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JOHN STEENHUISEN: Property rights and the rule of law the wisest way forward

The fight for land is at the heart of the fight for economic justice and the ANC and DA should wake up to this fact, writes Carol Paton, citing the recent spate of illegal land occupations (“Land is the real life-and-death politics of SA (”, August 31). The DA is…

3 Sep 2020 9AM 5 min

Graft major blemish on Africa’s response to pandemic

African countries have generally handled their coronavirus response better than many experts feared, except for one detail: managing corruption. Kenya is the latest African nation to have its politics shaken by allegations of corruption in handing out pandemic-response contracts. It follows SA, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Uganda, which have all been…

3 Sep 2020 9AM 4 min

Benefits of Africa’s free trade bloc could boost post-pandemic recovery

The Covid-19 pandemic looks set to devastate African economies. A dramatic increase in public expenditure with a sharp drop in revenues on the back of global market turmoil, declining commodity prices and sharp declines in key sectors such as travel and tourism will have a profound and lasting impact. While…

3 Sep 2020 8AM 6 min

Hong Kong court says Jimmy Lai not guilty of criminal intimidation

Hong Kong — A Hong Kong court declared media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai not guilty of criminal intimidation on Thursday, ending one of several cases against him after his high-profile arrest in August under the new national security law. Thursday’s verdict was for a case that dates back…

3 Sep 2020 7AM 2 min

Emmanuel Macron’s economic plan for France is a high-stakes political move

Paris/ Emmanuel Macron’s government unveiled the long-awaited €100bn stimulus plan the French president is betting on to transform the economy and his political fortunes with less than two years to go until elections. The plan, dubbed “France Relaunch,” includes wage subsidies, tax cuts for businesses and funding for environmental projects…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 3 min

Good news from Iceland about getting the coronavirus twice

The emergence of a handful of people reinfected by SARS-Cov-2 — including individuals in Hong Kong, Italy and the US — has sparked panic over the future course of the pandemic. It’s not difficult to see why. One of the great hopes in tackling the coronavirus is that partial herd…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 3 min

Evictions ruling a tinderbox for Cape Town

The recent Cape Town high court judgment barring the City of Cape Town from evicting illegal land occupiers from their shacks — occupied or not — without first obtaining a court order risks encouraging land invasions and deepening instability. This is entirely at odds with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s repeated assurances…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 4 min

China to have a final say in TikTok sale to any US company

Hong Kong/Beijing — China has emphasised its right to approve or block the sale of technology abroad, confirming on Thursday that it will play a critical role in the sale of TikTok’s US operations to suitors that include Microsoft and Oracle. Beijing’s assertion jeopardises negotiations over the sale of ByteDance’s…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 1 min

Oil down to new low as petrol demand is weak

London — Oil prices extended losses on Thursday, falling to their lowest point since early August, as worries about weaker US petrol demand and a sluggish economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic dented sentiment. Brent crude fell 79c, or 1.8%, to $43.64 a barrel by 8.45am GMT. US West Texas…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 2 min

World shares at record highs as Europe gains and dollar fights back

London/Sydney — Europe kept record high world share markets marching forward on Thursday, while the dollar was in fightback mode and government bonds steadied after European Central Bank (ECB) efforts to tame the euro. The promise of ongoing global fiscal and monetary stimulus remained far too powerful to allow worries…

3 Sep 2020 5AM 4 min

The world does not need a currency war

“It’s our currency, but it’s your problem,” John Connally, Richard Nixon’s treasury secretary, told the world in 1971. Four decades later, the dollar’s weakness threatens to incite a full-blown currency war that could distract policymakers from their key task of mending the post-pandemic global economy. The US currency has been…

3 Sep 2020 5AM 5 min

Raging Arctic fires the worst on record

Midrid — The Arctic has experienced the worst fire season on record for the second year in a row, with giant wildfires sending over one-third more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than in 2019. Fires raging across the Arctic Circle emitted 244-million tonnes of carbon dioxide for the first six…

3 Sep 2020 4AM 3 min

Virtual drinks and welcome videos: how Covid-19 has changed company onboarding

London — Joining a new company can be tough at the best of times, with bosses to impress, skills to learn and new colleagues to befriend. But that task becomes a whole lot harder when the “onboarding” is done during a pandemic that has forced millions to work from home,…

3 Sep 2020 4AM 3 min

Trump wants double ballot from North Carolina voters: by mail and in person

Bengaluru — US President Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that voters in the state of North Carolina should vote twice in the November election, once by vote and once by mail, to make sure their vote was counted. “So, let them send it in and let them go vote,” Trump…

3 Sep 2020 3AM 1 min

At least one dead as Typhoon Maysak batters Koreas

Seoul — At least one person was reported killed and thousands were temporarily without power as Typhoon Maysak smashed into the Korean peninsula on Thursday, bringing heavy rain and lashing winds to areas still recovering from Typhoon Bavi. The ninth typhoon of the season and the fourth to hit the…

3 Sep 2020 3AM 2 min

Rise in risk appetite takes some shine off gold

Bengaluru — Gold on Thursday recouped some of the previous session’s hefty losses as the dollar steadied, though gains were capped by an uptick in risk appetite on recent better-than-expected economic data. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,945.59/oz by 3.40am GMT, after falling 1.4% on Wednesday in its biggest…

3 Sep 2020 2AM 2 min

NATASHA MARRIAN: Can bleeding DA capitalise on ANC’s Covid weakness?

With the governing ANC under fire for its role in Covid-19 corruption, you’d have to think the only way it can keep its majority in next year’s election is thanks to the weakness of its opposition. The local government elections next year are set to be hard fought in a…

3 Sep 2020 2AM 3 min

Slump in demand keeps oil at multi-week lows

Singapore/Melbourne — Oil prices edged up on Thursday, but held near multi-week lows hit overnight after US data showed gasoline demand fell and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic was lagging. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 9 US cents, or 0.22%, at $41.60 a barrel by 3.49am…

3 Sep 2020 2AM 2 min

Lockdown day 160: Latest Covid-19 numbers

Number of Covid-19 infections in SA rises to 630,595, there have been 553,456 recoveries and 14,389 deaths to date

3 Sep 2020 1AM 1 min

Asian markets rally on upbeat data

Sydney — Asian equities started strong on Thursday as a sustained recovery in China’s services sector and the prospect of additional US stimulus whetted risk appetite, while the dollar pared gains. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.5%, clocking its third straight session of gains to hover…

3 Sep 2020 1AM 3 min