BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear · TimesLIVE Podcasts

Spain’s Covid-19 cases top 400,000 after new surge

Madrid — Spain's cumulative tally of coronavirus cases hit 405,436 on Monday after a surge in infections last week, making it the worst week for infections since late March. The country's health ministry added nearly 20,000 infections for last week after revising upwards the number of cases for at least…

24 Aug 2020 3PM 2 min

US police shooting of another black man ignites more protests

New York — Police shot a black man in the back multiple times in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as his three sons watched on Sunday, his family's lawyer said, sparking a night of unrest during which protesters hurled firebombs and bricks at police. The victim, Jacob Blake, was taken to a hospital…

24 Aug 2020 2PM 2 min

Hong Kong researchers report first coronavirus reinfection

Hong Kong — A Hong Kong man who recovered from Covid-19 was infected again four-and-a-half months later in the first documented instance of human reinfection, researchers at the University of Hong Kong said on Monday. The findings indicate the disease, which has killed more than 800,000 people worldwide, may continue…

24 Aug 2020 2PM 2 min

Labour court declares planned strike at state lab unlawful

The state laboratory has obtained an order from the labour court declaring a potentially crippling strike planned for Tuesday unlawful. The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) provides all the diagnostic tests for patients using the public health sector, including those for Covid-19, HIV and tuberculosis. Three years ago it confronted…

24 Aug 2020 1PM 2 min

Treasury to strengthen its oversight of municipal finances

The Treasury has agreed to take a more active role in monitoring municipal finances to help bring back financial stability and address the twin problems of corruption and political interference. On Friday last week finance minister Tito Mboweni convened a meeting of his budget forum, a platform that comprises the…

24 Aug 2020 1PM 4 min

EDITORIAL: Saying ‘no more’ just skims the surface of violence against women

On August 24 2019, Uyinene Mrwetyana walked into a post office in Claremont in Cape Town, an act that should be among the most mundane imaginable. There was no-one in the locked office except Luyanda Botha, an employee who had called to tell her that her package had arrived. According…

24 Aug 2020 1PM 3 min

Trade & industry can be more industrious with pulling job-creation levers

Love it or hate it, we can all agree that the Covid-19 lockdown has had a severe social and economic effect. Many would agree with me that a major aim of the government needs to be to nurse the economy through this period, preserving as many jobs as possible to…

24 Aug 2020 12PM 5 min

LETTER: Good governance leads to performance

Stuart Theobald is correct to call for honesty in appreciating that environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies by investors are aimed not only at maximising financial return (“The problem with sustaining sustainability (”, August 23). The point was made even more strongly by Robert Armstrong in the Financial Times the…

24 Aug 2020 12PM 1 min

Zimbabwean reporter critical of government, Hopewell Chin’ono, denied bail again

A Zimbabwean court on Monday denied bail for the third time to a journalist who has been detained for more than a month on charges of inciting public violence over antigovernment protests in July. Hopewell Chin’ono, a freelance journalist openly critical of president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, used social media to…

24 Aug 2020 12PM 1 min

LETTER: Pan-Africanism struggled in Africa

Adekeye Adebajo cites OAU secretary-general Diallo Telli as saying Pan-Africanism was born amid “complete alienation, physical exploitation and spiritual torment” (“Pan-Africanism born in an atmosphere of alienation, exploitation and torment (”, August 23). Yet, as Adebajo points out, all the early pan-African conferences unrolled peacefully enough in London, Paris, Brussels,…

24 Aug 2020 11AM 1 min

Beirut at tipping point in mental health crisis

Beirut — More than two weeks after a huge explosion tore through Beirut killing 181 people and leaving entire neighbourhoods in ruins, Sandra Abinader still jumps at the slightest sound. “The other day, I was trying to open a jar and the popping sound made me jump back and scream…

24 Aug 2020 11AM 3 min

Evidence that plasma therapy works is still still ‘low quality’, WHO says

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is cautious about endorsing the use of recovered Covid-19 patients’ plasma to treat those who are ill, saying evidence it works remains “low quality” even as the US issued emergency authorisation for such therapies. So-called convalescent plasma, which has long been used to treat diseases,…

24 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min

LETTER: Mixed ownership for SOEs would solve many problems

SA’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) face big challenges that demand urgent solutions. We have seen SAA go into business rescue, and now Denel is struggling to meet its financial obligations, not forgetting that it recently posted huge losses. Another worrying factor is that some of the main SOEs under the department…

24 Aug 2020 10AM 1 min

LETTER: No need for SAA

One point John Fairwell (“Kgathatso Tlhakudi will not ask about SAA as answers are too dire to accept”, August 20) did not mention is important: the loud call for our own national flag-carrier claims that the state must own the flag carrier, and that’s not true. Many airlines bear the…

24 Aug 2020 10AM 1 min

Ramaphosa assures Zambia that Mboweni’s tweets are not view of SA’s government

Outspoken finance minister Tito Mboweni was reprimanded by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday after he waded into the shock firing of the central bank governor in Zambia, which led to a sharp sell-off in that country’s assets. In one of his tweets, Mboweni, who is a former governor of the…

24 Aug 2020 9AM 4 min

WHO urges countries to commit money to vaccine pool

Geneva/London — About 172 countries are engaging with the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) facility designed to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday, but more funding is needed and countries now need to make binding commitments. Countries wishing to be part of…

24 Aug 2020 9AM 1 min

Germany guards Alexei Navalny in Berlin hospital

Berlin — Germany has placed Alexei Navalny under guard in hospital after determining that the long-time critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin was most likely poisoned while campaigning in Siberia. Navalny collapsed on a plane on Thursday last week after drinking tea that his allies said they believe was laced…

24 Aug 2020 9AM 2 min

LETTER: Business needs to speak up

My thanks to Ann Bernstein for her excellent oped (“Only business can lead SA out of the abyss”, August 19). It is now more important than ever to hear what business leaders are saying. No more talking behind closed doors, but use every media outlet possible to get their message…

24 Aug 2020 8AM 1 min

LETTER: President and ANC pull opposite ways

There is serious dissonance between the way the president is running the country and the ANC is running its affairs as regards the application of the principal of precautionary suspensions. This dissonance is best illustrated by the precautionary suspension of Public Investment Corporation (PIC) staff by the president on the…