Wednesday April 11, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

Slain SACP leader Chris Hani would have been militant about economic inequities but would not have tolerated disrespect for older comrades, Cosatu said yesterday. "You would have insisted on discipline and respect for older comrades," said Cosatu general-secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi. "We know you would not have allowed the type of ill-discipline we saw and chose to conveniently ignore because it was directed at those we disagreed with." Vavi was voicing his sentiments in a tribute to Hani on the anniversary of the SACP secretary-general's assassination 19 years ago.

Syrian troops killed 31 people yesterday, pursuing a fierce assault on President Bashar al-Assad's opponents instead of silencing their big guns and leaving towns as promised under a fraying international peace plan. The worst bloodshed was in the city of Homs, where shelling of opposition districts killed at least 26, activists said. Opposition groups said there was no sign of a military pullout, with tanks still in cities such as Homs and Hama. Citing satellite images, a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson endorsed that view and denounced a Syrian assurance that troops were, in fact, withdrawing as a "blatant lie".

A total of 108 826 new jobs were created in South Africa in March, an increase from the 24 000 jobs created in February and 80 000 jobs created in January, the latest Adcorp Employment Index showed. This was the strongest monthly showing of job creation since the 2009 recession, with the index rising 6.8% year-on-year, Adcorp stated. The strongest growth was in the temporary employment sector, which grew by 11.3% and permanent jobs, which grew by 9.2%. Growth in the informal sector was modest at 0.6%, while the only category to show a decline was agency work, which shed 3 098 jobs.

Also making headlines:

The unprecedented challenge posed by developing countries to the US grip on the World Bank presidency will test industrial nations' commitment to an open selection process, former Colombian finance minister and nominee Jose Antonio Ocampo said.

And, leaders of the world's industrial powers should commit to boost agriculture investments in poor countries and end hunger and malnutrition among the poor when they meet outside Washington in May, a group co-founded by anti-poverty campaigners and rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof said.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.