, the Assembly earlier elected ANC national chairperson Baleka Mbete as Speaker. She easily defeated the DA's nominee for the post, former ANC Eastern Cape premier Nosimo Balindlela, winning 260 votes compared to Balindlela's 88.
 

The future of US military ties with Egypt, curtailed after a crackdown on opponents by the army-backed leaders, will depend on the actions of the future government, the top US military officer said ahead of Egyptian elections next week.

Although presidential elections on Monday and Tuesday could provide the country's leaders new legitimacy, many Obama administration officials question whether Egypt should again become the premier US partner in the Arab world.

General Martin Dempsey, chairperson of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff  advised maintaining the relationship with the US military and Egyptian military. He suggested that that relationship would be affected by the new government’s actions and whether they made progress in their political transition.

US support for Cairo was supended by the political transformations triggered by the 2011 popular uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
 

As the economies of the US and Europe recover from a recession, large emerging markets are unable to keep up on competitiveness, a preview of a yearly competiveness report by Switzerland-based global business school IMD states.

The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, which will be published at the end of June, benchmarks the performance of 60 countries based on over 300 criteria measuring different facets of competitiveness.

“The overall competitiveness story for 2014 is one of continued success in the US, partial recovery in Europe, and struggles for some large emerging markets,” said IMD World Competitiveness Center director Professor Arturo Bris.

Most of the larger emerging markets reported a slide in ranking as economic growth and foreign investment slow and infrastructure remained inadequate, while the previous top-ten countries mostly maintained their rankings – an indication, particularly in the US, which retained the top spot, of the resilience of the economy, better employment numbers and dominance in technology and infrastructure.

Also making headlines:
 

The US deploys its military to help search for the abducted Nigerian girls.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited will need almost R15-billion within the next five years to upgrade the N3 between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

And, Nigerian Islamists extend their killing spree in a northeast village, hours after a bomb killed 118 people in the central city of Jos.
 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.