- ArcelorMittal SA (Amsa) has decided it must pull the plug on its long steel business.
- The EU’s climate tax ambitions hit turbulence: a draft plan shows member states want a decade-long delay on aviation and shipping fuel levies, stalling long-promised energy tax reforms and leaving carbon-heavy sectors shielded from EU-wide minimum charges.
- India is preparing its biggest GST overhaul in nearly a decade, planning tax cuts of at least 10 points on 175 items from shampoo to hybrid cars. The move, aimed at boosting consumption, coincides with strained US trade ties.
- Nigeria inks a high-stakes oil pact: TotalEnergies and Sapetro secure production-sharing rights over two Niger Delta offshore blocks spanning 2,000 sq km. With 80-20 split, the deal crowns Nigeria’s 2024 licensing round and deepens foreign energy investment.
- The Monaco Yacht Show (MYS) 2025 inaugurates this year the first edition of the Blue Wake™ Awards, a ceremony designed to reward the most operational, innovative, and effective environmental sustainability solutions in the superyacht industry.
- DOJ Fires Employee for Making Obscene Gestures.
- State of US Labor Market: The national labor market has remained resilient over the past year, serving as a constant in an otherwise uncertain economic climate.
- Afghanistan Earthquake Kills More Than 800: A magnitude 6.0 earthquake killed more than 800 people and injured at least 2,500 in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, the Taliban government said on 1 September.
- Trump: Rudy Giuliani to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Rosie O’Donnell apologizes after falsely claiming Minn. school shooter was ‘Republican, MAGA supporter’.
- Colorado: 1 dead, 3 injured after two small planes collide midair.
- Former FBI Director Robert Mueller diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
- Rep. Maxine Waters urges use of 25th Amendment to find out what’s ‘wrong’ with Trump.
- Camper survives hyena attack at Cape Vidal: Screaming in agony, a young farmer fought back and drove off two hyenas that attacked him in his tent at the Cape Vidal camp site in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park at the weekend.
- More than 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in a landslide in western Sudan. There is reportedly only a lone survivor in a village in the Marra Mountains. The landslide hit on Sunday after days of heavy rainfall.
- Britain has allocated emergency funding directly to Afghanistan aid organisations in support of those hit by Sunday’s devastating earthquake. The quake killed more than 800 people and injured almost 3,000.
- For the first time in 14 years, Syria has exported its first heavy crude oil: 600,000 barrels to B Serve Energy, a trading firm. Several US organisations have begun exploring Syrian gas and oil plans.
- The 2030 Commonwealth Games will be held in either Nigeria or India. The two nations submitted bids for the event by the 31 August deadline. Canada had been expected to be in the running, but ultimately did not bid.
- The Trump administration is preparing measures to curb surging housing costs, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, calling it an “all hands on deck” crisis. He added Trump may declare a national housing emergency this year amid rising prices.
- British lenders approved 65,352 mortgages in July, the highest number since January and above forecasts, Bank of England data showed. The figures suggest housing market stabilisation after volatility from April’s tax break expiry, marking a recovery in buyer demand.
- Australia’s competition watchdog has launched civil proceedings against four suppliers and three executives for alleged vegetable price fixing in sales to Aldi between 2018 and 2024. Aldi, Australia’s third-largest supermarket chain, stressed it is not accused of wrongdoing.
- Afghanistan – The Taliban has called for international aid as Afghanistan reels from an earthquake that killed more than 800 people and left thousands injured.
- Israel-Gaza war – A plan circulating in the White House to develop the “Gaza Riviera” as a string of high-tech megacities has been dismissed as an “insane” attempt to provide cover for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territory’s population.
- Politics – Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has been moved to a new senior role in Downing Street as Keir Starmer attempts to get a grip on delivery before what is likely to be a tumultuous autumn for the government.
- Health – A three-minute brainwave test can detect memory problems linked to Alzheimer’s disease long before people are typically diagnosed, raising hopes that the approach could help identify those most likely to benefit from new drugs for the condition.
