<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-404286" width="643" height="429" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px" /><figcaption>French President Emmanuel Macron Photo via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



French President Emmanuel&nbsp;Macron&nbsp;said on Thursday &#8220;apologise&#8221; was not the right word to use when referring to France&#8217;s role in Rwanda&#8217;s genocide, after saying earlier he recognised his country&#8217;s &#8220;responsibilities&#8221; in the 1994 tragedy.



&#8220;Apologise is not the appropriate term and I cannot grant forgiveness&#8221;, Macron said during a joint press conference with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.



 (Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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France’s Macron says ‘apologise’ is not the right word in Rwanda genocide

India&#8217;s government exceeded its legal powers by enacting rules that companies such as WhatsApp say will force them to break end-to-end message encryption, the messaging app owned by Facebook argued in a court filing seen by Reuters.



WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit in a Delhi court against the government to quash a provision of a new regulation that mandates companies to divulge the &#8220;first originator of information&#8221;, arguing in favour of protecting privacy.



In a statement on Wednesday, WhatsApp said it would engage with the Indian government to find &#8220;practical solutions&#8221; and protect users, but its court filing shows it has taken a firmer stance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#8217;s administration.



The rule drafted by Modi&#8217;s IT ministry will lead to a &#8220;dangerous invasion of privacy&#8221; and was &#8220;unconstitutional&#8221;, WhatsApp argued in the 224-page court filing dated May 25, which has been seen by Reuters but is not public.



WhatsApp said the government&#8217;s new regulation exceeds the scope of its rule-making powers under Indian law, adding that it was a well-settled point that only parliament, not the federal government, could undertake essential legislative functions.



&#8220;To satisfy the legality requirement, there must be a valid law allowing for the invasion of privacy,&#8221; said WhatsApp&#8217;s petition, which was signed by its counsel Brian Hennessy.



In a statement, Modi&#8217;s government said the rules were as per the law of the land and WhatsApp&#8217;s filing was &#8220;unfortunate&#8221;.



The WhatsApp lawsuit escalates a growing struggle between Modi&#8217;s government and tech giants including Facebook, Google&#8217;s parent Alphabet and Twitter in one of their key global growth markets.



&#8220;The battle lines are drawn. The intersection of big tech, democratic values and government control will finally decide the fate of social media in India,&#8221; said Kaushik Moitra, a partner at Indian law firm Bharucha &amp; Partners.



&#8216;CHILLS EVEN LAWFUL SPEECH&#8217;



In a sign of the tension with social media companies, Indian police visited Twitter&#8217;s offices this week. The micro-blogging service had labelled posts by a spokesman for India&#8217;s dominant party and others as containing &#8220;manipulated media&#8221; after complaints that some content was fake. (https://reut.rs/3ccSQ7J)



New Delhi has also pressed tech companies to remove what it has described as misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging India, and some criticism of the government&#8217;s response to the crisis, which is claiming thousands of lives daily.



WhatsApp, which counts India as its biggest market with more than 500 million users, did not comment on its court filing. The case will likely be heard in the coming days.



An Indian government source told Reuters earlier on Wednesday that WhatsApp could find a way to track originators of disinformation without breaking encryption. WhatsApp court filing shows it disagrees, saying that was not possible.



Urging the court to classify the new rule as illegal, the U.S. firm also made the argument that it was not aware of any other country that compels companies such as WhatsApp to change its systems so it can identify the originator of a message.



It said revealing an originator could put reporters investigating unpopular issues, or activists advocating for certain policies, at risk of a backlash.



&#8220;(The rule) violates the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, as it chills even lawful speech,&#8221; WhatsApp said in its filing. 



(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Sankalp Phartiyal in New Delhi; Editing by David Clarke)

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Indian government exceeded powers with encryption-breaking rule – WhatsApp filing

International pressure increased on Mali&#8217;s military leaders to free the president and prime minister on Tuesday, a day after their arrest deepened a political crisis and threatened to derail a transition to democratic elections.



President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane have been detained at a military base outside the capital Bamako since Monday evening. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned what he said was a &#8220;coup within a coup&#8221; and raised the threat of targeted sanctions.



The two men were in charge of a transitional government created after a military takeover in August that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. They were tasked with overseeing a return to democratic elections next year.



The U.N. Security Council is due to privately discuss the latest developments in Mali on Wednesday, diplomats said.



Interim vice president Colonel Assimi Goita said on Tuesday he had seized power because the president and prime minister had failed to consult him about a government reshuffle in which two former coup leaders lost their cabinet positions. Goita orchestrated the August coup before being appointed vice president of a civilian-military transition.



