Wednesday, July 28, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Dennis Ndaba.

Making headlines:

Cabinet on Tuesday announced interim fines for members of the executive, including the President, who breach the executive ethics code.
Government spokesperson Themba Maseko explained that if Ministers or the President fail to comply with the code, they can be fined up to one month's salary, or see their salaries and benefits reduced for a period of up to 15 days. Maseko said that these measures were prompted by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report finding President Jacob Zuma in breach of the code for failing to declare his interests within 60 days of taking office.
These measures will apply until Justice Minister Jeff Radebe tables a report on a comprehensive review addressing weaknesses in the executive ethics code listed by Madonsela. The interim penalties and Radebe's review will also apply to the President, but it appears that Zuma will not be made to pay for declaring his interests eight months late. Justice Ministry spokesperson Tlali Tlali says that the interim penalties are not retroactive.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Tuesday that his dream of a United States of Africa is still alive and that this week's African Union summit is another step towards that objective.
Gaddafi has been pushing for an African unity government for years, saying that it is the only way that Africa can develop without Western interference, but many African States say that the idea is impractical and would encroach on their sovereignty.
Some African leaders say that they cannot be expected to cede sovereignty to any African bloc just decades after they wrested it away from their colonial rulers. But Gaddafi's idea has had a sympathetic response in some States, helped by his reputation in parts of the continent as a champion of the developing world and also by the millions of dollars in aid that his oil-exporting country spends in Africa.

Long-running talks to open up world trade are showing tentative signs of movement after months of deadlock. A deal in the World Trade Organisation's (WTO's) eight-and-a-half-year-old Doha Round is still far off, but informal small-group contacts between big players like the US, the European Union, China, Brazil and India suggest that one could at least be possible.
WTO director-general Pascal Lamy says that "after some months of impasse in the negotiations, [his] sense is that we are beginning to see signs of a new dynamic emerging."
Addressing the WTO's Trade Negotiations Committee, Lamy said that it is too soon for the WTO's 153 members to start thinking about "horizontal trade-offs", but if the creative work in the small groups continues side by side with the formal negotiations, it could soon be time for countries to start testing such possibilities against each other. Lamy has called for a review of progress on the talks in mid-October before November's Group of 20 summit in Seoul.

Also making headlines:

South Africa is one of 12 countries that have failed to reduce child mortality since 1990, according to the 2009/10 South African Child Gauge.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation says that Zimbabwe's food security is improving as its troubled farm sector starts to recover.
African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema says that the organisation is not in crisis ahead of its 2011 elective conference after multiple reports of revolts within the league.
And, Chief State law adviser Enver Daniels dismisses criticism of the Protection of Information Bill as largely "emotional and hysterical" and insists that the draft act is constitutional.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.