One of the biggest United States music companies, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, agreed on Monday to pay -million and to stop paying radio-station employees to feature its artists to settle an investigation by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer. The agreement resulted from an investigation of suspected ”pay for play” practices.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) on Monday said in a statement that it has offered to intervene in the Pick ‘n Pay strike under Section 150 of the Labour Relations Act. The strike will continue until a settlement has been reached, the South African Catering, Commercial and Allied Workers’ Union said on Monday.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday that thanks to the outpouring of international aid in recent days to help hungry Niger, emergency food distribution to 270 000 people could begin this week. ”Our goal is to distribute 4 000 tonnes of food this week,” WFP country director Gian Carlo Cirri said.
Relief operations continued in northern and central Bangladesh on Monday where tens of thousands were left homeless last week after torrential rains sparked floods that killed at least 23 people and left a dozen others missing. The death toll is expected to rise as the monsoon rains are set to continue for several more days.
Egyptian police exchanged fire with gunmen on Monday as they hunted for six Pakistanis suspected of involvement in Saturday’s deadly bombings in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Pakistani authorities said they have yet to be approached by their Egyptian counterparts about the six suspects.
Donovan Moodley was found guilty in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday for kidnapping and murdering student Leigh Matthews and for extorting money from her parents. In a statement, read by advocate Johan Pretorius, Moodley gave a detailed account of how he planned and executed the kidnapping and murder.
Although Earth’s neighbouring planet Mars is getting brighter again, it will not become our second moon, as promised in an e-mail doing the rounds, the Johannesburg Planetarium said on Monday. Spokesperson Claire Flanagan said an e-mail has been going around saying that Mars will appear as the Earth’s second moon.
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Durban businessman Schabir Shaik returns to the city’s high court on Tuesday for his application for leave to appeal against his conviction and 15-year jail sentence for fraud and corruption. Last week, Shaik’s attorney Reeves Parsee said argument ”could take 10 minutes or two days”.
Transformation and black economic empowerment (BEE) in South Africa’s financial sector must not jeopardise ongoing financial stability, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel cautioned on Monday. He was speaking at the start of the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition Conference in Cape Town.
At least five people have been killed and 31 injured in a series of hand-grenade attacks in eastern Ethiopia that may have been politically motivated, police and diplomats said on Monday. The attacks took place in Somali state, where parliamentary elections are to be held next month, they said.