- UK news – Prominent women including cultural figures, politicians and campaigners have signed a letter criticising rightwing attempts to link sexual violence in Britain to asylum seekers. Signatories include the musicians Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church and Anoushka Shankar.
- More and more people are blocking out the news because it fills them with dread. This piece examines the emotional toll of “doomscrolling”, and gives tips on how to stay engaged and not fall into a pit of negativity.
- Dr Velislava Hillman is persuasive about how AI in education is a lot less revolutionary than big tech companies might make it seem. “What is sold as the ‘democratisation’ of education may be entrenching further inequality,” she writes, as the elite opt for human tutoring and the less-privileged are offered mass, app-based instruction.
- Some great news from conservationists who have found Mexico’s jaguar population has increased 30%. The main thing they’ve done is protect natural areas to keep these beautiful cats away from cattle ranchers. “Mexico and the world need good news,” said one of the conservationists.
- Contrary to Eskom’s claims, South Africa already has the necessary standards to allow for fully legally compliant and safe grid-tied solar power installations without an electrical engineer’s sign-off.
- Hospitality and gaming giant Sun International is set to report mixed results for the first six months of 2025.
- Sun City-owner takes a hit: Financial setbacks from its failed Peermont acquisition and specific accounting adjustments will see Sun International report mixed results for the first half of 2025.
- Tax shock coming for South African businesses: National Treasury’s proposed redefinition of “hybrid equity investments” to align tax with accounting rules will eliminate a key tax-efficient financing tool for companies in South Africa.
- South Africa’s richest city hit by water crisis: Johannesburg is facing a city-wide water crisis driven by a failure to maintain municipal infrastructure, leaving the system fragile, prone to outages, and unable to meet rising demand.
- Supercar development launches inside one of South Africa’s most exclusive estates: A new supercar-focused luxury residential development at Zimbali Lakes will combine high-end coastal living with exclusive automotive and lifestyle amenities.
- Another 155 businesses in South Africa added to the growing list of closures: Liquidations in South Africa spiked in July, with business closures fast approaching the 1,000 mark for the year so far.
- Eskom solar rules lie: Eskom continues to mislead the public regarding the legality of its onerous solar power system registration rules.
- Salaries for professionals in South Africa should decline: Political economist Moeletsi Mbeki argues that South African salaries are inflated due to historical issues, and they should come down to make the country more competitive.
- Painting Africa Standard Bank blue: Daily Investor asked Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala for the secret sauce behind the bank’s successful expansion into Africa, a feat few South African companies have achieved.
- Rainbow Chicken spreads its wings: One year into operating as a stand-alone business, Rainbow Chicken is flying high.
- The best investment South Africa can make: Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber believes that funding the Border Management Authority is crucial, arguing that it will combat illicit trade, increase tax revenue, and reduce the burden on law enforcement.
- Petrol price cuts announced for South Africa: All grades of petrol and diesel are set to be cheaper as of Wednesday, 3 September.
- At least 800 people have been killed and thousands injured after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan Sunday. The epicenter was about 17 miles from Jalalabad near the Pakistan border, at a shallow depth of 5 miles, resulting in stronger ground shaking. Officials expect the death toll to increase as search and rescue efforts proceed in the remote mountainous region.
- President Donald Trump said he plans to appeal a federal appeals court decision that voided most of his so-called reciprocal tariffs against countries late Friday. Levies imposed on over 60 countries will remain in effect until Oct. 14, per the court’s ruling, barring a superseding decision from the Supreme Court.
- Forty years ago yesterday, oceanographers discovered the Titanic wreckage during a covert Cold War Navy mission. The luxury liner sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage from England to New York City, killing more than 1,500 people.
- Mark Knoller, longtime White House correspondent for CBS, dies at age 73.
- Randy Boone, actor best known for starring role on “The Virginian,” dies at age 83.
