Thursday April 19, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Shannon de Ryhove

Making headlines:

Rising prosperity in South Africa was likely to increase water consumption and also result in a more unequal distribution of water resources, Global Water Partnership patron Maggie Catley-Carlson cautioned at the South African Water and Energy Forum. Government would, therefore, need to grapple with the water, energy, food and climate ‘mega nexus’ in an integrated way to find equitable and environmentally acceptable solutions. Elaborating on the interconnectedness of this mega nexus, she explained that it took a litre of water to produce each calorie consumed by human beings. A scarcity of water would, therefore, seriously undermine rising food security.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe urged political parties to ensure a looming general election is peaceful, amid a rise in violence that he blamed on ambitious politicians staking claims as candidates. "It's very sad that we are seeing ugly fights in constituencies sponsored by sitting members of Parliament and potential candidates," he said at a rally to mark 32 years of independence from Britain. Addressing the rally, Mugabe said Zanu-PF would not back down from a highly criticised drive to force foreign firms to surrender majority stakes to locals.

The IMF appeared to be inching toward a deal on boosting its financial firepower with Japan, Sweden and Denmark committing a total of $77-billion to help contain the Eurozone debt crisis. The pledges by the three countries come ahead of IMF and World Bank meetings and a Group of 20 finance leaders gathering in Washington this week. Discussions will focus on whether the IMF has enough resources on hand to deal with the possible fallout on the rest of the world from Europe's sovereign debt crisis, especially if the situation in Italy and Spain deteriorates.

Also making headlines:

The IMF said South Sudan had become the institution's 188th member country, giving it access to loans and technical assistance.

And, Morocco's foreign minister urged Russia to press the Syrian government to adhere to a ceasefire and withdraw forces from cities in accordance with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.