Independent music producer association Impala said on Tuesday a decision by the European Commission to clear Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann’s recorded music merger is ”flawed” and that it is now mulling its options. The association said its members ”are very disappointed that the EU has authorised this merger without any attempt to solve the competition issues that the Commission itself identified”.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions said on Tuesday the discovery of bombs in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Ulundi last week justified its call for the arrest of Inkatha Freedom Party member Philip Powell. ”We have long been calling for explanation as to why Phillip Powell has been allowed to go overseas … [because] he had not disclosed … where other tons of arms and ammunition [were],” Cosatu regional secretary Zet Luzipo said in a statement.
About 44-million United States workers will be telecommuting, or working from home at least on a part-time basis this year, according to a survey released this week. The survey by In-Stat/MDR released on Monday projects the number of telecommuters is expected to grow by 2008 to 51-million, with 14-million working full-time at home.
Seven awaiting trial prisoners killed a policeman and escaped from the Theunissen police cells in the northern Free State on Tuesday, police said. Inspector Stephen Thakeng said the men apparently overpowered and strangled Inspector Johas Tesa (35) when he visited the cells.
Moviemaker Disney has until August 12 to notify the Pretoria High Court whether it intends defending a R15-million claim for damages for allegedly infringing the copyright on the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Disney Enterprises, Nu Metro Home Entertainment, the David Gresham Entertainment Group and David Gresham Records all received summonses and the particulars of the claim last week.
The United States is losing interest in the Middle East peace process with the result that the prospects of creating a viable Palestinian state are gradually disappearing, a new British government assessment of the Palestinian crisis warns. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted that the peace process, along with Iraq, is a priority of his foreign policy and a key to winning support in the Arab world.
American newspapers were embroiled in another scandal on Tuesday following the resignation of two publishers prompted by an investigation into fraudulent circulation figures intended to increase advertising revenues. The publishers of New York Newsday and its Hispanic sister paper, Hoy, stepped down when an investigation exposed deceit stretching back several years.
If you haven’t been watching the shorts slots on TV then the concept of Sho’t Left will most likely be completely alien to you. It’s a minibus taxi term that means, basically, ”pull over here” and has been adopted by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and South African Tourism as a catchphrase encouraging us to explore our own backyard.
The tourism industry, a nascent economic powerhouse, is the latest to catch black economic empowerment (BEE) charter fever. It has given itself six months to draw up a BEE charter to ensure more blacks are brought into the industry. Fourteen mandarins have been appointed to lead the process. The future of tourism, it seems, is sunny, but not pale.
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Dubai is usually shopping — quality gold and electronic goods at bargain prices, made even cheaper by the fact that it’s all tax free — you never think about the fact that it is in the desert, right? If you can tolerate the heat, don’t mind the bigger-is-better mentality and have money to burn, Dubai is the place for you.