Monday, May 17, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.

Making headlines:

The African National Congress's (ANC's) National Executive Committee (NEC) is not reviewing ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema's disciplinary case, says party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.
Briefing the press after a weekend NEC meeting, Mantashe said that the NEC appreciates the way that the national disciplinary committee handled the case to its finality. According to the party's constitution, disciplinary matters can only come before the NEC after appeal.
Asked if the ANC was worried about internal divisions, Mantashe said that the ruling party was "stable" and that there were no divisions within the ANC.

Trade finance, vital to keeping the wheels of international trade turning, remains a concern for poor countries in Africa and other regions, even as global commerce rebounds in the economic recovery. Practitioners in the $10-trillion trade finance market are now talking to regulators to ensure that efforts to stop banks hiding toxic assets do not make it harder and costlier to extend trade finance, traditionally one of the safest forms of credit .The World Trade Organisation will host a meeting of trade finance bankers, international financial institutions and regulators this week to monitor the state of the market ahead of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Toronto next month. This follows a progress report on the $250-billion trade finance package agreed at the G20 summit in London in April last year that was submitted to G20 finance ministers at last month's International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings in Washington.

Talks between striking South African transport workers and logistics group Transnet have failed to end a dispute, threatening to widen action that has crippled the country's rail and port operations. The strike, in its second week, has hit exports of metals, fruit and wine to customers in Europe and Asia, after nearly two-thirds of Transnet's 54 000-strong work force joined in. The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union and the United Transport and Allied Trade Union say that the Transnet strike is set to intensify with no resolution in sight.
The unions said that they had lowered their wage rise request to 13% from 15%, closer to Transnet's offer of 11%, but still no agreement could be reached. Analysts and the central bank have criticised unions, saying that pay rises well above the 5,1% inflation rate would slow South Africa's economic recovery.

Also making headlines:

Four East African countries have signed a new deal creating a permanent commission to manage the Nile river's waters, putting them on a collision course with Egypt and Sudan.
The National Prosecuting Authority says that it is no longer investigating any cases of arms deal corruption as investigations have been handed over to the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation, or the Hawks.
Heavy shelling pounded Somalia's capital yesterday, as Parliament's first sitting this year triggered a call by the speaker for a new government.
And, Niger's military government starts an unprecedented drive to distribute free food to one-million starving Nigeriens.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.