Business & Tech News
New iPhone Launch Today: Apple is set to host a launch event today (Sept. 9) at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, where it is expected to unveil a series of new iPhones and provide details of updates to other devices and Apple applications. Apple’s latest iPhone, has been developed using the SoftBank -owned Arm’s newest V9 chip design, is said to be one of the new Apple products unveiled at the launch event. Apple signed a deal with Arm in September last year that “extends beyond 2040” in a boost to Arm for its revolutionary chip technology. Arm owns the intellectual property behind the computing architecture for most of the world’s smartphones.
UN Head Calls for Reforms to Outdated Financing System: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, described Africa’s debt situation “as unsustainable and a recipe for social unrest”. Speaking at the China-Africa cooperation summit in Beijing, he called for “deep reforms” to the “outdated, ineffective, and unfair international financial system”. Guterres, stated that these reforms would help provide developing countries with “the liquidity they need” to respond problems. A growing debt crisis across the continent and the rising cost of living has resulted in civil unrest in several countries, including Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda in recent months. Guterres said many African countries are mired in debt and struggling to invest in sustainable development.
Google’s Second Anti-Trust Trial Today: The trial beginning today will hear the Department of Justice’s case that the search engine’s parent company Alphabet illegally operates a monopoly in the market. This is only one month after a US court ruled Google had illegally maintained its monopoly on internet search. The tech giant will this week face the start of yet another important antitrust case regarding digital advertising. Alphabet has argued its success is due to the “effectiveness” of its services – but DOJ prosecutors are arguing that the search engine giant has used its market dominance to prevent growth in rival search engine groups. There have been additional cases in Australia and South Africa where regional publishers have accused Google of using their content illegally to gain revenues not shared with the content creators. After the first US Anti-Trust case, it seemed that the group may well be forced to restructure by the courts but a final court sanction has yet to be released, while Google had stated that it intended to appeal the decision.
Market News
Markets: The US markets dropped on Friday after the US Payroll numbers disappointed markets, with the NASDAQ losing 2,7% and S&P 500 down 1,79% while the Dow Jones closed just over a percent down at 40345. This morning, Japan’s Nikkei took its cue from what happened on Wall Street on Friday and was down by -0,85%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped marginally and closed at 17444.
Currencies: The US Dollar lost ground on Friday but has firmed a little this morning andis currently trading at 1.071 against the Euro, at 1,312 against the Pound, and is slightly stronger against the Yen at 142.84. Emerging Market currencies are trading flat against the Dollar this morning, with the rand currently trading slightly softer at R17.87
Commodities: Gold has lost its momentum seen on Friday, falling below the the $2500 level again and is at $2,489 currently, while Platinum has also lost ground and is trading at $931 currently and Palladium also trading downwards at $921. Brent crude is currently at its lowest price in over a year at $71.66 while WTI continues to trading below the $70 mark at $68.36 currently.
Other News Today
Algerian Presidential Election Result: The Seventy-Eight-year-old, Algerian incumbent president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been re-elected providing a second term as leader of the gas-rich North African nation. This comes five years after pro-democracy protests led to the ousting of his predecessor. Military backed President Tebboune, secured 94.65% of the vote, amounting to over 5,3 million votes according to the Algerian head of elections, Mohamed Charfi. This would equate to less than 50% of registered voters. Tebboune, was expected to win a second five-year second term, however, opposition party statements claim that the election was a farce with the election commission disqualifying 13 candidates from participating in the election – including Zubaida Assoul, a lawyer and an opposition party leader who took part in the 2019 protests.
WHO Report Claims Zero Mobile Phone Link with Cancer: There is no link between mobile phone use and an increased risk of brain cancer, according to a new World Health Organization-commissioned review of available published evidence worldwide. the review, published on Tuesday, found that there has been no increase in brain cancer despite massive growth in mobile phone usage, and this applies even to people who make long phone calls or those who have used mobile phones for more than a decade. The final analysis incorporated 63 studies from 1994-2022, assessed by 11 investigators from 10 countries,
Deadly Fuel Truck Explosion in Nigeria: Reports out of Nigeria indicate that at least 48 people and 50 cattle died in and explosion when a fuel tanker collided with another truck on Sunday, according to a statement from Nigeria’s emergency response agency. The incident happened in north-central Niger state, in the Agaie area. Search-and-rescue operations were under way at the scene of the accident, according to Abdullahi Baba-Arab, director-general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency.
No Innocent Party in Sudan’s Conflict: United Nations investigators have accused both of Sudan’s warring parties and their allied militias of terrible human rights violations that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, they said last Friday. In a report, produced by a three-member Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, they have presented an account of large-scale violations, that include “indiscriminate and direct attacks carried out through airstrikes and shelling against civilians, schools, hospitals, communication networks and vital water and electricity supplies.” An expert member of the mission Mona Rishwami, told journalists in Geneva that both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “conducted hostilities in densely populated areas,” damaging and destroying infrastructure and objects that were “indispensable for the survival of the civilian population.”
