Port strike ‘will sink economy’ – The government has stepped in to find a solution to the ongoing transport strike that is threatening to hit the country’s ports. Magretia Engelbrecht-Brown, spokesman for the Road Freight Employers Association, yesterday said Department of Labour officials will hold talks with the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union today. “The strike is of national importance and it is in the best interests of government to assist,” said Engelbrecht-Brown yesterday. The two-week long trucking strike has already severely disrupted the delivery of fuel, fresh produce and cash in the country. [timeslive]

Rand in free fall as investors flee over strike unrest – The rand has hit its weakest levels in three and a half years as a result of ongoing unrest in the mining and transport sectors. On Monday the rand weakened from below R8.80 against the dollar to R9 before settling on R8.93 at 1.30pm. “The strength of your currency gives you the direction in which capital is flowing,” said Chris Hart, strategist at Investment Solution. “And a weaker rand means capital is flowing out of the country. “And this may be just the beginning. But my concern is not that it is foreign investors, but local investors”, Hart said. [mg]

Samwu files notice for nationwide strike – The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) on Monday said it has filed a notice to embark on a nationwide work stoppage. This is as the country struggles with strikes in the mining and transport sectors. Samwu said government ignored its demand to have market-related salaries for medium and low-income workers. [ewn]

SAA confirms more resignations – Two more SA Airways managers resigned on Monday, following the resignation of CEO Siza Mzimela, the airline confirmed. “Indeed that is the case,” spokesman Tlali Tlali said in an sms. Commercial general manager Theunis Potgieter and legal and risk head Sandra Coetzee resigned on Monday. Tlali said SAA would shortly issue a statement on the matter. Earlier, Gigaba’s office said SAA would begin searching for a new chief executive after Mzimela quit on Monday. [fin24]

Egypt’s president pardons protesters – Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy said Monday that he would pardon protesters arrested or jailed during and after the uprising that led to the ouster of longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak. The amnesty covers those who committed crimes “with the aim of supporting the revolution” between January 25, 2011, and June 30, 2012, according to a post on the president’s official Facebook page. Morsy assumed office on June 30. [cnn]

IMF Sees ‘Alarmingly High’ Risk of Deeper Global Slump – The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecasts as the euro area’s debt crisis intensifies and warned of even slower expansion unless officials in the U.S. and Europe address threats to their economies. The world economy will grow 3.3 percent this year, the slowest since the 2009 recession, and 3.6 percent next year, the IMF said today, compared with July predictions of 3.5 percent in 2012 and 3.9 percent in 2013. The Washington-based lender now sees “alarmingly high” risks of a steeper slowdown, with a one-in-six chance of growth slipping below 2 percent. [bloomberg]

New Euro-Zone Aid Fund Launches – The euro zone’s new bailout fund came into operation Monday, almost two years after the currency union first decided to set up a permanent safety net for countries in financial troubles. Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker arrives at Monday’s ministers’ meeting. Finance ministers from the 17 euro-zone countries meeting in Luxembourg greeted the fund’s establishment as a “milestone” in their fight against a debt crisis that has already forced five of them to seek bailouts. [wsj]

Protests expected as Merkel visits Greece – Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is set to arrive in Greece on Tuesday, where she will hold talks with conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras. A heavy security has been put in place for the German chancellor’s six-hour visit, the first since the economic crisis made landfall in Greece in 2010, amid planned new anti-austerity protests. [aljazeera]

Nobel prize won by Briton written off in his teens by a science teacher – A British researcher whose schoolboy ambition to become a scientist was dismissed as “quite ridiculous” by his Eton schoolmaster has won a Nobel prize for work that proved adult cells can be reprogramed and grown into different tissues in the body. Sir John Gurdon, 79, of Cambridge University, shares the prize in physiology or medicine – and 8m Swedish kronor (£744,000) cash – with the Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, 50, who holds academic posts at the Universities of Kyoto and San Francisco. [guardian]

North Korea warns US on missiles after South deal – North Korea says it has missiles that can hit the US mainland, in a statement two days after South Korea unveiled a missile deal with the US. The statement said US bases in “Japan, Guam and the US mainland” were within its “scope of strike”. It follows Seoul’s announcement on Sunday that it would almost triple the range of its own missile system. Pyongyang is thought to be working on a long-range missile, but two recent rocket tests ended in failure. [bbc]

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SpaceX Delivers Dragon to Orbit Despite Losing an Engine During Ascent – SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft into orbit Sunday night despite losing an engine shortly after lift off. The launch occurred at 8:35 p.m. EDT and was first time a Falcon 9 rocket has flown without a delay on the first scheduled launch time. But while the rocket was climbing through the atmosphere, SpaceX did experience an engine failure. It appears that one of the nine Merlin engines exploded, but SpaceX is saying that is not the case. The flight continued and, as designed, the other eight engines were more than enough to deliver the Dragon spacecraft to its proper orbit. [wired]