- Newly discovered tectonic activity may be responsible for historic but unexplained earthquakes in Portugal in recent centuries. An 8.5 magnitude quake in 1755 is considered Europe’s first modern natural disaster.
- Mars study reveals planet’s interior contains mile-wide structures left over from massive collisions around 4.5 billion years ago.
- US stock markets close lower Friday (S&P 500 -0.6%, Dow -0.2%, Nasdaq -1.2%) (More) | Core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 2.9% year over year in July as expected; figure is highest annual rate since February.
- World’s largest food company Nestlé dismisses CEO Laurent Freixe after one year in the role over undisclosed romantic relationship with direct subordinate.
- Spirit Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for second time in one year. More than 500,000 bankruptcies are filed in the US each year.
- Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit kicks off in China’s port city of Tianjin, with leaders from Russia, China, India, Iran, and six other nations in attendance.
- Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from returning unaccompanied migrant children to Guatemala without deportation orders; Guatemala says it can accept 150 migrant children per week from the US.
- Antigovernment protests in Indonesia leave at least eight people dead; latest demonstrations focus on lawmakers’ $3K monthly housing allowance, death of a motorcyclist during protests last week.
- Beverly Hills School District Reverses Flag Display Policy: The school district’s superintendent overruled the board of education’s vote.
- Experts Warn US of CCP Duplicity.
- Trump Calls on Pharmaceutical Companies to ‘Justify Success’ of COVID-19 Vaccines
- New York Rep. Jerry Nadler Says He Won’t Seek Reelection Next Year.
- Cholera Deaths Rise 46 Percent in 2025.
- Pending Home Sales Rise as Affordable Listings Climb to Highest Level Since 2022.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa praises Zimbabwe for taking farms from whites: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised Zimbabwe for its land reform, where farms were taken from white citizens and given to black citizens.
- The ANC is a criminal enterprise: As allegations of political interference, organised crime, and corruption within South Africa’s criminal justice system pile up, political analyst Prince Mashele said the ANC’s involvement has irreparably tarnished its credibility with voters.
- Swimming in sewage: Sanitation services in this metro are collapsing in plain sight: Communities and businesses across the small towns of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in the Free State say they are drowning in a crisis that has become part of daily life: raw sewage spilling into streets, homes and rivers.
- MK Party is in serious financial trouble: The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) is sitting in at least R28 million in debt, with independent auditors having findings against the party’s finances.
- Ramaphosa broke his promise to cut the cabinet: Despite multiple promises to reduce the size of the presidential cabinet, President Cyril Ramaphosa now has the most bloated government the country has ever seen and one of the biggest in the world.
- PensionBee, a leading online pension provider, is calling for the government to introduce stronger consumer protections to make pension transfers quicker and easier. Its recent report highlights how outdated, paper-based processes and poor industry practices are slowing down transfers – and why a legally backed 10-day guarantee is needed.
- On Sunday night, Fifth Harmony reunited after seven years to join the Jonas Brothers onstage during their concert in Dallas.
- The UK’s final surviving local currency – the Lewes Pound – is officially being discontinued amid the rise in card payments.
- A new 100-mile walking route is set to open for hikers to explore some of the UK’s coastal scenery.
- New research by storage specialists has revealed which European homes are likely to be harbouring the most clutter.
- China’s President Xi Jinping convened his Russian and North Korean counterparts together for the first time, a show of solidarity with countries shunned by the West over their role in Europe’s worst war in 80 years.
- Xi will host his country’s largest-ever military parade tomorrow, as he seeks to recast Beijing as the custodian of a post-US international order at a time of deep geopolitical uncertainty.
- Greater China Bureau Chief Kevin Krolicki joins the Reuters World News podcast to talk about one of the strongest ever weeks of Xi’s presidency.
- Kim Jong Un’s trip to Beijing offers the reclusive young North Korean leader an unprecedented opportunity to gain implicit support for his banned nuclear weapons and expand his diplomatic circle.
