Monday April 30, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

Unions and opposition parties have applauded the decision by the High Court in Pretoria to put the controversial e-toll system on hold with immediate effect. Cosatu said the decision would allow more time to look at alternative methods of funding road construction and usage. The Department of Transport, meanwhile, said it would study the ruling. The Democratic Alliance said the ruling opened the door for getting the system scrapped.

South Sudan has told the UN it will pull all police out of a disputed region on its border with Sudan and is committed to halting all fighting with its northern neighbour, but Khartoum declared a state of emergency in some border areas. The conflicting developments raised questions about whether the UN and AU appeals for an end to more than three weeks of border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan would bear fruit and avert full-blown war in the oil-producing region. South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan nine months ago under a 2005 settlement, told the UN it planned to withdraw all police from the Abyei region, according to a letter from Juba's mission to the world body.

The Muslim Brotherhood's chances of winning the Egyptian presidency have been damaged by the decision of a hardline Islamist movement to back its main rival in a race that heats up today with the start of official campaigning. The historic democratic election to decide who replaces fallen autocrat Hosni Mubarak has become a political struggle between Islamists who were oppressed by the deposed president, and leftists seen with little chance of winning. Some 53-million Egyptians will be eligible to vote between May 23-24 in a first round that is expected to be followed by a June run-off between the top two candidates. The ruling military council is due to hand over power on July 1.

Also making headlines:

A military junta that seized power in Mali last month rejected a regional plan to extend the rule of an interim civilian government, casting a shadow over delicately balanced negotiations to resolve the country's crisis.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.