France, a former colonial power and military ally to Mali, joined the United States, the European Union and others in condemning the detention and called for their immediate release.



&#8220;We are prepared to take in the coming hours targeted sanctions against those taking part,&#8221; Macron told reporters at the end of an EU summit.



The situation could exacerbate instability in the West African country, where Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State control large areas of the north and centre and stage frequent attacks on the army and civilians.



Political instability and military infighting have complicated efforts by Western powers and neighbouring countries to help Mali, and jihadists have been able to use the country as a launchpad for attacks across the region.



In a statement read by an aide on national television, Goita said elections next year to restore an elected government would go ahead as planned.



&#8220;The vice president of the transition saw himself obligated to act to preserve the transitional charter and defend the republic,&#8221; the statement said.



THREAT OF SANCTIONS



Mali has been in turmoil since 2012 when the army, frustrated over the government&#8217;s handling of a rebellion, ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure. Separatist and Islamist rebels took advantage and seized the north of the country.



French forces drove back the Islamists in 2013 but they have regrouped and expanded their reach to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.



Worried about the fallout from Monday&#8217;s detentions, the United Nations, European Union, United States and regional countries have all demanded the release of the leaders.



&#8220;Sanctions will be adopted against those who stand in the way of the transition,&#8221; Josep Borrell, the EU&#8217;s foreign affairs chief, said on Twitter.



A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) arrived in Mali on Monday to help resolve the dispute. ECOWAS played a key role in the formation of the interim government after the August coup.



The problems in Mali are part of a recent democratic backslide in West and Central Africa, where strong military factions have taken control or presidents have extended their rule beyond their allotted mandates.



Last month a military council seized power in Chad after the battlefield death of president Idriss Deby. His son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, now runs the country and has promised a transition to civilian rule similar to Mali&#8217;s. The opposition and civil society say the military holds too much power and fear Deby will not relinquish control.



J. Peter Pham, former U.S. special envoy for the Sahel, now with the Atlantic Council, said Deby and others will be watching Mali carefully and if they see the post-coup agreement is not adhered to, there will be little incentive for soldiers who seize power elsewhere to give it up.



&#8220;There will be repercussions not just for Mali but for the region,&#8221; he said.



A Western official said that the example being set in Mali could complicate negotiations with the military rulers in Chad.



(Reporting by David Lewis, Paul Lorgerie, and Tiemoko Diallo; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Edward McAllister, Giles Elgood, Nick Tattersall and Sonya Hepinstall)

TOPSHOT-MALI-POLITICS- BAH NDAW

Mali’s former coup chief takes power after military arrests president

NAIROBI/ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s political slogan is “medemer” &#8211; or “coming together”. But some analysts say reforms meant to unify Ethiopia have inflamed simmering ethnic and political divisions and risk unravelling Africa’s second most populous nation.



Now Ethiopian unity faces its severest test yet: since Nov. 4, the military has been battling a group that once dominated the national government &#8211; the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern Tigray region.



The TPLF frames the conflict as a battle for the rights of Ethiopia’s 10 regions against a premier bent on centralising power. They say Abiy has discriminated against Tigrayans since he came to power and have referred to his rule as an “illegal, unitarist and personalistic dictatorship”.



The government denies trying to centralise control.



Three major decisions infuriated the TPLF, which dominated the governing coalition for nearly three decades until Abiy came to power in 2018: Abiy’s rapprochement with their arch-enemy, the nation of Eritrea; his replacement of an ethnically based coalition with a new national party; and the postponement of national elections.Each sparked bitter recriminations from the TPLF. The ensuing conflict has sent ripples through the region.



Ethiopia, a regional heavyweight, is home to the African Union; its security forces serve in peacekeeping missions in Somalia and South Sudan and work alongside Western allies against Islamist militants.Leenco Lata, a veteran opposition leader, said the federal system is under pressure from both sides as debate polarises between supporters of closer unity or separation. Abiy says he’s tried to work with the TPLF, but has been repeatedly rebuffed; his office published a timeline of such attempts this week.



The government says Tigrayan forces started the conflict by attacking federal troops stationed there. The TPLF have described the attack as a pre-emptive strike.



Underlying the political struggle are long-standing rivalries between Ethiopia’s 80-plus ethnic groups. Many regional leaders see Abiy’s democratic reforms as a chance to grab more power for their own group. Zemelak Ayele, a professor at Addis Ababa University, said even though citizens resented the previous repression, the TPLF might have grudging support from some regional leaders who consider it a bulwark against a more centralised government.”Even those who are ardent detractors of TPLF are not necessarily ardent supporters of the war (in Tigray),” he said. “Some might feel the federal system might be in danger if the TPLF is out of the picture.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-old-enmity-and-a-new-peace">AN OLD ENMITY AND A NEW PEACE</h2>



The secretive, highly militarised nation of Eritrea &#8211; often nicknamed “Africa’s North Korea” &#8211; lies along Ethiopia’s northern border. Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1991 following three decades of war. Conflict over a border dispute broke out again from 1998-2000; tens of thousands died.



