September 15, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Megan van Wyngaardt.
Making headlines:

A tariff reopener is possible after Cabinet outlines its Eskom support package.

China offers $50-million to Mali in the midst of IMF talks.

And, US President Barack Obama will detail plans on the Ebola offensive on Tuesday.

The Cabinet-approved support package for Eskom has reaffirmed that tariff adjustments “remain the key mechanism that will provide the electricity supply industry with a sustainable solution”. However, it also included a further allocation of funds. No figure was provided for this “equity injection”, which would be funded through “leveraging nonstrategic government assets”.

No mention was made in the plan, though, of any disposal of Eskom assets, as speculated at one point. In a statement released by the National Treasury on Sunday afternoon, it was indicated that government would support Eskom’s application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa for “tariff adjustments in line with the regulatory process”.

The utility had already applied for, and partially received, claw-back relief from Nersa under the Regulatory Clearing Account mechanism for the second multiyear price determination period, which covered the three-year time horizon from April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2013.

China has extended 26-billion CFA francs (or $51-million) in funding to Mali, the West African country said last week, as it negotiates a programme with the International Monetary Fund.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita reached the agreement, which includes a gift of 18-billion francs and a 6-billion franc interest-free loan, during a visit to China for the World Economic Forum in Tianjin.

Mali also signed several partnership agreements with China, including for the construction of a fourth bridge across the Niger river in the capital Bamako and a railway line between Bamako and Conakry, the capital of neighbouring Guinea, a statement said.

The IMF restarted talks last Thursday in Bamako to review a programme for Mali and resume aid payments to the West African country, which were halted this year.

US President Barack Obama is expected to detail on Tuesday a plan to boost his country's involvement in mitigating the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, a leading newspaper reported on Sunday.

The plan would involve a greater involvement of the US military in tackling the worst recorded outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. The paper cited people familiar with the proposal.

The outbreak has now killed upwards of 2 400 people, mostly in Liberia, neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone as poorly resourced West African healthcare systems have been overrun.

The US government has already committed around $100-million to tackle the outbreak by providing protective equipment for healthcare workers, food, water, medical and hygiene equipment.

Also making headlines:

Libya’s Prime Minister accuses Qatar of sending planes with weapons to Tripoli.

Pope Francis says the spate of conflicts around the globe today were effectively a "piecemeal" Third World War, condemning the arms trade and "plotters of terrorism" sowing death and destruction.

And, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry that any global coalition against terrorism should battle not just Islamic State but other groups as well.

Also on Polity:

Read law firm Adams & Adams new paper on trade mark protection and enforcement in cyberspace.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines.