Japan is set to lift its last blanket ban on female employment and let women work in mines and tunnels, defying not only traditional male attitudes about protecting women but also superstition. Women are barred from working in mines and pits or constructing tunnels under the Labour Standard Law of 1947.
The Scorpions are questioning eight people in connection with an e-mail scam that targeted customers at South African banks last month, a Standard Bank spokesperson said on Wednesday. Erik Larsen said the eight are all South Africans and that there have been no further attacks since the scam was exposed in late May.
Burundi’s lone remaining rebel group launched overnight attacks on government military bases on the outskirts of the capital after reruns of key local elections in six violence-hit districts, the army said on Wednesday. Rebels from the National Liberation Forces opened fire on several positions just south of Bujumbura.
Aflease Gold and Uranium Resources has announced it has signed a milestone black economic empowerment (BEE) deal with a broad-based consortium, with major benefits going to both workers and communities. The empowerment partners will acquire 26% of Aflease’s current exploration and mining activities and prospecting areas in the Klerksdorp region.
A Zimbabwean jailed for his role in an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea has finally been released, several weeks after 61 of his South African counterparts, a newspaper said on Wednesday. Moses Moyo was released last week but was not deported back to South Africa.
South Africa will play its part in reforming the United Nations, President Thabo Mbeki said in Chile on Tuesday. ”We will play our part to ensure that we transform this world body to be a true representative of all the peoples of the world,” he said in Santiago on receiving an honorary degree from the Salon de Diputados.
South Africa’s health minister angered Aids activists on Tuesday when she told a national Aids conference that they should focus on other diseases and reiterated her view that drugs are not the only answer to fighting HIV. ”I hope you have come in such big numbers not just to focus on one ailment but to focus on all of them,” she said.
Fast-bowler Shabbir Ahmed rushed Pakistan to a comprehensive series-tying victory against the West Indies in less than an hour on the final day of the second cricket Test at Sabina Park on Tuesday. It was Pakistan’s first Test victory in the Caribbean since 1988, and earned them a 1-1 share of the two-match series.
After starting on a softer note, the JSE Securities Exchange moved into positive territory on Wednesday morning as the rand weakened from its intraday best levels. Traders said in the absence of any major corporate news, the equity market was eyeing the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision on interest rates, to be announced on Thursday afternoon.
Springbok coach Jake White on Tuesday used the Border Bulldogs to fine-tune his team ahead of Saturday’s rugby Test against Uruguay. The practice session at the Absa Stadium was watched by an appreciative crowd of young and old, with many fans able to secure autographs from the Springboks after the session.