The TPLF spearheaded that war. They regard Eritrea as an arch-enemy.



Months after Abiy came to power, he signed a peace deal with Eritrea in 2018 and was subsequently awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Regular visits began between Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, drawing accusations from the TPLF that Abiy was “serving as a vehicle for Isaias’s desire to extract a pound of flesh for perceived wrongs”.



Billene Seyoum, Abiy’s spokeswoman, said the TPLF was trying to “internationalise the conflict” and that intelligence reports suggested the TPLF had been manufacturing Eritrean and Ethiopian army uniforms.



The TPLF has fired missiles at its capital Asmara and says Eritrea is now fighting alongside Ethiopian troops in Tigray, which Ethiopia denies.



Reuters has not been able to reach the Eritrean government for comment for two weeks.



ADVERTISEMENT



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-prosperity-party">THE PROSPERITY PARTY</h2>



After the Eritrea treaty, Abiy consolidated domestically. Last year he replaced Ethiopia’s old ruling coalition, made up of four ethnically based parties, with a single pan-Ethiopian party. Out of the four, only the TPLF refused to join.



Abiy underestimated the TPLF’s bitterness at losing power, said one Ethiopian academic.



“It is a bitter divorce and Abiy did not have a plan for a peaceful exit for TPLF,” the academic said, speaking anonymously to avoid angering the government.



Inflammatory rhetoric on both sides made Tigrayan people feel under siege, boosting support for the TPLF, he said.



Alex de Waal, a professor at Tufts University, said launching the new party so quickly may have been a miscalculation: the old coalition had become a rare forum for negotiation in a nation where political dissent often meant prison.



But Abiy was in a hurry. National elections were due in August 2020 and his new party needed to compete against a plethora of new ethnically based groups.



Then the pandemic arrived.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DELAYED ELECTIONS</h2>



The government postponed elections. Many opposition groups reluctantly agreed, but not the TPLF. They held their regional elections in September anyway. Both sides accused each other of ignoring the constitution.



The TPLF won by a landslide. The House of Federation, a legislative body dealing with constitutional matters, voted to cut Tigray’s budget.



On Oct. 29, Tigrayan forces refused to let an Ethiopian general who flew into the regional airport leave to take up his command in the capital Mekelle.



On Nov. 4, the government reported Tigrayan soldiers attacked a base in Dansha.



The conflict had begun.



Reporting by Katharine Houreld in Nairobi and Maggie Fick in Istanbul; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Giles Elgood

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Analysis: How attempts to unify Ethiopia may be deepening its divides, say analysts

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-392105" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932-150x84.jpeg 150w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932-696x391.jpeg 696w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>President Cyril Ramaphosa during a pre-World Economic Forum breakfast briefing on January 18, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s lower house of parliament will vote on a motion of no-confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa next week, the parliament said on Thursday, but the motion has little chance of succeeding.



The vote was requested by a small opposition party, the African Transformation Movement (ATM), which has only two seats in the 400-member National Assembly.



The parliament said in a statement that the vote would happen on Thursday, Dec. 3, by open ballot. Secret ballots can be held when the political atmosphere is deemed toxic.



The ATM’s leader did not respond to a Reuters request for comment about why his party wanted the no-confidence vote.



A spokeswoman for the parliamentary caucus of the governing African National Congress (ANC) party, which Ramaphosa leads and which has 230 seats in the National Assembly, declined to comment.



Ramaphosa’s spokesman did not answer his phone.



Ramaphosa has been head of state since February 2018 and has been trying to revive investor confidence in Africa’s most industrialised economy.



He has found it hard-going given infighting in the ANC and the weak state of public finances.



His predecessor, Jacob Zuma, survived many no-confidence votes before being ousted by Ramaphosa’s allies in the ANC executive, who believed scandals during Zuma’s nine-year tenure were damaging the reputation of the liberation movement of Nelson Mandela.



According to the constitution, a motion of no confidence in the president needs to be supported by a simple majority in the National Assembly to pass.



The largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said it did not support the ATM motion. The Economic Freedom Fighters, the second-largest opposition group, said it would respond later.



