September 29, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Pimani Baloyi.
Making headlines:

Rand Water says water levels remain low in certain parts of Johannesburg.

The World Health Organisation sees small-scale use of experimental Ebola vaccines in January.

And, the Department of Energy defends its Russian nuclear cooperation deal.

Water utility Rand Water said that water levels remained low in certain parts of Johannesburg on Monday.

These included Waterval, where water levels were at 20%, and Meredale, where water levels stood at 15%, spokesperson Justice Mohale said.

Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane would provide more information on the water shortages during a briefing in Johannesburg on Monday afternoon.

Mohale said decisions would be taken after the minister had spoken to the media.

The World Health Organisation said it expected to begin small-scale use of two experimental Ebola vaccines in West Africa early next year. In the meantime, however, transfusions of survivors' blood may offer the best hope of treatment.

The WHO is working with pharmaceutical companies and regulators to accelerate the use of a range of potential treatments to fight the disease, a senior WHO official said. Ebola has no cure and has killed at least 3 091 out of 6 574 people infected in West Africa since an outbreak began in March.

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has begun clinical trials of its vaccine in the US and Britain, to be followed by a trial starting in Mali next week, while NewLink vaccine trials are about to start in the US and Germany.

With the deal between South Africa’s Department of Energy (or DoE) and Russian-based nuclear giant Rosatom drawing controversy, the DoE has assured that the agreement was not the first by the department – and would not be the last.

Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson last week signed a nuclear power cooperation deal with the Russian State-owned firm that could see South Africa build up to 9.6 GW of nuclear power using Russian technology by 2030.

The DoE stated that the agreement and “the others South Africa have, and further intended to sign with other countries”, was directed by the country’s energy policy, the Integrated Resource Plan of 2010, which outlined a mix of coal, nuclear, renewable energy, gas and hydro energy sources, besides others.

“South Africa has signed over 60 different energy-related cooperation agreements, addressing different aspects of energy and [the] use of different energy sources,” the DoE said, citing the example of the recent agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure that the Grand Inga hydropower project progressed.

Also making headlines:

Presidency spokesperson Mac Maharaj has slammed as 'paranoia', spytape claims that he coordinated President Jacob Zuma's victory at the 2007 African National Congress conference in Polokwane.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned that Islamic militant forces operating in Iraq and Syria would launch terrorist attacks around the world unless they were stopped.

An Egyptian court postponed to November 29 its verdict on whether former president Hosni Mubarak ordered the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his three-decade rule.

And, the US and countries that contribute troops to UN peacekeeping missions have vowed to ensure that more soldiers, better training and additional resources are available for the "blue helmets" confronting new threats on changing battlefields.

Also on Polity:

A new Human Rights Watch report documents government abuses against transgender people in Malaysia; while a Brenthurst Foundation Discussion Paper reflects on the main arguments and perspectives that emerged from a High-level Roundtable co-hosted by The Brenthurst Foundation and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Addis Ababa earlier this year.

Don’t forget to follow Polity on Twitter [@PolityZA]

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.