LATEST NEWS

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced two more months of fuel levy relief costing 10 billion rand in his mid-year budget, as the deficit came in at 3.9 percent of GDP. Alex and Jordan weigh Pretoria's pre-election generosity against the 110 dollar oil reality.

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote announced a 25 percent stake in Kenya Pipeline Company at the FT Africa Summit, weeks after breaking ground on a 700,000-barrel-per-day Lamu refinery. Alex and Jordan map Africa's richest man's East African energy empire.

Beijing said its coast guard was 'safeguarding order' around the Taiwan-controlled Pratas atoll while separately monitoring a Philippine resupply at Second Thomas Shoal. Alex and Jordan decode China's grey-zone pressure on two flashpoints in a single day.

TSMC said four construction workers were killed during steel structure work at a new Kaohsiung factory site, suspending similar work at all its Taiwan construction sites pending investigation. Alex and Jordan look at the human cost behind the AI boom's biggest factory builder.

A Quaest poll released Wednesday put Flavio Bolsonaro at 45 percent against Lula's 44 percent in Sunday's presidential runoff, while both campaigns seek each other's disqualification. Alex and Jordan break down the tightest big election on the planet.

The US Treasury sanctioned the Panama- and Greek-based law firm Karnakis and Karnakis for years of support to Iranian shipping, while FinCEN opened an investigation into a Greek bank. Alex and Jordan follow the paper trail of Iran's shadow oil economy.

President Emmanuel Macron condemned foreign leaders' 'stupid comments' about France's riots, saying there was no visible foreign interference but serious foreign manipulation of information. Alex and Jordan unpack Macron's fightback as troops deploy ahead of Saturday's protests.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported two tankers struck by unknown projectiles near the Strait of Hormuz and off Iraq, as Brent crude rose above 110 dollars a barrel. Alex and Jordan track the widening maritime war over the world's most important oil chokepoint.

Georgia's Constitutional Court has begun three days of hearings on a government lawsuit seeking to ban the country's five main opposition parties, a move the EU and rights groups condemn as a step toward one-party rule. Alex and Jordan break down why this case could decide Georgia's democratic future and its bid to join the European Union.

A Times survey of executives controlling 30 trillion pounds found nearly a third would consider pausing UK investment if Chancellor John Healey delivers sharp tax rises in the October 28 Budget. Alex and Jordan break down Healey's narrowing options one week before his first Budget.