Additional reporting by Lynette Ndabambi; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Nick Zieminski

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South Africa’s Ramaphosa faces no-confidence vote next week

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Ethiopia’s army plans to surround the rebel-held capital of Tigray region with tanks and may use artillery on the city to try to end a nearly three-week war, a military spokesman said on Sunday, urging civilians to save themselves.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is refusing to surrender its rule of the northern region, said its forces were digging trenches and standing firm. 
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal troops have taken a string of towns during aerial bombardments and ground fighting, and are now aiming for Mekelle, a highland city of about 500,000 people where the rebels are based.
The war has killed hundreds, possibly thousands, sent more than 30,000 refugees into neighbouring Sudan, and seen rockets fired by rebels into neighboring Amhara region and across the border into the nation of Eritrea.
Countries around Africa and Europe have urged a truce, but Abiy has so far rebuffed that.
“The next phases are the decisive part of the operation, which is to encircle Mekelle using tanks,” military spokesman Colonel Dejene Tsegaye told Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation.
“We want to send a message to the public in Mekelle to save yourselves from any artillery attacks and free yourselves from the junta &#8230; After that, there will be no mercy.”
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<h2 class="ArticleBody-subtitle"><a id="headline0"></a>‘Waves after waves’</h2>
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TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael told Reuters by text message that his forces were resisting a push from south of Mekelle while also fighting near the northern town of Adigrat after it had fallen to federal troops.
“Encircling Mekelle is their plan but yet they couldn’t,” he said. “On south front, they couldn’t move an inch for more than one week. They (are) sending waves after waves but to no avail.” Reuters could not verify the latest statements on the war.
Claims by all sides are hard to verify because phone and internet communication has been down since fighting began on Nov. 4.
Abiy accuses the Tigrayan leaders of revolting against central authority and attacking federal troops in the town of Dansha on Nov. 4. The rebels say his government has marginalised and persecuted Tigrayans since taking office two years ago.
The prime minister drew plaudits for opening up Ethiopia’s closed economy and repressive political system after taking office. He won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for a peace agreement with Eritrea.
International rights groups say his government has carried out mass arrests after outbreaks of violence and detained journalists this year. The Nobel Peace Prize committee urged peace after his offensive against the Tigrayan leaders began.
Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the government’s task force on Tigray, said there was still time for the TPLF leadership to surrender. “The government will take maximum restraint not to cause major risks for civilians,” he added.
He said that while many Tigrayan special forces and militia fighters had surrendered or scattered around Adigrat, resistance was stronger on the southern front, where rebels have dug up roads, destroyed bridges and booby-trapped roads with explosives. He said government troops had taken high ground there and were moving forward.
Aid agencies fear a humanitarian disaster in a region where hundreds of thousands relied on food aid and were displaced even before fighting began.
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TOPSHOT-ETHIOPIA-UNREST

‘Save yourselves,’ Ethiopia tells Tigrayans as it moves on rebel-held capital

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris leveled strongly worded criticism at Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week, accusing the leader of making a “very big mess” in the Middle East.
“We have Mr. Erdogan’s new ambitions to become the new Ottoman emperor of the region,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Tuesday, referring to the former empire that dominated much of the Middle East and Europe until the early 20th Century. “He has his hands full in Syria, in Libya, in Iraq and now in Armenia and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/02/armenia-and-azerbaijan-clash-over-disputed-nagorno-karabakh-region.html">Nagorno-Karabakh.”</a>
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Erdogan over the summer <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-turkey-egypt-idUSKCN24I1MN" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">criticized Egypt</a> for supporting forces in Libya that are opposed to the government in Tripoli, which is supported by Turkey in the ongoing civil war there.
Asked for comment, Turkey’s foreign ministry referred CNBC to the nearest Turkish embassy. Murat Lütem, Turkey’s ambassador to Singapore, said in response to Sawiris’ criticisms that “Turkish foreign policy is directed at preserving and building peace and stability and protecting our national interests in line with international law. President Erdoğan leads our Nation accordingly and claims to the contrary are baseless.”
Sawiris said that Erdogan “is causing a very big mess in the region, in addition to what he’s doing with <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/18/turkey-greece-clash-over-oil-and-gas-in-the-eastern-mediterranean.html">explorations in the Mediterranean</a> and trying to steal the Greek oil and gas.”
Turkey and Greece are at loggerheads over competing claims to energy reserves in contested Eastern Mediterranean waters. Turkey’s foreign ministry said in August that it will not back down from defending its “rights” in the region.
<h2 class="ArticleBody-subtitle"><a id="headline0"></a>President-elect Biden</h2>
Sawiris, the chairman and CEO of Orascom Investment Holding, added that the United States has “practically vanished” from the region, while Russia, Turkey and Iran have become more involved in local conflicts. “That is not good for the sake of the Middle East,” he said.
Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/09/us-is-cutting-troops-in-iraq-to-3000-this-month-commander-of-us-central-command-says.html">reduced the number of troops in the region</a> but brokered important deals such as the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/13/trump-uae-and-israel-to-normalize-relations-west-bank-annexations-on-pause.html">normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.</a> Sawiris said he sees the Trump administration as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/09/egyptian-billionaire-naguib-sawiris-on-a-biden-presidency.html">“totally biased” in favor of Israel.</a>
Those comments came in response to a question about what President-elect <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/joe-biden/">Joe Biden</a> means for Turkey.
“I’m actually more optimistic because you can say anything about Biden … but one thing is for sure, he has more experience than <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/eric-trump/">Donald Trump</a> in world affairs,” he said, adding that Biden is “well aware of all the ins and outs of the Middle East.”
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Egyptian Billionaire Naguib Sawiris

