Thursday June 9, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Jessica Hannah

Making headlines:

The Nelson Mandela Foundation hosted talks between government officials, civil society, intelligence agents and academics on the Protection of Information Bill on Wednesday. The State was represented by the Department of Justice, the National Intelligence Agency, the Inspector General of Intelligence and the South African Human Rights Commission.
The civil society groups represented included the Right 2 Know campaign, which was born in opposition to the bill, the Freedom of Expression Institute, the Institute for Security Studies, the Open Society Foundation and Media Monitoring Africa. According to spokesperson Sello Hatang, there was agreement between the groups that the conversation should be taken to a wider forum by the foundation.

Western and Arab nations meet in Abu Dhabi today to focus on what one US official called the "end-game" for Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi as Nato once again stepped up the intensity of its air raids on Tripoli.
At the United Nations, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said its investigators had found evidence linking Gaddafi to a policy of raping opponents, while in the US Congress a bipartisan group proposed that President Barack Obama use frozen Libyan government assets to pay for humanitarian aid for Libyan people caught up in the civil war.
Nato air strikes resumed in Tripoli last night after a lull that followed the heaviest day of bombings since March. Thousands of Gaddafi troops advanced on Misrata yesterday, shelling it from three sides and killing at least 12 rebels.

The National Union of Mineworkers' central committee has backed the Freedom Charter's clause on nationalisation. The union's general secretary Frans Baleni says the central committee fully supports the Freedom Charter clause on nationalisation as well as the ANC 2010 National General Council (NGC) resolution on the matter. The ANC resolved at its NGC to probe the viability of nationalisation and the state's role in key sectors of the economy. Baleni says the union has not held any discussions with the ANC Youth League on nationalisation but is open to talks.

Also making headlines:
Spain has recognised Libya's rebel National Transitional Council as the country's legitimate representative, Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said during a visit to rebel-held east Libya.
Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi yesterday announced Tunisia's election will be held on October 23, a delay of a further week to ensure it can be "free and transparent".
And, land restitution still remains “a complex and emotive issue,” says Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.