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Oil price falls as storm closes US refineries

Singapore — Oil prices fell on Friday as a huge storm raced inland past the heart of the US oil industry in Louisiana and Texas without causing any widespread damage to refineries. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 3c, or 0.1%, to $43.01 a barrel at 4.09am…

28 Aug 2020 1AM 2 min

JSE faces mixed Asian markets on Friday after Fed policy stance

The JSE faces mixed Asian markets on Friday morning, with investors digesting a policy shift from the US Federal Reserve. Fed chair Jerome Powell indicated the world’s largest central bank is willing to let inflation run a little bit above its 2% target to support the economy. However, this remains…

28 Aug 2020 12AM 1 min

Revealed: what doctors advised Mkhize about taxis, the lockdown and schools

Months before the economy was finally opened two weeks ago, scientists were advising the government on the harm of the lockdown, the collateral health damage and how irrational regulations could backfire. The ministerial advisory committee (MAC), a group of world-class scientists, has given the government advice on how to manage…

27 Aug 2020 5PM 5 min

TELITA SNYCKERS: The IMF: imperialist suffocator, or business rescue practitioner?

As FM editor Rob Rose recently pointed out (../2020-08-24-rob-rose-like-it-or-not-sa-lurches-towards-imf/), like it or not, SA is lurching towards a clumsy embrace with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), hot on the heels of a Covid-linked loan. The ANC has long been wary of the IMF. After Nelson Mandela came to power, he…

27 Aug 2020 5PM 5 min

SHIRLEY DE VILLIERS: Why SA needn’t fear reinfection - maybe

Another week, another coronavirus curveball. On Monday scientists announced the first confirmed case of Covid reinfection: a 33-year-old man returning to Hong Kong from Spain had tested positive for the virus, 41⁄2 months after his first bout with Covid-19. Within days, that finding was echoed in Belgium and the Netherlands…

27 Aug 2020 4PM 6 min

Lockdown day 154: Pictures of the day

A round-up of the best pictures from day 154 of the national lockdown

27 Aug 2020 4PM 1 min

Mali coup leaders release ousted president Keita

Bamako — Coup leaders in Mali have released ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and he has returned home, nine days after he was detained, his representative said on Thursday. A group of military officers has controlled Mali since August 18, when they detained Keita at gunpoint and forced him to…

27 Aug 2020 3PM 2 min

Malawi to lift Covid-19 international air travel restrictions from September

Blantyre — Malawi will allow airlines and schools to resume operations from September 1, as it seeks to limit the economic and social damage from its coronavirus lockdown, authorities said on Thursday. Schools and airports have been closed since March, when the government imposed a lockdown to try to contain…

27 Aug 2020 2PM 1 min

Nigeria heads for recession as coronavirus takes toll

Abuja — Nigeria might fall into recession in the third quarter, the head of the country's budget office said on Thursday, citing the affect of low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. The continent's top oil producer faces its worst economic crisis in four decades in the wake of an…

27 Aug 2020 2PM 1 min

Corruption to dominate agenda at ANC meeting

The ANC is set to go into a critical meeting this weekend in which it will have to determine how it deals with members who are accused of corruption, less than a week after its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, drew a line in the sand to isolate corrupt officials. The corruption…

27 Aug 2020 2PM 4 min

Cyril Ramaphosa defends ‘cheap’ IMF loan

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday defended the government’s decision to approach the IMF for financial assistance, saying the loan has no stringent conditions attached to it and came cheap. Responding to questions in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa said the loan from the lender of last resort will go a long…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 3 min

Zimbabwe’s treatment of its citizens makes things ripe for a coup

Ahead of planned mass protests on July 31, Zimbabwe’s state security apparatus cracked down on citizens. Largely initiated via social media, the calls for the protests galvanised popular sentiment and mobilised citizens to exercise a co-ordinated political voice against corruption, the failing economy and repression. The regime responded by sending…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 5 min

World Bank pauses ‘Doing Business’ reports due to data irregularities

Washington — The World Bank said on Thursday that it is pausing publication of its “Doing Business” report to probe data collection irregularities in the closely watched annual ranking of countries’ business and investment climates. The World Bank said in a statement that it will conduct a systematic review of…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 2 min

Trial of potential Covid-19 treatment begins in SA

Scientists at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital have begun enrolling volunteers in a phase 3 trial investigating the potential of the drug nitazoxanide to treat Covid-19. It is one of several drugs scientists hope to repurpose for treating patients infected with Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Nitazoxanide was discovered…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 2 min

Gold falls and yields gain after Fed comments

New York — Gold fell in volatile trading on Thursday as the US dollar and Treasury yields rose after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell shifted the central bank's inflation target in a widely expected move. Spot gold fell 1.72% to $1,921.10/oz after midday in New York. Prices had risen as…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 1 min

New Post Office board members appointed amid leadership battle

Five new people have been appointed to the SA Post Office board, amid a battle between the board and shareholder minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams over appointments and her alleged interference in operations. Sapo — which suffered more than R1bn in losses in the past financial year, extending its money-losing streak to…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min

Government mulls setting up special courts to tackle Covid-19 graft

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government is looking into establishing special courts, similar to those set up for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, in a bid to tackle corruption allegations related to Covid-19 procurement. Responding to questions in the National Assembly on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the state was also considering…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 4 min

African Development Bank re-elects Adesina for five-year term

Abidjan — African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina has been re-elected for another five-year term following a tumultuous three months that divided shareholders. He received 100% support, the Ivory Coast-based lender said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. “As shareholders, we strongly support the bank and will give him…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 1 min

Hurricane Laura hits Lake Charles in Louisiana, causing huge destruction

Houston, Texas — Hurricane Laura made landfall early on Thursday in southwestern Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms to hit the state, shattering glass windows and tearing roofs off buildings in Lake Charles as it moved northward to drench the inland. Residents of Lake Charles, Louisiana, heard Laura's…