Crude futures held above a barrel on Monday even after members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) assured traders that the cartel will not likely cut production, and that some members might pump above their output quotas, to cool down overheated markets.
A prison warder on escort duty was shot dead and another injured in an attack by gunmen at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur hospital on Monday morning, police said. Police spokesperson Captain Billy Jones said the incident took place at the hospital’s outpatients reception area shortly after 10am, when four warders brought a prisoner in for medical treatment.
Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool promised protesting taxi drivers on Monday to intervene personally if their negotiations with the provincial transport ministry fail. On Monday, taxi drivers made good on threats a few months ago to blockade tourist attractions, with a cavalcade of metered sedans disrupting traffic in central Cape Town.
Pope John Paul II left hospital on Sunday night after speaking briefly in public for the first time since an operation 17 days ago to insert a tube in his windpipe. The move ensured that the 84-year-old pontiff returned to the Vatican in time for Easter.
The opera house La Scala was in crisis on Sunday night after its musical director, Riccardo Muti, said he would no longer conduct the orchestra, and the chairperson of the board proposed handing the running of the theatre to government-placed commissioners.
History records that on March 14 1965, during the first round of that year’s municipal elections, 874 of the 1 029 voters registered in the small south-western village of Sainte-Féréole returned Chirac, J as one of their local councillors. It is a safe bet that none would have imagined that four decades later, the energetic 32-year-old they elected would be halfway through his second term as French president.
Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court on Monday quashed a ban on the independent Daily News newspaper, known for its anti-government line, but upheld a controversial media law that has forced three other newspapers to close down. The paper’s former legal secretary, Gugulethu Moyo, slammed the court’s decision.
Tens of thousands of fans turned up for the first of two Africa Live concerts staged in the Senegalese capital this weekend aimed at raising awareness in the fight against malaria. The musicians took it in turns to appeal for mobilisation against the scourge, which kills one African child every 30 seconds.
Listed South African hotel and gaming group Peermont Global continues to look at further acquisitions to boost its growth in 2005, and is currently examining "alternative methods" for funding this investment since the company has reached its maximum level of gearing, according to CEO Ernie Joubert.
Wallaby flyhalf Stephen Larkham has had a reality check with his rugby career after he underwent weekend surgery to remove a melanoma behind a knee. The 30-year-old Test star faces an anxious week as he waits to find out whether all the malignant growth has been removed from behind his left knee.