Category: World

FirstRand’s full-year earnings fell as provisions tied to its UK motor finance business offset strong growth across its core operations in South Africa and the rest of Africa.The financial services group said earnings on its previously reported basis declined 5% to R39.7 billion for the year ended June 30, 2026, after it booked an additional provision linked to potential customer redress in Britain. Return on equity on that basis was 18.3%, within the group’s stated target range.FirstRand recognised an additional

Cocoa futures strengthened after Ghana’s cocoa regulator proposed a roughly 6 per cent increase in the price paid to farmers for the 2026/27 season, prompting short covering as traders assessed the implications for supplies and cross-border bean flows.The proposed farmgate price would rise to 2,737 cedis for a 64-kilogram bag from the current 2,587 cedis, according to people familiar with the plan. The change remains subject to approval by Ghana’s finance minister and has not yet been formally announced by

Artificial intelligence has sharply eroded Kenya’s once-thriving academic ghostwriting trade, cutting demand, rates and livelihoods for thousands of educated freelancers who built careers completing assignments for university students overseas.The disruption has become stark four years after ChatGPT’s launch. Writers who once handled a steady flow of essays, dissertations and coursework for clients in the United States and Britain say orders have dwindled as students increasingly use generative AI to produce assignments themselves. Researchers had estimated that at least 40,000 people

Grindstone Ventures has launched a R500 million venture capital fund aimed at technology-enabled African businesses from seed to Series A, seeking to bridge the financing gap between early commercial traction and the larger institutional rounds needed for expansion.The fund, led by Grindstone Ventures chief executive Thandiwe Maqetuka and established with Knife Capital and Thinkroom, is targeting an initial close of R150 million. It plans to invest in 15 to 20 companies, mainly in South Africa, while making selective investments elsewhere

Washington and Tehran are hardening their positions for a prolonged confrontation, with no clear path to a ceasefire and Middle East energy flows still severely disrupted.President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he expected the war to end only after the November 3 US midterm elections, while acknowledging that Washington was not actively seeking negotiations. His remarks came as the conflict entered its seventh month and fighting around the Strait of Hormuz intensified sharply.Trump said Iran could no longer sustain

JetBlue Airways has lowered its third-quarter capacity growth forecast after severe weather and air traffic control disruptions hit operations across the northeastern United States, adding cost pressure as the carrier pursues its profitability turnaround.The New York-based airline now expects available seat miles, a standard measure of capacity, to rise 1.5% to 3.5% from a year earlier in the quarter ending September 30. Its previous forecast, issued in late July, called for growth of 3% to 6%.JetBlue also raised its estimate

US producer prices rose 5.4 per cent in the 12 months through August, accelerating from July and coming in slightly above market expectations, as higher energy costs pushed wholesale inflation to its strongest annual pace in months.The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.4 per cent from July on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. The monthly rise matched economists’ expectations, while the annual increase exceeded the roughly 5.3 per cent rate anticipated

Algeria has ended diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after saying all efforts to preserve bilateral ties had been exhausted, marking a sharp escalation in a dispute that had already damaged political and transport links between the two Arab states.The decision was announced on Thursday by Algerian state television, which cited the authorities as saying Algeria had exhausted every avenue available to maintain relations with Abu Dhabi. No detailed explanation for the final rupture was given immediately, and the

At least five people were killed and 86 remained unaccounted for on Thursday after a passenger-and-cargo ferry caught fire off Palawan in the western Philippines, triggering a large search operation involving coast guard, military and civilian vessels.The Philippine Coast Guard said 43 people had been rescued from the MV June Aster, which was carrying 117 passengers and 17 crew members on a voyage from Manila to Coron. The vessel remained afloat but was listing and smouldering after the overnight blaze

Hong Kong-based New Sparkle Roll International Group is considering selling its holding in Bang & Olufsen, potentially reshaping the ownership of the Danish luxury audio maker, people familiar with the matter said.The deliberations concern a stake of more than 10 per cent in the Copenhagen-listed company, making New Sparkle Roll one of Bang & Olufsen’s two largest disclosed shareholders. The process remains under consideration and no final decision has been made, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.Bang &

Canada has used its lead-nation role at Poland’s MSPO arms fair to push its defence industry more forcefully into European markets, pairing a large trade mission with a renewed defence agreement with Warsaw.Defence Minister David McGuinty and International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu led Ottawa’s presence at the International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce, where Canada was designated the 2026 lead nation. The government said its mission involved more than 200 organisations and nearly 500 delegates; its post-visit tally listed 158

