Friday, May 28, 2010

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

Making headlines:

Africa must recapture the intellectual space to define its future, especially if it aims to leave its mark on the twenty-first century, said former President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday.
Speaking at the inaugural Thabo Mbeki lecture entitled Investing in Thought Leaders for Africa's Renewal at Unisa in Pretoria, Mbeki said that Africa must take the "necessary steps to ensure that it occupies its rightful place within the global community." In doing this, Africans must at all times be conscious of the "glorious history" that was made and continues to be made.
Practical steps that Mbeki suggested should be taken to achieve Africa's renewal were: nurturing the "native intellectual" committed to the transformation of Africa, developing capacity in the State and achieving African cohesion. Mbeki highlighted the importance of being aware of the past and its relevance to establishing African identity.

Members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will meet next week in Uganda to discuss a controversial expansion of the court's powers that would allow it to prosecute crimes of State aggression for the first time.
Delegates from 111 member States will seek agreement during a ten-day conference in Kampala on how to define State aggression, one of four grave crimes over which the ICC has jurisdiction, but one that it has yet to tackle, in part because of political sensitivities. A deal could open the door for the court to prosecute crimes such as the invasion of another country, a port blockade or a State allowing another nation to use its territory to wage war on a third State.
Assembly of States Parties president Christian Wenaweser said that this would be both a significant step forward in the development of international law and an important extension of the court's jurisdiction.

African Development Bank (AfDB) president Donald Kaberuka was re-elected for five years on Thursday, vowing to more than double lending to around $30-billion in five years, from about $12,6-billion now.
At the bank's annual conference in Abidjan, Kaberuka also pledged to help transform Africa from a commodity exporter to a first-world consumer. He said that the AfDB would expand its capital base to $100-billion as expected.
Ahead of the conference, Kaberuka said that the top priority for the bank's newly enlarged capital base would be tackling Africa's chronic power shortages with infrastructure projects, mostly for electricity, making up 60% of its portfolio.

Also making headlines:

The Congress of South African Trade Unions demands a greater say in economic policy.
The US approves a $15-million grant programme for Liberia as President Barack Obama praises the leadership of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
South African President Jacob Zuma says that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will be arrested in terms of international law if he comes to South Africa.
And, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says that elections will go ahead next year, despite infighting within the coalition government.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.