Tuesday May 3, 2011

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

Making headlines:
Kenya hailed on Monday the death of Osama bin Laden as an act of justice, but said more must be done to bring stability to neighbouring Somalia, where al Qaeda-linked fighters are waging an insurgency.

Al Qaeda first struck east Africa in 1998, killing hundreds of people, mostly Africans, in suicide bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In Somalia, a lack of a strong government for two decades has made the nation a haven for foreign jihadists bent on striking the region.

"Kenyans are happy and thank the US people, the Pakistani people and everybody else who managed to kill Osama," Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told Reuters after US forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan.

Crowds chanting support for Muammar Gaddafi gathered in Tripoli on Monday for the funeral of his son, killed in a NATO airstrike that has raised questions about the West's role in the uprising against the Libyan leader.

Gaddafi's forces halted their bombardment of the port in the rebel-held city of Misrata after NATO air strikes, but the port remained closed, a rebel spokesman told Reuters, thwarting efforts to bring supplies in by sea to the besieged city.

NATO planes also struck overnight on positions held by Libyan government forces near the rebel-held town of Zintan.

Ivory Coast's deposed former leader Laurent Gbagbo urged supporters on Monday to drop political quarrels for now and help the West African country revive its economy in peace.

Gbagbo was ousted from power on April 11 by forces loyal to his successor Alassane Ouattara, backed by French and United Nations (UN) troops deployed to help end a four-month power struggle that killed thousands.

His supporters, some of them armed, have continued to battle government forces in pro-Gbagbo areas of the main city Abidjan.

South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, part of a delegation meeting Gbagbo that also included former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former Irish President Mary Robinson, said he was heartened by the comments.

Also making headlines:
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says that agriculture and mining have the potential of creating many jobs.
The South African government is 'concerned' over the Gaddafi family killing.
And, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe's MDC can grow the economy by 10% a year if it wins elections that President Robert Mugabe wants held this year.

That’s a round up of news making headlines today.