South African coal-fired power stations have received limited exemptions from air quality laws and harmful emissions reduction regulations, the environment minister said on Monday, but he stressed that the measures did not constitute a “blanket reprieve”. The government is struggling to strike a balance between calls to reduce its carbon footprint and stop harmful emissions and the need to provide electricity to Africa’s most advanced economy, which has stagnated due to power cuts. Power utility Eskom, whose fleet of old coal-fired power plants generates most of South Africa’s electricity, had applied to exempt eight of its plants from minimum emission…
Author: Fatimah Idera
Japanese banks may need to offer business turnaround support to companies hit by tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the head of the country’s banking lobby said. Many large Japanese firms, including major exporters and manufacturers, are grappling with U.S. duties on imports of steel and aluminium and a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks starting this week. “We think tariffs could lead to a deterioration in corporate earnings,” the new chair of the Japan Banks Association, Junichi Hanzawa, told Reuters in an interview. “We will have to ascertain whether this weighs on employment…
WH Smith is set to sell its more than 230-year-old British high street business to Hobbycraft-owner Modella Capital, a private equity firm for 76 million pounds ($98 million) to focus on global travel retail. The sale means that the WH Smith name will disappear from British shopping streets as the group’s nearly 500 stores will be renamed TGJones by the new owner, which intends to retain existing products and services, including the Post Office and Toys “R” Us, while gradually adding new product ranges. The WH Smith brand itself is not part of the sales deal and will remain in…
Ratings agency Moody’s said yesterday that the UK government’s moves to address budget challenges were timely and positive steps aimed at tackling declining public finances amid a worrisome fiscal outlook. British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, on Wednesday, rebuilt the fiscal buffer against which the government measures its fiscal rules, partly by cutting welfare payments. “There is a significant risk that the Chancellor will have to cut spending further or introduce new revenue-raising measures in the next budget in October,” Moody’s said in response to Reeves’ Spring Statement. Economists also suggest that economic growth is likely to remain weak, raising the…
In what could be regarded as a historic moment, the sole British soldier charged with murder over the 1972 ‘Bloody Sunday’ killings of 13 unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland ,will face trial in September, a court yesterday revealed.. Bloody Sunday became one of the defining moments of the Troubles, three decades of sectarian violence involving nationalists seeking a united Ireland, unionists wanting to remain part of the United Kingdom, and British forces. The Parachute Regiment soldier, who cannot be identified and is known as Soldier F, is accused of murdering William McKinney and James Wray, when members…
Justin Welby, the former Archbishop of Canterbury and once the spiritual leader of millions of Anglicans worldwide, has admitted he failed to act adequately on allegations of abuse within the Church of England. His remarks come in the wake of a damning report detailing decades of unchecked abuse by a senior church volunteer. In an interview with the BBC, Welby acknowledged that he had not ensured proper investigations into the case of John Smyth, a British lawyer and evangelical figure who subjected more than 100 boys and young men to what has been described as “brutal and horrific” physical and…
The Chief Financial Officer(CFO) of Thames Water, Alastair Cochran, has disclosed that he will quit his position at the end of this month. Cochran’s decision is coming after three and a half years as the firm battles to avoid financial downturn. Thames Water is in a £16 billion debt and recently got court approval to obtain extra £3 billion as loans to keep it running into 2026. His departure comes at a critical time for the UK’s largest water company amid close scrutiny of its fragile finances Cochran’s sudden exit comes as Thames Water continues to find a buyer to…
Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses. It is a deadly viral disease which claims hundreds of lives annually in west Africa. The threat of this rampant as it is transmitted to humans through contact with rodents of the genus and Mastomys which carry the Lassa virus. Humans usually become infected with Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa. Lassa fever is known…
The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday discussions with Argentina on a new program are “advanced,” and that fund staff and its board have also met as part of the program’s proceedings. The IMF board was expected to meet on Tuesday, with Argentina’s qualification for a new program under the fund’s Exceptional Access Policy on the agenda, given that the country has borrowed beyond the fund’s regular lending limits. The EAP requires informal meetings with the board ahead of any agreement announcement, in part to guarantee that the loan criteria are met. The fund gave no further details and the…
The European Central Bank has issued a negative opinion on the application of so-called “Danish compromise” rules to the ongoing takeover by Banco BPM of Anima Holding. The Italian lender launched a buyout offer for the fund manager in November, contingent on the ECB allowing it to apply the Danish Compromise rules. These rules allow a bank to risk-weigh an insurance holding instead of deducting it in full from its regulatory capital. In BPM’s case, the rules would have also applied to an asset bought via an insurance arm. Banco BPM has bid for Anima through its insurance subsidiary BPM…
