World oil prices fell on Wednesday with Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) ministers meeting in Iran under pressure from cartel kingpin Saudi Arabia to raise their crude production quotas owing to strong demand for global energy. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude, for delivery in April, fell to ,45 a barrel in electronic deals.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was slightly stronger in noon trade on Wednesday, with a softer rand supporting resources stocks. The heavy weight of resources kept the bourse in the black, even though decliners outnumbered advancers on the resources index by about two to one.
On Thursday the European Commission pledged €15-million (R121-million) to Zimbabwe and €12-million (R97-million) to Colombia.
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A handful of South African trade unionists gathered outside the Zimbabwe embassy in Pretoria on Wednesday morning for a picket in support of workers’ rights in that country. Congress of South African Trade Unions representative Jantjie Chiloane said more protesters were expected to arrive by bus from Johannesburg.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he may sue a top European soccer official who called him ”an enemy of football”. Volker Roth, chairperson of Uefa’s referees’ committee, blamed Mourinho for the resignation of referee Anders Frisk. Frisk stepped down on Saturday, saying he had received death threats that were triggered by remarks Mourinho made.
The Johannesburg Labour Court has granted the country’s oldest journalists’ union, the South African Union of Journalists, an order allowing its liquidation. The court in February gave interested parties until 10am on Tuesday to state why it should not make the order final.
A date has been set in the Johannesburg High Court for the trial of the alleged murderer of Lord of the Dance production member Darryl Kempster. Jubulani Moyo (23) accused of killing Kempster, a British citizen, on June 27 last year, will stand trial between May 10 and 20.
A new police motorcycle squad has been formed in the Indonesian capital Jakarta to patrol the city’s mean streets during the week and perform circus-style stunts to entertain the public over the weekends. The 25-man squad is expected to combine duties policing Jakarta’s notorious traffic with displays of motorcycle prowess.
Former Olympic prospect, Natalie du Toit, continued to make waves on the third day of the Nedbank National Championships for the physically disabled at the King’s Park Aquatic Centre in Durban on Tuesday, clipping almost one minute off her own world record for the women’s 400m freestyle set at last year’s Olympics in Athens.
Brazilian striker Adriano scored a stunning hat-trick as Inter Milan beat holders Porto 3-1 in Milan on Tuesday in their Champions League first knockout round second-leg match to dump them out of the competition and become the third Italian team to reach the quarterfinals.