It is a mystery that has gone on for more than a century: did the old skull lodged in an Austrian basement really belong to the greatest composer of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? The results of DNA tests seeking to solve the mystery were broadcast on Austrian TV to coincide with the 250th anniversary this month of the composer’s birth. And the answer is: we still don’t know.
A Spanish army general was under house arrest on Sunday and awaiting dismissal after saying that the military might step in to halt plans for greater autonomy for the wealthy eastern region of Catalonia. Lieutenant General José Mena told officers under his command that the country’s Constitution gave them the right to act if the ”unity of Spain” was in danger.
The 500 companies listed on Norway’s stock exchange face being shut down unless they install women on their boards over the next two years in a radical initiative imposed by a government determined to help women break through the ”glass ceiling”.
The European Constitution will be taken out of the deep freeze on Monday when Austria launches its six-month presidency of the European Union with a pledge to try to revive it. Less than a year after French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty, the Austrian government will declare that Europe cannot abandon such a ”fascinating document”.
About 2,5-million Muslims from around the world began the second day of the hajj pilgrimage gathering on Monday on the Arafat Plain near Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform the most important ritual in the five-day event. Pilgrims began moving from Mina to Arafat at sunrise in buses or on foot after spending the night in tents.
Austrian United Nations anti-torture envoy Manfred Nowak in an interview published on Monday warned that societies must not put God above human rights. ”If one accepts that divine law is higher than international law, we can close shop,” said Nowak in the Vienna newspaper Kurier.
A local high-tech company has scooped a $14-million deal to import 400 fuel-cell units, a revolutionary technology that could change the face of power supply in South Africa. The United States-manufactured units use a chemical reaction between hydrogen, oxygen and a catalyst to create energy with water as a by-product.
The cause of Sunday night’s power failure that left at least 14 Johannesburg suburbs in the dark is not yet known, City Power said on Monday morning. Longdale, Emmerentia, Parktown, Parktown North, Northcliff, Forest Town, Linden, Parkview and other suburbs were without electricity for about an hour.
The spot price of gold was softer on Monday afternoon after the metal traded to $545,46 a troy ounce, the highest level in almost half a century, on fund buying as well as momentum from Friday’s sharp rally, traders said. At 12.55pm, gold was quoted at $540,92/oz, up $1,67/oz from its previous close.
The wet weather experienced over most of the interior is likely to continue for another two days before starting to clear up, Weather SA said on Monday. Forecaster Siyabonga Mphethwa said the rain is caused by a tropical low that moved in over the northern part of South Africa on Friday from Mozambique.