Thursday, August 26, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Brad Dubbelman.

Making headlines:

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) must examine whether the current ANC leadership is willing to use its power to change the economic conditions of South Africans, said league president Julius Malema on Wednesday.
Speaking at the league's national general council, Malema said that he was worried about the "re-emergence of a tendency to please the Queen in Britain," referring to President Jacob Zuma's trip to Britain earlier this year. Malema said that "radical" changes are needed in the country's economy to improve the lives of all South Africans, including nationalising the country's mines.
The "strategic enemy" remains "white minority capital", he said, whose interests are expressed politically through parties such as the Democratic Alliance, and which are "guarded by a reactionary media". "Our battle cry is the attainment of economic freedom in our lifetime. The wealth of South Africa should benefit all who live in it," he said.

The US will aid any effort to bring to justice rebels accused in the "horrific" mass rape of women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.
Rebels from the Mai Mai militia and Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Darfur, who occupied the town of Luvungi in North Kivu province from July 30 to August 3, raped and assaulted at least 154 civilians, according to United Nations (UN) figures. "This horrific attack is yet another example of how sexual violence undermines efforts to achieve and maintain stability in areas torn by conflict but striving for peace," Clinton said, adding that the US would do everything it ould to work with the UN and the DRC government to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable, and to create a safe environment for women, girls, and all civilians living in the eastern Congo.
The UN adopted a resolution last year recognising the importance of preventing and responding to sexual violence as a tactic of war against civilians.

Growth in world trade slowed in the second quarter of 2010, as a faster expansion in advanced countries failed to outweigh slowing growth in most emerging economies, the Dutch CPB economics institute said on Wednesday. The figures indicate that the pace of economic recovery is normalising after a rebound from the recession driven by emerging economies.
World trade in the second quarter of this year, was 3,6% higher than in the first quarter, when it grew by 5,7% over the previous three months. Looking at the more volatile monthly figures, the institute said that world trade volumes rose by 0,7% in June over May after a 2,3% increase in May. The 0,7% increase resulted from a rise in imports of 1,7%, with imports rising everywhere except in Eastern Europe, and a 0,3% drop in exports, which fell in most regions in June, except for strong increases in the Eurozone.

Also making headlines:

The Labour Court grants an interim interdict prohibiting all members of the South African Police Service from joining the public service strike.
Investors and the Nigerian electorate will watch closely when President Goodluck Jonathan presents his road map for power reform.
China's largest maker of solar panels, Suntech Power Holdings Company, signs a memorandum of understanding for the development of solar plants in South Africa.
And, a study from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre finds that the distribution of drought-tolerant maize to African farmers could save more than $1,5-billion, boost yields by up to one-quarter and lift some of the world's poorest out of poverty.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.