BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Police clash with Nehawu members at protest over protective equipment and wages

Police used stun grenades and a water cannon to disperse members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) who had marched to parliament to deliver a list of demands related to personal protective equipment (PPE) and better wages. Nehawu, the country’s third-largest public sector union, which represents…

3 Sep 2020 12PM 3 min

Stay off social media if you work at the BBC, says its new boss

London — The new boss of the BBC has told staff they should not air their own political views on social media because they risk damaging the British broadcaster’s reputation for impartiality. Tim Davie, who became the corporation’s 17th director-general on Tuesday, said too much of its audience thinks the…

3 Sep 2020 12PM 1 min

Despite pressure, Merkel wants to separate pipeline and Navalny poisoning

Berlin — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is waiting for Russia’s response to the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny before deciding how to react, as she faces pressure to drop support for a controversial gas pipeline. “Much will depend on whatever reaction we have from the Russian side,” Merkel said…

3 Sep 2020 12PM 5 min

DA calls on Ebrahim Patel to fire lotteries board

The DA has called on trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel to fire the corruption-accused National Lotteries Commission board and place the entity under administration. The commission is tasked with regulating lotteries and the distribution of funds to good causes. It generates its funding and operational budget from the proceeds…

3 Sep 2020 12PM 3 min

Uncertainty governs Covid-19 projections, so multidisciplinary research is vital

Graham Barr reminded us in a recent article in this publication of some of the challenges we have encountered while estimating the possible number of SA Covid-19 cases and associated healthcare resource use as part of the SA Covid-19 Modelling Consortium (“Government shunned proper statistical tools to tackle pandemic (,”…

3 Sep 2020 12PM 7 min

Livestock export trade in question after cattle ship capsizes in storm

Tokyo/Wellington — More than 40 crew members were missing after a ship carrying cattle from New Zealand to China capsized in stormy weather in the East China Sea, the Japanese coastguard said. A lone crew member from the Gulf Livestock 1 had been rescued so far. Three vessels, four planes…

3 Sep 2020 11AM 3 min

Dubai gears up efforts to lure wealthy retirees

Dubai — Dubai is looking to attract retirees by gearing up a programme first started two years ago that has taken on greater urgency as the Middle East business hub contends with the flight of expatriates amid an economic downturn. Foreigners over the age of 55 will be eligible for…

3 Sep 2020 10AM 2 min

NEW YORK POST: Joe Biden’s soft spot is showing

Naturally, all the folks who have been downplaying and/or defending the violence of the anti-cop demonstrations across the US are happily seconding Joe Biden’s claim that yes, it is terrible — and it’s all President Donald Trump’s fault. In fact, Biden’s remarks fall far short: the Left is plainly driving…

3 Sep 2020 10AM 1 min

WE ARE HIRING: Companies editor at Business Day

Here's your chance to join the team at one of SA's most innovative publishers Reporting to: Business Day editor/deputy editor Department: Editorial Location: Johannesburg Position overview Business Day is looking for a companies editor to co-ordinate our company-news coverage for BusinessLIVE, our digital business platform, and Business Day. We’re seeking…

3 Sep 2020 10AM 2 min

Calls grow for Angela Merkel to drop Putin pipeline

Berlin — Chancellor Angela Merkel is under pressure from within her own party to drop support for a controversial gas pipeline with Russia after links point to the Kremlin in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Norbert Roettgen, head of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a…

3 Sep 2020 9AM 4 min

Trump takes the fight to Biden safe seat

Washington — President Donald Trump is taking to the airwaves in the once reliably Democratic state of Minnesota, launching an attack ad that paints opponent Joe Biden as “taking a knee” when protests in Minneapolis turned violent. The Trump campaign’s foray into Minnesota — including at least $12.9m in advance…

3 Sep 2020 9AM 4 min

Every country should join WHO’s vaccine initiative, Africa-CDC urges

Nairobi — All nations should join hands in a global effort to procure and distribute potential vaccines against the coronavirus across the globe, the head of Africa's diseases control body said on Thursday. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said 76 rich nations were now committed to joining a global Covid-19…

3 Sep 2020 9AM 2 min

JOHN STEENHUISEN: Property rights and the rule of law the wisest way forward

The fight for land is at the heart of the fight for economic justice and the ANC and DA should wake up to this fact, writes Carol Paton, citing the recent spate of illegal land occupations (“Land is the real life-and-death politics of SA (”, August 31). The DA is…

3 Sep 2020 9AM 5 min

Graft major blemish on Africa’s response to pandemic

African countries have generally handled their coronavirus response better than many experts feared, except for one detail: managing corruption. Kenya is the latest African nation to have its politics shaken by allegations of corruption in handing out pandemic-response contracts. It follows SA, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Uganda, which have all been…

3 Sep 2020 9AM 4 min

Benefits of Africa’s free trade bloc could boost post-pandemic recovery

The Covid-19 pandemic looks set to devastate African economies. A dramatic increase in public expenditure with a sharp drop in revenues on the back of global market turmoil, declining commodity prices and sharp declines in key sectors such as travel and tourism will have a profound and lasting impact. While…

3 Sep 2020 8AM 6 min

Hong Kong court says Jimmy Lai not guilty of criminal intimidation

Hong Kong — A Hong Kong court declared media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai not guilty of criminal intimidation on Thursday, ending one of several cases against him after his high-profile arrest in August under the new national security law. Thursday’s verdict was for a case that dates back…

3 Sep 2020 7AM 2 min

Emmanuel Macron’s economic plan for France is a high-stakes political move

Paris/ Emmanuel Macron’s government unveiled the long-awaited €100bn stimulus plan the French president is betting on to transform the economy and his political fortunes with less than two years to go until elections. The plan, dubbed “France Relaunch,” includes wage subsidies, tax cuts for businesses and funding for environmental projects…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 3 min

Good news from Iceland about getting the coronavirus twice

The emergence of a handful of people reinfected by SARS-Cov-2 — including individuals in Hong Kong, Italy and the US — has sparked panic over the future course of the pandemic. It’s not difficult to see why. One of the great hopes in tackling the coronavirus is that partial herd…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 3 min

Evictions ruling a tinderbox for Cape Town

The recent Cape Town high court judgment barring the City of Cape Town from evicting illegal land occupiers from their shacks — occupied or not — without first obtaining a court order risks encouraging land invasions and deepening instability. This is entirely at odds with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s repeated assurances…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 4 min

China to have a final say in TikTok sale to any US company

Hong Kong/Beijing — China has emphasised its right to approve or block the sale of technology abroad, confirming on Thursday that it will play a critical role in the sale of TikTok’s US operations to suitors that include Microsoft and Oracle. Beijing’s assertion jeopardises negotiations over the sale of ByteDance’s…

3 Sep 2020 6AM 1 min