Homeowners Get New Rights To Attack Burglars – Frightened householders who over-react when confronted by burglars will get more protection under Government plans, the new Justice Secretary will say today. Chris Grayling plans to change the law to ensure even householders who use force in a way that may seem disproportionate in the cold light of day will be protected from prosecution. [sky]

Facebook partners with retailers to test “want” button – Facebook Inc is testing a feature that lets users of the social network create “wishlists” of home furnishings, clothing and other retail products, laying the groundwork for what some believe could be an eventual push into e-commerce. Facebook said it is working with seven retailers, including Pottery Barn and Victoria’s Secret, to test the new feature that will allow certain users to flag images of desired products by clicking a special “want” button. [reuters]

Why Did Lady Gaga Visit Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy? – In a weird marriage of pop culture and political asylum, Lady Gaga recently swung by the Ecuadorian embassy in London for some quality time with Julian Assange. Apparently, the singer and the hacktivist dined together and posed in a grainy photo opp before parting ways. And MIA was there too? Well, that’s a very weird dinner party, isn’t it? [atlanticwire]

Nicole Kidman Confesses, ‘I Didn’t Feel Comfortable At All’ With Tom – “I attach, I attach so deeply that it’s quite scary for me,” Nicole Kidman is saying, perched on a couch in a Nashville café. She is talking about her family but also, very possibly, the secret to her success. During a 30-plus-year career she has attached, deeply, to her roles.”I’m drawn to the psychology of really interesting, flawed people.” She’s sitting here in a vintage white lace dress, a denim jacket, and a floral scarf, back home in Nashville for a few weeks before heading off to Europe for three months to play Grace Kelly in the biopic Grace of Monaco. [harpers]

Change of heart? Maria Shriver wears her wedding ring amidst reconciliation rumours – An apologetic Arnold Schwarzenegger told CNN on Tuesday that she was his one true love. And Maria Shriver fueled rumours of a possible reconciliation with her estranged husband when she stepped out Saturday in Brentwood wearing her wedding ring. The 56-year-old acclaimed journalist was seen wearing the large sparkler on her left ring finger while leaving a restaurant with her 22-year-old daughter Katherine. [dailymail]

Inside the Original Space Dive: Joseph Kittinger on 1960 Record Jump – On Tuesday sky diver Felix Baumgartner is set to step out of a pressurized, Apollo-like capsule and free-fall 23 miles (37 kilometers) from the edge of space—the culmination of the Red Bull Stratos project. Fifty-two years ago, though, U.S. Air Force pilot Joseph Kittinger accomplished nearly the same thing. In a duct-taped suit. From an open-air gondola. Here, Kittinger offers a personal account of his record-setting skydive, originally published in the November 1960 issue of National Geographic magazine. [natgeo]

Man dies after live roach-eating contest –  The winner of a roach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday. About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night’s contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python. Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed in front of the store, according to a Broward Sheriff’s Office statement released Monday. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. [ap]

See What Happens When A Boeing 727 Is Crashed Into The Desert On Purpose – Deliberately smashing a multi-million dollar plane into the desert packs high entertainment value, but the elaborate experiment, which kicked off the second season of Discovery Channel’s “Curiosity” series, wasn’t just for gasps. It was also part of an effort to make the 2.8 billion flights that hit the skies each year safer. “This groundbreaking experiment looks at what actually happens during a plane crash and the science behind passengers’ best chance for survival,” the Discovery Channel writes in a statement. [bizinsider]

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COMING UP TODAY

GoodLuck On The IanF Show – From 08h30 today, Ian and Spike are joined by local electronic lounge music phenomenon, GoodLuck. Tune in to listen to how they are growing their genre, their recent influences and to vatch tracks off their mixtape. [2ovfm]

Tonight On The Mommy Matters Show from 19h00-20h00, they’ll be catching up with TV/Radio personality Kia Johnson again, now post the birth of her baby girl. Kia is a TV Presenter on one of the most popular morning breakfast shows, Expresso on SABC 3, and will be sharing with us how motherhood is treating her, and how she balances her crazy working schedule with being a mommy, and some of the challenges that she faces daily. [mommymatters]

FRESH PODCASTS

Long Time Citizen Acoustic Session – Long Time Citizen is a music project by Cape Town musicians Greg Donnelly and Anton Marshall. The duo was in studio performing some folk/rock tunes live, front and centre on the Just Josie show yesterday. [podcast]