This past week saw bureaucracy at its best. From the BRICS summit in South Africa to the EU and America deciding to leave their trade relationship essentially the same. Theresa May continued to battle with the woe that is Brexit, and Zimbabweans are all set to have their first truly democratic election on Monday.
Global News
- Donald Trump is considering removing security clearance from a dozen former national security officials who have criticised him regarding the Russia Investigation.
- Trump has agreed to an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators as long as the questions are limited to whether his campaign colluded with Russia in the run-up to the 2016 elections.
- Trump and President Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, reached an agreement this week to essentially leave trade relations as they are.
- This week, Theresa May took over as lead negotiator in the Brexit talks. This came after the heads of her Brexit team resigned last week.
- A large hole was poked into her sail however when the European Commissions chief negotiator rejected a crucial part in her Brexit Plan.
- Facebook shares tumbled over the last couple of days on disappointing future earnings forecasts, just yesterday the stocks fell by 19%, equivalent to $100 billion – this may be the worst single day loss for any company in history.
- Zimbabweans head to the polls on Monday! Concern is rising over how true and fair these elections will be but, for now, we will hope for the best.
Local News
- The BRICS Summit ended this week with the five members agreeing to consolidate in the face of Trump’s Trade War Tariffs. Releasing this joint statement: “We recognise that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges. We underscore the importance of an open world economy.”
- At the BRICS Summit China pledged $14.7billion to South Africa in investments and grant loans to Eskom. This comes after investments from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last week – President Ramaphosa is making progress to his $100 billion investment target.
- The South African Jewish community has been rocked by the news of prolific businesspeople in the community being tied to Gupta corruption. For more on this, follow the link.