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris says Turkey’s Erdogan wants to be ‘new Ottoman emperor’

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Tanzanians headed to the polls on Wednesday for presidential and parliamentary elections that President John Magufuli hopes will hand him another five-year term despite criticism from rights groups that the government has stifled political dissent.



Magufuli’s main challengers include Tundu Lissu, who was shot 16 times in 2017, and former foreign minister Bernard Membe. The attack on Lissu, who returned from three years in exile in July, has never been solved.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/shutterstock_207995749.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-374198" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/shutterstock_207995749.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/shutterstock_207995749-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/shutterstock_207995749-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/shutterstock_207995749-696x522.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/shutterstock_207995749-600x450.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>Kenya, Tanzania. Shutterstock </figcaption></figure>



People turned out early to cast their ballots in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday morning.



“The voting process is good, calm,” local pastor Clement Fumbo told Reuters after voting. “I expect the election to continue to be peaceful, fair and free.”



But many Tanzanians complained online that they were are experiencing problems accessing social media platforms.



“Authorities are now trying to block VPN services,” said ProtonVPN, an open source VPN provider, on Twitter.



On Tuesday, both Twitter and Internet blockage monitor NetBlocks reported widespread problems.



“We’re seeing some blocking and throttling of Twitter,” Twitter in a statement from its public policy account.







East Africa’s third-largest economy has recorded average growth of close to 7% over the last four years, according to official figures, as the government invested billions of dollars in infrastructure including a new railway, a hydropower dam and planes for the national airline.



“THIRSTY FOR JUSTICE”



The government projects economic growth of 5.5% in 2020 after COVID-19 hit key sectors such as tourism. But the World Bank predicts growth of only 2.5%.



Magufuli is promising voters that new infrastructure projects will fuel growth of at least 8% soon.



“We have told Tanzanians the importance of investing on transport infrastructure&#8230;for the betterment of this nation,” Magufuli said on Tuesday in Dodoma at his last rally.



Lissu told his final rally in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam that he was confident of winning. “Tanzanians are hungry and thirsty for justice,” he said. “It’s time to decide.”



More than 29 million people are registered to vote out of 58 million citizens. They will choose from 15 presidential candidates and elect lawmakers for 264 parliamentary seats.







The ruling party CCM, a version of which has held power since independence in 1961, won the presidency with 58% of votes in 2015 and currently holds about three-quarters of parliamentary seats. Tanzania uses a first-past-the post system.



The opposition and rights groups say authorities have cracked down on critical voices by closing down media outlets and banning public rallies during Magufuli’s first term.



Last week, a coalition of 65 international rights groups issued a letter accusing the government of harassing NGOs and abusing the power of the justice system.



“Tanzania’s criminal justice system has &#8230; been misused to target those who criticize the government,” the letter read.



Opposition parties said police disrupted their campaigns and electoral authorities disqualified dozens of their parliamentary candidates.



The government has previously denied any crackdown and the National Electoral Commission has rejected accusations of unfair treatment.



In the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, the opposition presidential candidate was detained and later released as he tried to vote early on Tuesday after at least nine people were shot dead by security forces.

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Tanzania president Magufuli seeks second term as polls open

(Reuters) &#8211; More than 50 million Americans have cast ballots in the U.S. presidential election with 11 days to go in the campaign, a pace that could lead to the highest voter turnout in over a century, according to data from the U.S. Elections Project on Friday.



The eye-popping figure is a sign of intense interest in the contest between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, as well as Americans’ desire to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19, which has killed more than 221,000 people across the United States.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg" alt="Joe Biden" class="wp-image-384507" width="377" height="489"/></figure>







Many states have expanded in-person early voting and mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3, as a safer way to vote during the coronavirus pandemic.



The high level of early voting has led Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who administers the U.S. Elections Project, to predict a record turnout of about 150 million, representing 65% of eligible voters, the highest rate since 1908.



