Popular Radio DJ admitted killing to friend - police

Soweto – A Soweto radio DJ who is on the run for allegedly stabbing and killing his 32-year-old girlfriend, confessed to her friend before he fled, police said.

"We are still looking for him, we hope to make a breakthrough very soon," police spokesperson Kay Makhubela said.

Police said the woman was stabbed several times and locked into a flat in Jabulani on Sunday.

"The man then phoned the girl's friend and told her he killed the woman," said Makhubela.

Jozi FM station manager Mpho Mhlongo said they did not know the man's whereabouts and called on him to hand himself in.

"This will enable the judicial process to run its course and closure can be found for the families, relatives and friends on both sides."

Mhlongo said the station was committed to gender equality and the protection of women and children.

"We convey our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and relatives of the woman who died in this very tragic way."

Drug-smuggling Australian sentenced to death

Hanoi - An Australian of Vietnamese origin has been sentenced to death after trying to smuggle 4kg of heroin out off the country, state media in the communist nation said Saturday.

Pham Trung Dung, 37, was caught with two suitcases containing the drugs at Tan Son Nhat airport in May last year while trying to return to Australia with his wife and children.

Dung told a court in southern Ho Chi Minh City that he had been promised $40 000 by two unidentified men to transport the drugs, an online report by the Tien Phong newspaper said.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest anti-drug laws. Anyone found guilty of possessing more than 600g of heroin, or more than 20g of opium, can face death.

Earlier this month, six people from a 25-member smuggling gang were handed death sentences for smuggling 620g of heroin and 1 400 ecstasy pills in northern provinces.

In January authorities sentenced 30 smugglers to death in the country's largest ever narcotics case, involving scores of defendants and nearly two tonnes of heroin.

According to media reports and an AFP tally, Vietnam has more than 700 prisoners on death row.

Many have been sentenced for drug offences including dozens of foreigners - although it has been decades since a foreign citizen was executed.

Young people must become entrepreneurs - Minister Zulu

Pretoria - Minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu, says young people should not only be encouraged to become entrepreneurs, but everything possible should be done to help them.

Addressing a Youth Business Forum, she said: “It’s 30 years since our freedom, but the participation of young people in South Africa was still less than adequate. 

“Empowering young people is not an option, but a national imperative, because about 77% of the population is aged between 1 and 34.

Job creation

“Youth unemployment constitutes 73% of the total unemployment in the country and employment of young people aged between 18 and 24 years has fallen by more than 20% since December 2008.”

Referring to entrepreneurship, Zulu said that young entrepreneurs would get abundant opportunities to grow and develop their enterprises in an environment that nurtured the development of these enterprises and enhances their job creation potential. 

“We will work with the DTI to ensure that the revised BBBEE Codes are used as an additional measure to encourage private sector to pursue measures that are aimed at growing youth enterprises and cooperatives.

 “Working in partnership with all stakeholders, including youth entrepreneurs, we will begin to develop a plethora of programmes, both financial and non-financial, to assist our youth enterprises and create opportunities for job creation to reduce youth unemployment.

Radical policy

“ We’re convinced that if we are to make an impact on the job creation front, the common problems faced by SMMEs must be addressed. Among others, these are 

*  lack of a favourable legal and regulatory environment; 
*  lack of access to markets and procurement; 
*  lack of access to finance and credit; 
*  low skills levels; 
*  lack of access to information and 
*  shortage of effective supportive institutions.
 
“We have no doubt that the much-needed economic growth and employment opportunities will come from a radical policy that enables small businesses to thrive and grow into profitable enterprises,” Zulu said.

Mobile ransomware (virus) targets English speakers

Kaspersky Lab does real-time monitoring of malware from its headquarters in Moscow. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)

Cape Town - A new piece of malicious software for mobile devices is specifically targeting English speakers, a security company has revealed.

Kaspersky Lab reported that Svpeng which is known in Russia, has been directed to the US and the UK.

"For now, this piece of malware, allegedly of Russian origin, does not steal credentials, but it is only a matter of time, since Svpeng is just a modification of a well-known Trojan that operates in Russia and is used mainly for money stealing," said the company.

The malware of part of the group known as ransomware because the software is capable of locking down devices and demanding payment.

When this type of malware hit computer users in the Commonwealth of Independent States, people were forced to pay between €100 to €300 to have their computers unlocked, though the cyber criminals still have remote control.

Payment demand

Kaspersky warned that the malware could potentially be devastating to file encryption on mobile devices.

