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More opposition members disappear in Belarus

Minsk/Moscow — The embattled Belarusian opposition lost contact with two more members of its co-ordination council as authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko targets the leaders of the biggest protests of his 26-year rule. Lawyers Maksim Znak and Ilya Saley were targeted in separate raids on Wednesday, opposition spokesperson Gleb Germanchuk said…

9 Sep 2020 7AM 3 min

Top Tories worry Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan will break trust in UK

London — Boris Johnson is facing a backlash from within his own ruling Conservative Party after the UK government said it plans to break international law over Brexit. As trade talks with the EU continue, the prime minister will take questions in Parliament and is likely to be put under…

9 Sep 2020 7AM 4 min

How will the Alexei Navalny attack affect Russia’s voters?

Regional elections are often dull and predictable. Unfortunately for President Vladimir Putin, the ones in Russia will be neither on Sunday, when the world’s largest country by land mass goes to the polls. The dramatic poisoning of opposition campaigner Alexei Navalny adds to a string of events that will make…

9 Sep 2020 6AM 4 min

Oil stems some losses but growing Covid-19 cases worry investors

London — Oil futures clawed back some of the losses they sustained in the previous session, but a rebound in Covid-19 cases in some countries undermined hopes for a steady recovery in global demand. Brent crude was up 44 US cents, or 1.1%, at $40.22 a barrel by 7.52am GMT…

9 Sep 2020 6AM 1 min

World shares unmoved by tech stock losses and vaccine blow

London — European shares on Wednesday shrugged off heavy losses for US tech stocks and a major drugmaker delaying testing of a coronavirus vaccine, as investors kept faith in an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The broad Euro Stoxx 600 gained 0.7% in early trading, steadying after hefty declines…

9 Sep 2020 5AM 3 min

Union urges Zimbabwe nurses to end strike amid pandemic

Harare — Zimbabwe’s biggest nurses union said on Wednesday that it is encouraging its members to end a pay strike that started in June and which forced major hospitals to turn away patients at a time when the country is fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Inflation is running above 800%, reviving…

9 Sep 2020 5AM 1 min

SARAH BUITENDACH: R5.5m Rolls-Royce shows who really took the Covid-19 economic hit

In researching this column, it dawned on me that I’m a financial minnow at sea in the briny depths of superyachts, lobster platters and billionaires backstroking through piles of cash. Last week, at the launch of the rebooted Ghost (, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told the BBC “that markets in…

9 Sep 2020 4AM 3 min

Stronger dollar trips up gold

Bengaluru — Gold prices slipped on Wednesday as the dollar rose to multi-week highs ahead of monetary policy strategies from major central banks in North America and Europe. Spot gold was down 0.3% to $1,925.20/oz by 2.39am GMT. US gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,935.20. “Gold is edging lower as…

9 Sep 2020 2AM 2 min

Lockdown day 166: Latest Covid-19 numbers

Number of Covid-19 infections in SA rises to 640,441, there have been 567,729 recoveries and 15,086 deaths to date

9 Sep 2020 2AM 1 min

Lockdown day 166: Pictures of the day

A round-up of the best pictures from day 166 of the national lockdown

9 Sep 2020 2AM 1 min

Oil loses ground amid worry about a second wave

Tokyo — Oil futures fell further on Wednesday after big declines the previous session with Brent sliding below $40 a barrel for the first time since June as Covid-19 cases rebounded in several countries. The biggest global health crisis in a century continues to flare unabated with cases rising in…

9 Sep 2020 2AM 1 min

US tech sell-off upsets Asian shares

Tokyo/New York — Asian shares fell on Wednesday and oil prices hit lows not seen since June after a rout in technology shares sank Wall Street for a third consecutive day and a major drugmaker delayed testing of a coronavirus vaccine. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid…

9 Sep 2020 1AM 4 min

Oxford scientists: these are the final steps we’re taking to get our coronavirus vaccine approved

Of the hundreds of potential Covid-19 vaccines in development, six are in the final stages of testing, known as phase three clinical trials. One of these — ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 — is the vaccine we’re developing at the University of Oxford. To be approved, vaccines need to go through multiple rounds…

8 Sep 2020 6PM 5 min

ROB ROSE: Clicks, the EFF, and the failure to think

Clicks CEO Vikesh Ramsunder first saw the advertisement that caused all the trouble last Friday, as it began to attract heat on social media. The contrasting images, created by Unilever’s Tresemmé brand and posted on the Clicks website, was of a white woman’s head with the description “normal hair” next…

8 Sep 2020 6PM 5 min

Former Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis named as new EU trade chief

Brussels — European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen put former Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis in charge of the influential trade portfolio in a reshuffle forced by the departure of Irishman Phil Hogan. Von der Leyen also named Mairead McGuinness, a senior member of the European parliament, as the…

8 Sep 2020 5PM 1 min

Republicans unveil slimmed-down stimulus bill

Washington — Senate Republicans introduced a slimmed-down stimulus bill that would restore some of the extra unemployment benefits that expired in July and provide another round of relief for small businesses hit by the Covid-19 crisis. The legislation, which Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted earlier on Tuesday as a…

8 Sep 2020 5PM 2 min

EDITORIAL: Mr President, our stalled economy needs torque, not talk

Long before the grim outcome was confirmed, it was clear the second-quarter GDP number was going to be as no other. And it was no surprise that President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a lengthy statement in response ( In his short time in office, statements lamenting SA’s dismal economic performance have…

8 Sep 2020 4PM 3 min

Zimbabwe to resume international flights from October

Harare — Zimbabwe will resume domestic flights from Thursday and international flights in October in an effort to boost tourism, but travellers will be required to have a certificate clearing them of Covid-19, the government said. The country suspended flights and shut its borders in March as it sought to…

8 Sep 2020 3PM 1 min

MNINAWA NTLOKO: Middendorp lost his rag even before Amakhosi dropped the cup

A colleague recently received a stinging rebuke from fiery Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp that left him simultaneously bemused and amused. The combustible German mentor was apparently unimpressed with my colleague’s stinging examination of his at times perplexing approach to the game during the business end of the season. The…

8 Sep 2020 2PM 4 min

One size does not fit all in Africa’s Covid-19 response

The right to life is fundamental; an imprescriptible right inherent to all human beings. The Equity and Human Rights Commission states that governments should take appropriate measures to safeguard life by “taking steps to protect you if your life is at risk”. With public healthcare in Africa suffering chronic shortages…

8 Sep 2020 12PM 7 min