- The death toll from Afghanistan’s worst earthquake in years jumped to over 1,100 with thousands more injured, as difficult terrain hindered rescue efforts in isolated villages of the country’s mountainous eastern region.
- At least 1,000 people were killed in a landslide that destroyed a village in the mountainous Jebel Marra area in the Darfur region of Sudan, leaving only one survivor, the armed group that controls the area said.
- Indonesian police fired tear gas into crowds of protesters near two universities in the major regional city of Bandung, student groups and authorities said, ratcheting up tension around protests that have killed eight since last week.
- Tens of thousands of reservists started to report for duty ahead of a new Israeli offensive in Gaza City, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to speed up, despite warnings from senior ranks.
- The Japanese ruling party’s secretary general Hiroshi Moriyama, a close aide to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said he intends to resign from his post, potentially affecting the fate of Ishiba who has resisted calls to quit over an election loss.
- Thousands of protesters packed the streets near downtown Chicago, singing, chanting and waving signs protesting President Donald Trump’s threats to flood the city with National Guard troops and federal immigration agents.
- Nestle has fired its CEO Laurent Freixe after just one year in the job after an investigation into an undisclosed “romantic relationship”, ousting its second chief in a year and throwing the Swiss food giant into the deepest leadership chaos in decades.
- Kraft Heinz said it would spin off its grocery unit into an independent public company as the US packaged goods maker aims to revive growth after years of muted sales.
- Curtailing the US Federal Reserve’s independence could backfire and push up borrowing costs rather than lower them while disrupting the entire global financial system, said European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel in an interview.
- In markets news, gold sailed past $3,500 per ounce to a record high, as a weaker dollar and mounting expectations of a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September boosted the precious metal’s appeal.
- Long-dated bond yields in Britain and France hit their highest in over a decade as investors grow increasingly worried about the state of the countries’ finances.
- Vietnam celebrated the 80th anniversary of its declaration of independence from colonial rule with its largest military parade in decades, unprecedented cash handouts and the release of nearly 14,000 prisoners. Tens of thousands of people crowded the streets of the capital Hanoi, most of whom were wearing red shirts and holding Vietnamese flags, in a strong show of nationalism in the Communist-run country.
- An exhibition in Italy is expanding traditional ideas about taste by exploring how sound influences the way people experience their food. Hosted at the MUSE science museum in Trento, Food Sound examines how auditory cues – from the crunch of an apple to the sizzle of a pan – affect appetite, perception of flavor and emotional response.
- ‘Absolutely no crisis at SA Tourism,’ claims under-fire Patricia de Lille: As Tourism Month kicks off in South Africa, leadership and governance took centre stage in Parliament following Minister Patricia de Lille’s dissolution of the South African Tourism board.
- Businessman Brown Mogotsi used a secret prison phone to try to contact attempted murder accused Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala on the day of top cop Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive press briefing, it has emerged in court. Investigators are probing how Matlala had the phone – which had a paused video of the briefing – while incarcerated.
- Doctors at Durban’s Albert Luthuli Central Hospital have reportedly warned that crippling cuts have reduced surgical schedules by up to 60% compared with pre-pandemic levels. Critical departments, including paediatrics and orthopaedics, faced backlogs of up to six months.
- Belgium will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly this month and impose 12 sanctions on Israel, including a ban on products imported from its settlements. The decision is tied to conditions on Hamas, adding to growing European momentum for Palestinian statehood.
- China’s President Xi Jinping has hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Beijing, signalling solidarity with countries isolated by the West over their role in the war in Ukraine.
- Beverly Hills School District Reverses Flag Display Policy.
- Cholera Deaths Rise 46 Percent in 2025.
- Gold Hits All-Time High Amid Rate Cut Expectations: Gold prices hit an all-time high on Tuesday amid expectations of an interest rate cut and growing uncertainty related to tariffs. Spot gold hit a new high of around $3,508.
- Trump to Award Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Highest Civilian Honor: President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would honor former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
World News – 2 September 2025
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