We have detected that the browser you are using is no longer supported. As a result, some content may not display correctly.
We suggest that you upgrade to the latest version of any of the following browsers:
close notification
• In a fresh challenge to the West, and in particular to the European Union, which backs Kosovo's independence, Serbia announces that it intends to rule parts of Kosovo where "loyal citizens" still look to Belgrade for government. Serbia cherishes Kosovo as the cradle of the nation, where Serb history and myth dates back 1 000 years and old monasteries dot the land. But most Serbs have little first-hand knowledge of the poor southern province, now populated by a 90% majority of ethnic Albanians.
• Soaring global commodity prices will force the World Food Programme to scale back food aid within months unless donors dramatically increase contributions. The hunger-relief agency will need to raise $500-million more than it expected to carry out scheduled relief operations in 2008, following a 70% spike in food prices since 2002. Growing demand for food in China and India, a shift toward more meat-oriented diets and the use of crops for biofuels have all helped drive up the cost of food. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that record food prices are unlikely to ease in the foreseeable future.
• The Democratic Alliance calls on President Thabo Mbeki to make public the full report of the Khampepe Commission. The report, which set out the case to retain the Directorate of Special Operations, or Scorpions, in the National Prosecuting Authority, had yet to see the light of day, despite it having been presented to Mbeki 20 months ago. DA leader, Helen Zille, has threatened that if the President does not voluntarily release the report, the DA will be left with no other choice but to invoke the relevant legislation to obtain it themselves.
Also making headlines: • French President Nicholas Sarkozy arrives in South Africa to meet with President Thabo Mbeki and also address a joint sitting of Parliament.
• Sudan bans the import of Danish goods, blaming Denmark's government for allowing papers to reprint a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed that caused outrage in Islamic countries two years ago.
• Zimbabwean presidential hopeful Simba Makoni said on Monday he would not form a coalition with the main opposition party because it would alienate dissenters in President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.
This bulletin has been compiled with the assistance of Reuters and Sapa.
Also available on the Polity website are a number of recommended reports and documents that provide for interesting reading, including:
• The People’s Budget, a publication presented by the Peoples Budget Campaign, which offers input on the South African government's 2008 Budget.
• South African Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel’s 2008 Budget Speech and supporting documents.
• Policy and Guidelines for the implementation of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV programme.
Also freely downloadable on the site are several new pieces of South African legislation and a collection of important addresses made by South African government leaders and other leading figures from around the African continent.
That’s a roundup of this week’s activities on Creamer Media’s polity.org.za.
Multimedia
