Tuesday, October 14, 2008.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shona Kohler.

Making headlines today:

South Africa's ruling African National Congress has decided to suspend former Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, after he threatened to form a breakaway party.

Lekota, who quit as Defence Minister in protest at the party's ousting of former President Thabo Mbeki last month, has indicated that the ANC is close to a split, and that he may form a new party ahead of next year's elections.

Lekota's suspension could make a break in the party more likely, although analysts say that without heavyweight members such as Mbeki himself, a breakaway group will struggle to pose a real challenge to the ANC.

Zimbabwe's Parliament resumes work today for a session that could test a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe's Zanu-PF party goes into the new Parliament stripped of a majority for the first time since the country's independence from Britain in 1980. The party will need to work with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to run an effective government.

Meanwhile, former South African President Thabo Mbeki is in Harare to hold talks aimed at rescuing the power-sharing deal he brokered, which analysts say is Zimbabwe's best hope for ending an economic crisis.

With three weeks to go until the November 4 election in the US, Republican presidential nominee John McCain has sought to assure supporters that he can come from behind to defeat Democrat Barack Obama.

McCain has distanced himself from unpopular President George W Bush, saying, "We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change."

A poll released on Monday showed Obama with a four-point lead among likely voters.

Also making headlines:
The ANC warns against defiance.
Zille wins top world mayor award.
Bush critic wins 2008 Nobel prize for economics.
And, the mystery virus is identified.

Currently, the speeches section of polity.org.za contains the acceptance speech of Gauteng's newly elected Premier Paul Mashatile, in which he promises increased commitment to education, skills development and crime prevention.

Other key political leaders whose addresses are available on polity.org.za include South Africa's newly appointed Health Minister, Barbara Hogan; World Bank President Robert Zoellick; and US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories, visit polity.org.za.