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BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Listen to the latest BusinessLIVE articles from the news desk of Business Day, Financial Mail and the Business Times.

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Daily English South Africa Business News · News
12,931 Episodes
800 – 820

S&P 500 hits record close in dramatic recovery

New York — The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Tuesday, rebounding from huge losses triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and crowning one of the most dramatic recoveries in the index's history. The record confirms, according to a widely accepted definition, that Wall Street's most closely followed index…
18 Aug 2020 5PM 3 min

SARAH BUITENDACH: Ray of light in a cesspool

In this article ( for last week’s Financial Mail, Toby Shapshak described YouTube as “the cesspool of the internet”. His commentary of the behemoth went on to say: “People who still believe the Earth is flat have a platform on the video-sharing site, given the number of conspiracy videos there…
18 Aug 2020 4PM 3 min

US postmaster general suspends changes until after election

Washington — US Postmaster general Louis DeJoy said he is suspending changes to mail service that raised concerns over slow delivery of ballots in the fall election after Democrats accused President Donald Trump of hampering the mail-in process. “To avoid even the appearance of any affect on election mail, I…
18 Aug 2020 4PM 3 min

Gold reclaims $2,000/oz level on weaker dollar

Bengaluru — Gold rose over 1% to reclaim the key $2,000/oz level again on Tuesday as the dollar plunged to two-year low. Spot gold rose 0.9% at $2,004.21/oz in New York, after hitting a one-week peak of $2,014.97. US gold futures settled up 0.7% at $2,013.1. "People are watching the…
18 Aug 2020 3PM 2 min

EDITORIAL: Take stock of hazy days ahead

Well, hindsight is a perfect science. That will be the plausible explanation of any investor who has been caught out by the surge in stock markets in the second quarter of 2020. Faced with unprecedented declines in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdowns, taking the safety…
18 Aug 2020 2PM 3 min

David Mabuza calls in sick, again

For the second time in as many months, Deputy President David Mabuza, who has hardly been visible during the lockdown, has asked parliament to postpone his question and answer session which was scheduled to take place Thursday — because he is ill. “The speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise,…
18 Aug 2020 2PM 2 min

Long-distance taxi operators want to go back to full loads

The taxi industry, which transports 16.5-million passengers a day in SA, says it is negotiating with the government for interprovincial operators to be permitted to carry full passenger loads to help them make up for losses incurred during the lockdown. Local travel restrictions were lifted a month ago allowing taxis…
18 Aug 2020 2PM 3 min

Malian leader Keïta arrested by mutinying soldiers, say sources

London/Bamako — Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was arrested on Tuesday by mutinying soldiers in the capital Bamako, two security sources said. A spokesperson for Keita could not be reached for comment. The arrest came after soldiers mutinied at the Kati army base outside Bamako and rounded up a number…
18 Aug 2020 2PM 4 min

Unions agree to a wage-freeze in the steel and manufacturing sector

Employers in the metals and engineering sector got a reprieve from unions’ demands for higher wages after entering into an agreement to freeze wages until 2021 due to Covid-19. The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), the largest union in the sector, said the wage-freeze agreement was brought on…
18 Aug 2020 1PM 2 min

Humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso as 1-million flee jihadists

The number of people who have fled their homes in Burkina Faso has reached 1-million as a humanitarian crisis fueled by jihadist violence is compounded by low rainfall and Covid-19 restrictions, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said. More than 450,000 people were newly displaced this year while the Burkinabe Council…
18 Aug 2020 12PM 1 min

Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed replaces defence minister in cabinet reshuffle

Addis Ababa — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday replaced the defence minister, his former ally Lemma Megersa, as part of a reshuffle ahead of elections in the divided nation in 2021. Lemma was replaced by Kenea Yadeta, the former security chief of Oromiya region, Abiy's office said on…
18 Aug 2020 12PM 2 min

Bipartisan committee confirms that Putin ordered 2016 hack of Democrats’ campaign

Washington — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the 2016 hacking of Democratic Party accounts and the release of e-mails intended to harm Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the US senate intelligence committee concluded in the final report of its Russia probe, which also found that President Donald Trump didn’t collude with Moscow…
18 Aug 2020 12PM 3 min

SA planning to sign up to international Covid-19 vaccine plan

The government has expressed interest in participating in the international Covax financing initiative for Covid-19 vaccines, which aims to accelerate the development of promising technologies and fairly distribute them around the world. Covax is jointly led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Global Access to Vaccines Initiative (Gavi) and…
18 Aug 2020 12PM 2 min

Hezbollah member found guilty of Hariri assassination

Leidschendam — A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday convicted a member of Hezbollah of conspiring to kill former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri in a 2005 bombing that set the stage for years of confrontation between Lebanon's political forces. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire, had close ties with the West and…
18 Aug 2020 12PM 3 min

LETTER: B4SA should explain what it means by ‘clarity’ on property rights

Business for SA’s (B4SA) proposal for post-pandemic recovery has provoked much discussion, in part because an economic strategy centred on the private sector is infinitely more credible than one built around our compromised state. But there are major blind spots that require attention. “Policy certainty is critical to attract new…
18 Aug 2020 11AM 1 min

WHO says nations that hoard vaccines will deepen the pandemic

Geneva/Manila — Nations that hoard possible Covid-19 vaccines while excluding others will deepen the pandemic, World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday, issuing a last-ditch call for countries to join a global vaccine pact. The WHO has an August 31 deadline for wealthier nations to join…
18 Aug 2020 11AM 3 min

China punishes professor who called Xi Jinping a ‘mafia boss’

Beijing — A retired Chinese professor who called President Xi Jinping a “mafia boss” and the ruling Communist Party a “political zombie” has been disciplined, according to her former employer, the latest such critic to face punishment in recent months. Cai Xia, who taught democratic politics at the Central Party…
18 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min

LETTER: Chained to an organisation that’s dragging us down the drain

I am a pensioner who has been approached by a large organisation asking for money. Here’s the thing: I have in the past given this organisation substantial amounts of my money, but all the promises it made were never met. The previous CEO has been accused of fraud and is…
18 Aug 2020 10AM 1 min
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