A burst of meteors over Finnish coastal waters early on Tuesday prompted hundreds of Finns to mistakenly report the natural phenomenon as emergency flares from distressed vessels, officials said. A caller described the phenomenon as a red fireball moving swiftly through the night sky, spewing sparks and leaving a trail of vapor.
The Commission for Employment Equity on Tuesday revealed in a report that the number of senior management positions in the country held by black people remains low despite the Employment Equity Act. Only 22% of senior management positions are held by black people, with black females in particular struggling to make it to senior-management level.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says that the HIV/Aids pandemic has cost South Africa more than -billion (R420-billion) in the decade from 1992 to 2002. The ILO said that the loss was mainly due to deaths, absenteeism and lower productivity brought about by the ravaging disease.
Unusually dry weather in the Western Cape has prompted officials to consider imposing water restrictions in the region. Water levels are worryingly low and restrictions may be ”inevitable”, according to Rashid Khan, regional director of the Western Cape Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.
The United Nations Security Council was on Monday mulling a United States resolution to impose sanctions on the militias in Sudan’s Darfur region, with opposition strong despite the scope of the humanitarian tragedy. Failure to agree on how to handle Sudan could lead to a split rather than unanimous vote on the resolution.
Attorneys representing one million smokers in a class-action lawsuit are urging justices to force tobacco giant Philip Morris USA to pay the ,1-billion judgement in the case. The lawsuit pertains to the cigarette-maker misleading smokers into believing that light cigarettes are less harmful than regular ones.
The JSE looked positive in noon trade on Tuesday on the back of basket buying by futures players. The rand traded slightly softer and a rebound on the Dow overnight added to the positive picture. Both the financial and banks indices firmed, while the all-share index was also stronger.
Villagers marooned by floods that have stranded at least two million people in northern Bangladesh said they were running out of food and fresh water on Tuesday as rescuers struggled to reach them. The country has been hit by torrential rains that have hampered rescue efforts.
South African business will speak the common language of investors around the world for the first time when South Africa adopts global auditing standards on January 1 next year, the chairperson of the South African Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, Suresh Kana, said in a statement on Tuesday.
FirstRand announced on Tuesday that Cyril Ramaphosa has resigned as a non-executive director of the banking group. "Mr Ramaphosa … has been offered an opportunity to participate in a BEE [black economic empowerment] transaction, which will result in a conflict of interest with his existing position," a statement said.