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In Texas, the level of voting has already surpassed 70% of the total turnout in 2016.



The pandemic has upended campaign traditions and its effects still are being felt. Americans may find themselves waiting days or weeks to know who won as election officials count tens of millions of mail-in votes.



On Friday, Trump will hold rallies in the battleground state of Florida, where opinion polls show a tight race and over 4 million votes have already been cast, approaching half the total four years ago. Biden will deliver a speech in his home state of Delaware on his plans for leading a recovery from the pandemic.

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More than 50 million Americans have cast ballots in presidential election

(Reuters) &#8211; U.S. solar stocks rose on Friday after U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in the final pre-election debate on Thursday night that if elected he plans to transition to a more climate-friendly economy.



Shares of Renesola Ltd&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SOL.N">SOL.N</a>, Jinkosolar Holding Co Ltd&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/JKS.N">JKS.N</a>, Canadian Solar Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/CSIQ.O">CSIQ.O</a>&nbsp;and SunPower Corp&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPWR.O">SPWR.O</a>&nbsp;were up between 2% and 3% in premarket trading.



Biden and President Donald Trump were asked at their matchup in Nashville, Tennessee, what they would do to combat climate change &#8211; the first time in a presidential debate they were not asked if they believed in it or not.



Biden said the country should eventually replace oil with solar, wind and other forms of non-polluting power.







“I would transition from the oil industry,” Biden said, adding his plan for a more climate-friendly economy would create high-paying jobs and boost U.S. businesses.



Shares of oil companies were broadly unchanged as U.S. crude&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/CLc1">CLc1</a>&nbsp;ticked up 0.4% to $40.79 with demand concerns raised by surging coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe being offset by the prospect of an extension to OPEC-led supply curbs.



After the debate, Biden told reporters, “We’re not getting rid of fossil fuels.”







“We’re getting of the subsidies for fossil fuels. But we’re not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time&#8230;they’re not going to lose their jobs. Besides, a lot more jobs are going to be created in other alternatives.”



Trump, during the debate, cited a federal program to plant trees and a drop in carbon emissions to say he loves the environment, but added he was not willing to harm businesses.



He accused Biden of planning to ban hydraulic fracturing, a process of extracting oil and natural gas from shale that is opposed by many environmentalists. Biden, however, said he would ban fracking on federal land only.

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U.S. solar stocks rise on Biden’s clean energy focus in pre-election debate

General elections will be held in Tanzania on Wednesday, October 28.



In the build-up to the vote, President John Magufuli’s administration has been intensifying its crackdown on the opposition as he seeks a second term in office.



Earlier this month, the National Electoral Committee (NEC) imposed a week-long ban on Mr Magufuli’s biggest challenger, the Democracy Party&#8217;s (Chadema) Tundu Lissu.



Just over a week later, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) also banned the Alliance for Change and Transparency’s (ACT-Wazalendo) presidential candidate for Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad, from campaigning in the semi-autonomous region for five days.



Mr Hamad is the biggest challenger in the Zanzibar race to the ruling Revolutionary Party’s (CCM) candidate, Hussein Mwinyi.



Mr Magufuli received a great amount of praise when he came into office in 2015. He publicly fired officials who were considered to be corrupt or underperforming.



However, as his time in office progressed, he increasingly closed up on the democratic space in Tanzania.



The media nicknamed him ‘Bulldozer’, or ‘Tingatina’ in Swahili, initially because of his directives as the minister of public works, but the name has stuck due to his aggressive ways as president.



Over the years, his administration has made it essentially impossible to express dissent from the ruling regime without facing legal consequences.



When Mr Magufuli took office in 2015, Tanzania ranked 75th in the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index. It is now 124th.



Opposition politicians and journalists who speak up are subject to arrests and intimidation by state security forces, which has resulted in self-censorship.



In August, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority banned local media from broadcasting foreign content without state approval and made a law that requires foreign journalists to be accompanied by a government-appointed officer when covering local stories.



Mr Lissu, despite his high international profile, has been subject to serious intimidation by state security forces. In September, police teargassed his convoy.



Local media seems reluctant to cover his campaign, but the large, enthusiastic crowds are well documented on social media.



Censorship has also made it difficult to determine how strong the general support for Mr Lissu is.



The only opinion polls ahead of these elections show that the public favours Mr Magufuli, but this should not be viewed as the whole truth.



In 2018, civil society organisation Twaweza published an opinion poll showing that Mr Magufuli’s popularity had plummeted. The government subsequently banned Twaweza head Aiden Eyakuze from travelling outside Tanzania and made it mandatory for organisations to get state approval before publishing surveys.



