Back-to-back refinery fires in Texas and Louisiana sent crude futures back above a barrel on Friday as the unplanned outages fanned fears that production may not be able to meet demand in coming months. An explosion and fire was reported at British Petroleum’s Texas City plant on Thursday night.
Incoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy, who takes over as director general on September 1, named his four deputies on Friday, setting his sights on rejuvenating the Doha round of trade talks ahead of a crucial December summit in Hong Kong.
"Didn’t it all come together rather well in Johannesburg last weekend? I thought it did, but then again, most people with the slightest interest in rugby would have told you that the Springboks’ Achilles-heel back line was pivotal in their victory. Now, the Tri-Nations is about to start and South Africans have good reason to feel bullish," writes Rob Davies.
South African authorities on Friday declined to comment on a report that a suspected organiser of the London bomb attacks, Haroon Aswat, was under surveillance in this country before he was detained in Zambia. Aswat is suspected of playing a role in organising the July 7 suicide bomb attacks in London that killed 52 people.
A small group of striking municipal workers slowly made its way to the Civic Centre in Braamfontein on Friday morning, where police again barred them a few metres from the entrance. Holding placards, the group of about 300 workers tried to revive the militant spirit that has marked the past few days.
Successful land reform is not about how much land is transferred, but about how it improves the lives of South Africans, the Land Bank told the land summit in Johannesburg on Friday. Land Bank general manager George Oricho discussed the challenges of financing land reform in the country.
The Johannesburg Lesbian and Gay Pride Heritage Week’s Pride march will return to Johannesburg’s inner city on its 16th anniversary this year. Jo’burg Pride coordinator Paul Tilly said the festival, running from September 17 to 24, is themed Pride: Sweet Sixteen: the Right to Be, the Freedom to Express.
A massive police hunt for the remaining fugitive London bombers appeared to be paying off on Friday as officers launched a massive raid in the capital, reportedly targeting another of the wanted men. Residents of the White City suburb saw police swiftly seal off streets before a large explosion was heard, followed by a series of smaller blasts.
Two dinosaur embryos discovered in the Free State in the 1970s have been identified as the world’s oldest ”rotten eggs”. Dr Michael Raath, a palaeontologist at the University of the Witwatersrand, said the two embryos are the oldest known embryos for any terrestrial vertebrate from anywhere in the world.
Explosions were heard on Friday in west London, a news report said, after police confirmed they had launched an armed operation linked to investigations into bombings on the capital last week. Six explosions were heard in the Ladbroke Grove area, some of which police said had been caused by stun grenades, Sky News said.