A pilot aboard an Amazon Prime Air cargo jet repeatedly warned that the aircraft was approaching Miami International Airport too fast before it overran a runway and crashed, killing five people on the ground, US investigators have disclosed.The National Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday that the warning began one minute and 42 seconds before the cockpit voice recorder stopped. After one pilot called for the Boeing 767’s flaps to be set to 20 degrees, the other cautioned that they

Paris Saint-Germain began their Champions League title defence with a 6-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, powered by a Ferran Torres hat-trick and two goals from Ousmane Dembélé.The French side, seeking a third successive European crown, took control before the interval and never allowed the Slovak champions to settle. Dembélé struck twice inside six first-half minutes before Torres scored his first of the night, giving PSG a 3-0 lead by half-time.Torres added two more

Iraq plans to lift pipeline oil exports through Syria and Türkiye’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan to more than one million barrels a day, as Baghdad accelerates efforts to diversify crude shipments away from vulnerable Gulf routes.Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said Iraq was exporting about three million barrels per day in September and remained within its OPEC production ceiling, with current production capacity not exceeding 4.2 million barrels per day. He said the government’s future plan was to raise pipeline

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board has reported Iran to the UN Security Council over nuclear safeguards failures, marking the first such referral in two decades and widening the diplomatic confrontation between Tehran and Western governments.The 35-member Board of Governors adopted the resolution on Wednesday by 23 votes to three, with eight abstentions. China, Russia and Niger voted against the measure, while one member did not vote because it was in arrears. The United States, Britain, France and Germany put

President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday that the United States could strike Pickaxe Mountain after Washington detected activity at the deeply buried site near the damaged Natanz uranium enrichment complex.“We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard,” Trump told a Republican midterm convention in Dallas, sharpening warnings he has issued since July about the fortified installation.Trump did not describe the activity detected

DP World and GulfCap Africa have formalised their joint venture to develop the 222-hectare Mombasa Industrial Park, advancing a major special economic zone project intended to expand manufacturing and logistics capacity on Kenya’s coast.The companies signed a Shareholders Agreement at State House in Nairobi in the presence of President William Ruto, building on a partnership announced in August. The agreement establishes the ownership framework behind the project and moves the planned development towards implementation.The first phase will cover 40 hectares,

US Treasury yields climbed on Wednesday as oil prices pushed above $100 a barrel, intensifying concern that higher energy costs could keep inflation elevated and persuade the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its September 15-16 meeting.The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield moved above 4.8%, touching its highest level since late 2023, while longer-dated yields remained under pressure as investors reassessed the inflation outlook and the likely path of monetary policy. Bond prices move inversely to yields.Brent crude rose past

North Korea’s newly appointed defence minister has warned that Pyongyang will take strong countermeasures if the United States and its allies provoke a new military confrontation, as Washington, Seoul and Tokyo conduct their five-day Freedom Edge exercise.Kim Song-gi, appointed defence minister late last month, issued the warning in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Monday. He said the US-led exercises were creating a serious security threat and pushing instability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond the

Nepal has asked the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage for emergency financing after the August 26 Bhote Koshi disaster, putting the fledgling global climate-aid mechanism under pressure before it has made its first funding awards.The government’s request, signed by Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Agriculture, Forests and Environment Minister Gita Chaudhary, says the scale of destruction exceeds Nepal’s domestic resources and immediate response capacity. Kathmandu wants rapid support to protect affected communities, restore essential services and begin recovery.The

Rescuers in Nepal pulled a Chinese worker and a Nepali woman alive from separate sites on Saturday, 10 days after catastrophic floods swept through Himalayan valleys and left thousands of people missing.The Chinese national, identified as Lu Haitao, was brought out from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district by a joint rescue team involving Nepal's army and South Korean disaster specialists. He was evacuated by helicopter for medical treatment after being found with mild hypothermia

U. S. forces struck three Iranian crude oil tankers on Saturday after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired ballistic missiles towards two American Navy warships, escalating a renewed exchange of attacks around the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.U. S. Central Command said an American aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple Iranian attacks while patrolling regional waters. No American personnel were harmed, it said. The command did not identify the warships or specify where the Iranian missiles were launched

More than 1,600 migrant children have been registered in Ceuta as Spain struggles to move minors from streets and makeshift camps into adequate care more than a month after the mass crossing from Morocco.Spain’s Ministry of Youth and Children said 1,612 minors were registered in the North African enclave by September 1, including 1,129 identified after the July 30-31 influx. Officials acknowledge that the true number may be higher because an unknown number of children have yet to complete registration.The