"Additionally the Trojan’s code contains some mentions of the Cryptor method which was not used yet, so it is likely that soon it will be utilised for file encryption. In this case Svpeng will become the second most well-known mobile malware, with such functionality after Pletor, which appeared in the wild in May 2014."

Svpeng locks mobile devices after scanning for financial applications on a victim's phone. It uses a fake FBI penalty notification letter to demand payment of $200 in Green Dot prepaid MasterCard and Visa cards.


Kaspersky Lab tests a variety of devices and software for security at its Moscow offices. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)

"It is impossible to repel an attack of American Svpeng if a mobile device doesn't have a security solution - the malware will block the device completely, not separate files as Cryptolocker did. If it happens to you, you can do almost nothing," said Roman Unuchek, senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab.

The malware is responsible for 91% of attacks in the US and UK, the company found, indicating that it could migrate to other English-speaking countries and territories.

Unuchek said that there was a slim chance to fix a mobile device infected with the malware identified as Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Svpeng.a.

"The only hope for unlocking the device is if it was already rooted before it was infected. Then it could be unlocked without deleting the data. One more option is to remove the Trojan, if your phone wasn’t rooted is to boot into “Safe Mode” and erase all data on the phone only, while SIM and SD cards will stay untouched and uninfected."

You'll never go wrong with Education - If utilized wisely you'll be hungry for more education - degree after a degree - studying till the end of time

Education forms the better side of your life and secures the future for your generation and not only the country you are living in but the world at large. Keep on studying if you still feel you can go and get another degree just go for it. It wil help in 10 to 20 years from now when you get older and wiser. 

"Judge Masipa said she started Law degree at 32 working as a journalist and now she's a Judge. Her experience coupled with journalism bring fruitful outcome to our Justice Department."

Do not study for money, money will flow in at the right time and no will stop it. JUST KEEP ON STUDYING, you'll reap the rewards later. 

DO NOT GIVE UP the best is yet to come. 

HAVE A GOOD READ"

Pressure mounts on Zuma to rescue economy...Zuma's address to parliament in Cape Town is due to start at 19:00.

(AFP)

Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma delivers the first State of the Nation address of his second term on Tuesday, under pressure to outline plans for reviving growth and creating much-needed jobs in Africa's most advanced economy.

A double blow from ratings agencies last week underlined the precarious state of the economy, which contracted in the first quarter. South Africans will also be closely watching Zuma himself after he was hospitalised this month with fatigue.

The 72-year-old was quickly discharged after "routine tests", his office said a week ago. However, he handed over the reins to his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa for five days to give himself time to recover from the rigours of preparing for the May 7 election.

Zuma's African National Congress (ANC) won a 62% majority in the vote, the fifth since the end of apartheid in 1994, but the ruling party has had little to cheer about since the result.

A five-month strike in the platinum mines is dragging the economy towards recession and the impact on broader growth and government finances prompted Fitch to put South Africa on a negative outlook and Standard & Poor's to cut its credit rating on Friday.

Hitherto, Zuma had relied almost exclusively on a National Development Plan (NDP) drawn up in his first term as his broad blue-print for promoting long-term growth.

Analysts said the president also needed to address the deep mistrust that exists between the government, unions and the private sector if the NDP - which requires the cooperation of all three entities - is to have any chance of success.

"Does the government want to bargain with the business sector and other interests to chart a new path for the economy, or does it believe it can fix its problems on its own?" political analyst Stephen Friedman wrote in the Business Day newspaper on Tuesday.

Standard & Poor's downgrade means South Africa could even lose its coveted investment grade credit rating if growth fails to pick up. S&P's outlook is stable for now, indicating it is not looking at cutting its rating again soon but investors will want reassurance that the government is committed to steering the economy back to health.

The economy has been further strained by a cold snap at the start of the southern hemisphere winter and outages at some power generation units, which led to temporary rolling blackouts to prevent the already stretched national grid from collapsing.

"Much of the debate wants to hear an address that does not 'waffle' about policy but promises to 'get things done'. But if that is all we hear, we are likely to remain stuck where we are," said Friedman.

Zuma's address to parliament in Cape Town is due to start at 19:00.

Eddie Zondi passes on - another sudden shock hit South Africa - RIP

Eddie Zondi 

This morning we were hit by another bad news that our own Bra Eddie Zondi passed on after a short illness, the news were announced by Metro FM station manager sending the condolences to the nation. Very sad news indeed...

May His Soul Rest In Peace