BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Japan sympathetic to Hong Kong activists and Agnes Chow

Tokyo — Japan’s foreign minister said on Thursday that the arrests of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow and media tycoon Jimmy Lai raised questions over freedom of speech and the press in Hong Kong and Tokyo’s concerns over the situation were growing. Chow, released on bail after her arrest…

13 Aug 2020 6AM 2 min

Lebanon judiciary to question former ministers over blast

Beirut — Lebanon’s judiciary will question finance and public works ministers who were in office in late 2013, when the stockpile of ammonium nitrate that caused last week’s devastating explosion was first unloaded at Beirut’s port. Former finance ministers Mohammed Safadi and Ali Hasan Khalil, as well as Ghazi Wazni…

13 Aug 2020 6AM 2 min

Oil price remains steady after IEA lowers 2020 demand forecast

London — Oil prices held steady on Thursday after the International Energy Agency lowered its 2020 oil demand forecast following unprecedented travel restrictions and data showing a decline in US inventories provided some support. Brent crude fell seven US cents, or 0.1%, to $45.36 a barrel by 9.33am GMT, and…

13 Aug 2020 6AM 2 min

World stocks subdued as trade wars and Covid-19 rein in bulls

London — World stocks’ return to record highs looked set to be delayed for another day on Thursday, as a stalemate in US stimulus talks, trade-war angst in both Europe and China, and the Covid-19 pandemic all reined the bulls back. A leap from Japan’s Nikkei in Asia after Wall…

13 Aug 2020 6AM 3 min

Brutal treatment of opposition activists in Belarus now an EU concern

Vilnius/Prague/Moscow — Svetlana Tikhanovskaya had won supporters hungry for change in Belarus and seemed ready to take on an authoritarian leader who has ruled the former Soviet state for 26 years. But as Sunday’s election finished with the declaration of another huge victory for Alexander Lukashenko, the 37-year-old former teacher…

13 Aug 2020 5AM 5 min

The days of a good heart-to-heart with a bartender may be over

Mount Pleasant — While there seems to be a new video every day of maskless youths blithely partying outside (and inside) bars, many people have actually been drinking less during the pandemic. Half of Americans say they aren’t excited at all about heading back to their favourite watering hole —…

13 Aug 2020 5AM 3 min

Why don’t some people play by the rules, even during a pandemic?

London — Lockdowns and social distancing measures introduced around the world to try to curb the Covid-19 pandemic are reshaping lives, legislating activities that were once everyday freedoms and creating new social norms. But there are always some people who don’t play by the rules. Rule-breaking is not a new…

13 Aug 2020 5AM 2 min

Trump campaign launches conflicting attacks on Kamala Harris

Washington — The Trump campaign is painting Kamala Harris as both a radical leftist and as insufficiently liberal to unite the progressive wing of her party behind Joe Biden. In the 24 hours since Biden announced she would be his running mate, Harris was attacked for being “the most liberal…

13 Aug 2020 5AM 2 min

Applications for Ters benefit extension to open next week

The directive allowing for the extended Covid-19 relief scheme has finally been signed and applications are expected to open next week, allowing workers to receive much-needed money. The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), which funds the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief scheme (Ters), said employment and labour minister Thulas Nxesi signed the directive…

13 Aug 2020 5AM 2 min

Stamping out Brazil’s domestic slavery an uphill battle

Rio de Janeiro — Whenever Elisa goes out in her small town in northeastern Brazil, she fears seeing the family she once considered her own. After almost three decades of domestic work with no pay and little freedom, Elisa realised she was a slave and plotted to escape the household…

13 Aug 2020 5AM 6 min

How young people are driving Europe’s new coronavirus cases

It isn’t surprising that young adults are trying to return to normal life. Many found themselves living and working in the bedrooms of cramped, rented accommodation. In Britain, people aged 16 to 24 have on average only about 26m2 of liveable room in their homes. Even for those who escaped…

13 Aug 2020 4AM 3 min

Berlin clubbers turn to illegal outdoor raves as pandemic cripples city’s nightlife

Berlin — About 80 people dance to techno music throbbing out of a professional sound system decorated with neon lights in a glade in Berlin’s Grunewald forest. No face masks are in sight, and revellers keep as much or as little distance as they like. This is what an illegal…

13 Aug 2020 3AM 5 min

Fight for Hong Kong democracy a long game, says freed media tycoon Lai

Hong Kong — Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai said on Thursday he was overwhelmed by the support he got after becoming the most high-profile person to be arrested under a new national security law and urged patience in a “long-term fight” for democracy. Lai, a staunch supporter of the…

13 Aug 2020 3AM 2 min

Gold rises as dollar loses ground

Bengaluru — Gold climbed 1% on Thursday on a softer dollar, consolidating further above the key $1,900 level, with an ultra-low interest rate environment and worries over global economic fallout from mounting Covid-19 cases underpinning its safe-haven appeal. Spot gold was up 1% at $1,936.99/oz by 3.14am GMT, a day…

13 Aug 2020 2AM 2 min

Covid-19 an opportunity to rewire basics for next-generation digital growth

As SA navigates its way through lockdown measures and confirmed Covid-19 cases head towards 600,000, it's time to take stock and act. Many industries can regard this challenge as an opportunity to rewire the fundamentals of the way they do business. This is an opportunity for SA to completely embrace…

13 Aug 2020 2AM 5 min

Oil slips after stockpiles fall

Tokyo — Crude oil prices eased slightly on Thursday but held most of their gains from the previous session after US government data showed a fall in inventories, supporting the view that fuel demand is returning despite the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude was down 8 US cents at $45.35 a…

13 Aug 2020 2AM 2 min

Stage 2 load-shedding returns on Thursday, with a high risk of stage 3 in evening

Citing generation unit breakdowns, Eskom has announced that stage 2 load-shedding is being implemented on Thursday, from 8am until 10pm. “This load-shedding has been caused by an increase in plant breakdowns during the night and early hours of the morning,” it said in a statement. “The delay of the return…

13 Aug 2020 1AM 1 min

US inflation data helps lift Wall Street and Asian markets

Singapore/Boston — Asia’s stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Thursday, as investors returned to tech stocks, gold and selling dollars after steady virus figures and a surprising jump in US inflation boosted sentiment. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2%, and gains in semiconductor makers…

13 Aug 2020 1AM 3 min

S&P 500 finishes just short of record closing high

New York — The S&P 500 jumped on Wednesday but finished just short of its February record closing high, in a broad rally led by tech-related stocks. The index in afternoon trading briefly surpassed its record high closing level of 3,386.15 from February 19, before the onset of the coronavirus…

12 Aug 2020 5PM 2 min

GIULIETTA TALEVI: How Trump’s WeChat ban is squeezing SA’s pensions

Donald Trump’s anti-China exertions may seem a world away but, unfortunately, they will likely have an effect on every single South African pensioner or investor, simply because of the importance of Naspers to our local market. If you haven’t been following the news, the US has set its sights on…

12 Aug 2020 5PM 3 min