BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Steve Madden comes off as an improbably effective C-suite manager in his memoir

New York — At 6am on June 20 2000, police and federal agents in riot gear swarmed into shoe designer Steve Madden’s apartment on Mercer Street in New York with a warrant for his arrest. Madden, then in his early 40s, had been implicated in the firm Stratton Oakmont’s “pump…

6 Sep 2020 2AM 5 min

Abused women in the DRC reconstruct their lives, with compassion

Goma — Teenager Aline, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was left destitute at only 15 after she was raped, left pregnant, then accused of bringing dishonour to her family and made to leave her home. But just two years later, her life is back on track, thanks…

6 Sep 2020 1AM 3 min

True transformation of corporate structures needs a plurality of views, skills and ideas

How do we adequately address societal prejudice? This question, and its various derivatives, has become recurrent on the agendas of management meetings throughout corporate SA. For many within their structures, however, this question is actually stripped of the weight of its required efforts and presents more like, how do we…

6 Sep 2020 1AM 7 min

DA adopts nonracialism at its first policy conference

SA’s official opposition party, the DA, has rejected race as a way to categorise people. The party took the stance for nonracialism as opposed to multiracialism at its first ever policy conference on Saturday. The conference dealt with the values and principles of the party as well as its policy…

5 Sep 2020 8AM 3 min

Tanker with two million barrels of oil ablaze off coast of Sri Lanka

An oil tanker loaded with two million barrels of Kuwaiti crude was towed further away from the Sri Lankan coast on Saturday, as rescuers continue to fight a fire that started Thursday morning. The blaze has been reduced, and so far, no oil slick has been reported, the Indian Coast…

5 Sep 2020 5AM 2 min

AU-backed app seeks to speed up border reopenings

Two major African public bodies are promoting a new technology that could connect the continent’s Covid-19 testing centres and ease a reopening of travel across the region. The African Union (AU) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention are encouraging member states to integrate the mobile-based PanaBIOS…

5 Sep 2020 2AM 2 min

Fast-tracking a vaccine has even some in the medical world spooked

Finding a vaccine against Covid-19 that works and can be distributed widely enough to help stop the pandemic is a global priority. Given the urgency, governments are doing all they can to fund research and incentivise firms to ramp up trials — pre-ordering doses, lowering regulatory barriers to market and…

5 Sep 2020 2AM 4 min

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams to face ANC integrity body to deal with corruption

Communications and digital technologies minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said she would subject herself to the ANC’s integrity committee after reports that her husband allegedly had business dealings with a SA Post Office (Sapo) board member. “This comes after the publication of a series of speculative media reports in recent weeks alleging…

4 Sep 2020 11AM 1 min

Covid-19 closes 12 French schools just days into new year

Paris — Covid-19 has forced the closure of a dozen schools in mainland France just days into the new academic year, the government said on Friday, as coronavirus cases surge in parts of the country. Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said the overwhelming majority of France’s 12-million pupils had returned without…

4 Sep 2020 11AM 1 min

Celebrate milestones and move to the next sustainability goal

Most of us who have been involved in sustainable business remember when 2030 seemed a distant — and thus wholly attainable — goal for a low-carbon future with food, water and energy security. But 2030 is now less than a decade away, and businesses that haven’t already committed to, and…

4 Sep 2020 10AM 5 min

Russia hails Lancet review of early-stage trials of Sputnik-V Covid-19 vaccine

Moscow — Russia's “Sputnik-V” Covid-19 vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials, according to results published on Friday by The Lancet medical journal that were hailed by Moscow as an answer to its critics. The results of the two trials, conducted in June-July and involving 76…

4 Sep 2020 9AM 4 min

LETTER: FM should articulate a plan for SA

We have gone over the edge; we are in the abyss. If we are ever going to have a chance of climbing out of the hole South Africans have dug for themselves, we need to focus on the real challenge that presents itself. That is not what the inconsequential musing…

4 Sep 2020 8AM 1 min

LETTER: Mbalula is a laughing stock

Given his history, I often wonder whether transport minister Fikile Mbalula thinks before he opens his mouth. Mbalula, like many other politicians, thinks that a threatening and aggressive stance will pull the masses into line, when in fact the opposite applies. President Cyril Ramaphosa had the right idea at the…

4 Sep 2020 8AM 1 min

Reports of racism and homophobia at UK football games double in past season

London — Reports of racist and homophobic abuse at football matches in Britain soared to a record high in the last year, despite the disruption to the season from the coronavirus pandemic. Recorded discrimination in the 2019/2020 season at professional games rose 42% to 446, with homophobic abuse almost doubling…

4 Sep 2020 8AM 2 min

Swiss complete Ceneri Tunnel under the Alps to reduce carbon and increase cargo

Camorino — Switzerland officially opened the Ceneri Base Tunnel on Friday, the final piece in a direct, flat rail link connecting Northern Europe to the Mediterranean via routes beneath the Alps. The 15.4km tunnel marks the completion of the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA), a 22.8-billion Swiss franc…

4 Sep 2020 7AM 2 min

Crew and cattle loss renew concern about livestock shipping

Sydney/Tokyo — A cargo ship with 43 crew and 5,800 cattle on board that overturned during stormy weather in the East China Sea has renewed concern about animal welfare issues in the live export trade in Australia and New Zealand. The Japan coast guard continued rescue efforts with four patrol…

4 Sep 2020 6AM 3 min

Rand improves as market eyes US job numbers

The rand was firmer on Friday morning, in line with its emerging-market peers, as currency traders awaited US non-farm payrolls data later in the day. The jobs data is a key barometer of the health of the US economy and will ultimately determine the direction of the rand after a…

4 Sep 2020 6AM 1 min

SHIRLEY DE VILLIERS: Looters in chief

Wednesday was a big day for SA. For starters, auditor-general Kimi Makwetu released the results of his real-time audit of the government’s multibillion-rand Covid relief spending. It was an indictment of SA’s ability to manage money. Makwetu has been warning for years about the paucity of financial controls in various…

4 Sep 2020 6AM 7 min

Italy’s Berlusconi in hospital after testing positive for virus

Rome — Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, in hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus, has been diagnosed with the early stages of double pneumonia, ANSA news agency reported on Friday. Double, or bilateral, pneumonia affects both lungs and can make breathing difficult. The condition has been seen in…

4 Sep 2020 6AM 2 min

Drugs for obesity and diabetes show promise for Covid-19 use

London — Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker, is exploring whether a new class of medicines that helps people lose weight and control diabetes also has potential in fighting Covid-19. Research shows people afflicted by obesity and diabetes often fare worse in trying to overcome SARS-CoV-2. Initial analysis of electronic medical…

4 Sep 2020 5AM 2 min