The outcry over travel bans on southern African countries is growing. Healthcare officials say the Omicron variant was already present in other parts of the world before South African scientists became the first to identify the new COVID-19 strain. Ntshepeng Motema reports from Johannesburg on calls to remove the bans and relieve their economic impact.

Bryan Betty is a member of New Zealand's COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group. He explains the fine balance governments must strike when it comes to imposing COVID-19 restrictions.

#SouthAfrica #OmicronVariant #TravelBans

Singaporean ride-hailing app Grab fell flat in its market debut on Wall Street. Its stock price swung from an impressive gain to an alarming loss in the span of one trading session. The price see-sawed over concerns about the company's ability to turn a profit. That's something it's never done, despite having a dominant position in Southeast Asia, a market with hundreds of millions of potential customers.

Victoria Scholar is the head of investment at Interactive Investor in London. She tells us about Grab's path to profitability.

#Grab #RideHailing #GrabIPO

The US labour market sputtered in November, over high fuel prices and fears of an imminent economic slowdown due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

We were joined now by economist Joann Weiner in Washington DC. She's the director of applied economics at George Washington University.

#USLabourMarket #JoblessClaims #Unemployment

- Turkey's annual inflation rises to 21.3% in November

- Kaisa fails to get bondholders' approval for debt swap

- Dubai's DP World withdraws bid to privatise Haifa port

#TurkeyInflation #KaisaGroup #DPWorld

Despite rising international pressure to raise supplies at a faster pace, OPEC and its allies are sticking to monthly output increases of 400,000 barrels per day. The decision was announced on Thursday following a meeting of the world's biggest oil exporters.

#OPEC #OilSupply #OilPrice

- Turkey appoints Nureddin Nebati as finance minister

- S Korea's inflation hits decade high of 3.7% in Nov

- Disney names Susan Arnold as first woman chair

#NureddinNebati #SouthKoreaInflation #SusanArnold

European markets are in the red while Asian stocks are mixed, following big losses overnight on Wall Street. The Dow Jones and S-and-P 500 indices were both down a percent, while the Nasdaq fell more than 1-point-8 percent. The sell-off was triggered by reports of the first case of the Omicron variant in the U-S. That's raised fears that the more infectious coronavirus strain may already be spreading in the world's largest economy.

Craig Erlam joined us. He's a senior market analyst at OANDA in London.

#Omicron #WallStreet #SP500

- Turkey's central bank intervenes in FX markets

- Australia's economy shrinks 1.9% in Q3

- Tel Aviv becomes world's most expensive city

#TurkishLira #AustraliaGDP #CostofLiving

Since July, US college athletes have been allowed to cash in on their stardom. The governing body, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, was forced to lift restrictions on students taking paid endorsements and sponsorships. Now female basketball star Paige Bueckers is making history both on and off the court.

#PaigeBueckers #Gatorade #NCAA

Nestled in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, the Sanctuary Mandela is a boutique hotel where pages of the nation's history were written. Once the home of South Africa's first democratically elected president, the building is now owned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. It recently underwent a makeover, and is now equipped to give visitors the five-star 'Madiba' treatment. Motheo Khoaripe explains.

#SanctuaryMandela #NelsonMandela #SouthAfrica