Cooperation between the opposition parties may help them.



Chadema and ACT-Wazalendo initially entered what they called a ‘loose collaboration’, but on 16 October, the chairperson of the latter party, Zitto Kabwe, officially pledged his support for Mr Lissu in a statement.



After the Registrar of Political Parties informed them that it was too late to form a coalition, Mr Kabwe made it clear that the parties are merely endorsing each other’s presidential candidates.



Parliamentary and council candidates will still contest on their own parties’ tickets.



Mr Kabwe also wrote in an article published in South Africa’s Daily Maverick that “the best way to remove Magufuli &#8230; is for [the opposition] to unite behind Lissu”.



He has called upon other opposition parties to follow ACT-Wazalendo and “do what is best for Tanzania”.



ACT-Wazalendo’s presidential candidate for the Union presidency, Bernard Membe, has not campaigned since early September without any reason given, but, at a press conference on Monday, October 19, he reiterated that he was still in the running for the presidency.



He also warned religious leaders to avoid directing their followers to vote for a particular candidate, as it would trigger “religious violence that is not easy to resolve”.



Although the opposition parties are endorsing each other’s candidates, Mr Magufuli is likely to win a second term in office, even if it is by illegal means.



The 2015 elections in Zanzibar is an indication that the ruling party is willing to do whatever it takes to secure a victory, which will further contribute to the deterioration of democracy in Tanzania.



In his second term in office, we expect that Mr Magufuli’s administration will intensify its tight grip on civil society and continue on this path of authoritarianism.



If he is re-elected, Mr Magufuli has promised to continue strengthening the country’s economy, fighting corruption, and improving key infrastructure to facilitate business operations, such as the oil pipeline agreement recently signed with Uganda, but his authoritarian streak has resulted in some intimidation of foreign companies and has had a negative effect on investment.



We think such incidents will keep happening in his second term and will keep making potential investors cautious.



Zaynab Mohamed &#8211; Political Analyst

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Tanzania – Will Magufuli bulldoze his way through the elections?

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian protesters demanding an end to police brutality returned to the streets on Wednesday, saying they were unconvinced by the creation of a new police unit and a pledge not to use violence against demonstrators.Slideshow&nbsp;( 5 images )



Protesters have staged daily marches nationwide for a week, calling for an overhaul of police forces. Police have responded to the demonstrations with beatings, tear gas and gunfire, which human rights group Amnesty International said had killed at least 10 people.



LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian protesters demanding an end to police brutality returned to the streets on Wednesday, saying they were unconvinced by the creation of a new police unit and a pledge not to use violence against demonstrators.Slideshow&nbsp;( 5 images )



Protesters have staged daily marches nationwide for a week, calling for an overhaul of police forces. Police have responded to the demonstrations with beatings, tear gas and gunfire, which human rights group Amnesty International said had killed at least 10 people.



The protests have prompted a raft of announcements. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit that demonstrators have long accused of beatings, killings and extortion, was officially disbanded on Sunday.



On Tuesday, police agreed to stop using force against protesters. They also announced the formation of a new unit, the Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT), to “fill the gaps” left by the disbanded SARS.



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But protesters said on Wednesday they feared the new unit will simply be a rebranded version of SARS.



Hundreds gathered on Wednesday in the capital Abuja, as well as megacity Lagos and Warri &#8211; both in the south &#8211; to press their calls for police reforms.



“What they do is&#8230; give them new uniforms, call them a different name, but they are still the same people in these police forces,” said blogger Folu Oyefeso, in Lagos.



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Demonstrators in Lagos, who gathered despite heavy rain, sang, danced and chanted. Many held placards, including one that read “Stop killing our dreamers. #EndSARS now”.



Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a statement on Wednesday, urged protesters to wind down demonstrations, saying that the gridlock caused in recent days had disrupted businesses still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.



“People are just coming back to businesses. It would be unfair for those businesses not to be able to get back on their feet again,” he said.



.



On Tuesday, police agreed to stop using force against protesters. They also announced the formation of a new unit, the Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT), to “fill the gaps” left by the disbanded SARS.







But protesters said on Wednesday they feared the new unit will simply be a rebranded version of SARS.



Hundreds gathered on Wednesday in the capital Abuja, as well as megacity Lagos and Warri &#8211; both in the south &#8211; to press their calls for police reforms.



“What they do is&#8230; give them new uniforms, call them a different name, but they are still the same people in these police forces,” said blogger Folu Oyefeso, in Lagos.







Demonstrators in Lagos, who gathered despite heavy rain, sang, danced and chanted. Many held placards, including one that read “Stop killing our dreamers. #EndSARS now”.



Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a statement on Wednesday, urged protesters to wind down demonstrations, saying that the gridlock caused in recent days had disrupted businesses still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.



“People are just coming back to businesses. It would be unfair for those businesses not to be able to get back on their feet again,” he said.

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More Nigerian protests against police brutality as reforms fail to convince

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Donald Trump’s doctor said on Wednesday the president has had no COVID-19 symptoms for the past 24 hours, as the Republican seeks ways to get back to a normal working schedule and revive his struggling re-election bid with four weeks left until U.S. Election Day.



White House physician Sean Conley said in a statement that Trump has been fever-free for more than four days and has not needed or received any supplemental oxygen since his initial hospitalization, which began on Friday.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/hqdefault-105-e1595151517959.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-372625" width="688" height="897"/><figcaption>Trump’s Renewed Fight With China Explained</figcaption></figure>



Since he returned to the White House in a dramatic display before cameras on Monday, Trump has not been seen in public or on video, although his Twitter account has been busy sending messages attacking opponents and downplaying the coronavirus pandemic.



Conley said Trump’s physical exam and vital signs “all remain stable and in normal range.”



Tests from Monday showed Trump had evidence of coronavirus antibodies, which are protective against the infection, the doctor said. A spokeswoman for Regeneron, which makes an experimental antibody treatment given to Trump last week, said the detected antibodies are likely from that treatment.



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Despite his illness, Trump has been looking for ways to get his election message out and cut into Democrat Joe Biden’s lead in battleground states where the Nov. 3 election will be decided, advisers said.



They said they had been discussing Trump delivering a national address, while a speech to senior voters is being contemplated for Thursday. Vice President Mike Pence’s debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City will take center stage of the campaign on Wednesday evening.



Aides say Trump is impatient to get back on the campaign trail and insistent on going ahead with the next debate on Oct. 15 in Miami, but Biden said on Tuesday he will not participate if Trump is not virus-free.



The White House’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said on Wednesday that Trump was eager to get back to work in the Oval Office. He has been working from a makeshift space in his residence in the White House since returning from hospital.



RELATED COVERAGE<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-fauci/fauci-says-white-house-covid-19-infections-could-have-been-prevented-idUSKBN26S06X"></a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-fauci/fauci-says-white-house-covid-19-infections-could-have-been-prevented-idUSKBN26S06X">Fauci says White House COVID-19 infections could have been prevented</a>



“He wanted to go to the Oval yesterday. If he decides to go the Oval we’ve got safety protocols there,” Meadows told reporters, adding there would be adequate personal protective equipment and ventilation.



Any political boost Trump could get from a fresh injection of stimulus money into Americans’ pockets appears to be out of reach after he abruptly ended negotiations with Democrats on Tuesday, with both sides far apart on how much money to devote to a deal.



Both Biden and the top Democrat in the U.S. Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of abandoning needy Americans. Republican Senator Susan Collins, facing a tough re-election bid in her home state of Maine, called Trump’s move a “huge mistake.”



“The president turned his back on you,” Biden said in a Twitter post.







With layoffs in key industries mounting by the day and threatening the fragile recovery, Trump late on Tuesday urged Congress to quickly pass $25 billion in funding for passenger airlines, $135 billion for small businesses and provide $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans.



But White House officials on Wednesday downplayed the likelihood of any kind of stimulus being passed before the election.



Trump’s drive to get Judge Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to the vacant seat on the Supreme Court by the Republican-controlled Senate before the election also may be in doubt, since three Republican senators have been infected with the coronavirus and may not be able to vote.Slideshow&nbsp;( 4 images )



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-costly-absence">COSTLY ABSENCE</h2>



A wave of infections at the White House among Trump’s top lieutenants and press office aides has left the West Wing struggling to find its footing. ABC News said its count of cases related to the White House was now 23, including Trump and his wife, Melania.



Trump has attempted to use his coronavirus infection to his political advantage, making a prime-time exit from Walter Reed military hospital on Monday and whipping off his face mask before the cameras on his return to the White House.



He depicted himself as a man who vanquished the disease and emerged stronger, telling Americans: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”



But Trump’s handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 210,000 people in the United States, has been met with skepticism from many Americans.Slideshow&nbsp;( 4 images )



The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted Oct. 2-6, found that 38% of adults approved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, while 56% said they disapproved.



The poll found that 79% of U.S. adults, including 94% of registered Democrats and 70% of registered Republicans, said they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned personally about the spread of the virus.



Advisers say Trump wanted to be talking about other issues instead of the virus by this stage of the campaign, to put pressure on Biden. Opinion polls show Trump down double digits, and Biden with sizeable leads in many swing states.



Trump had been expected to go on tour this week through Western states to raise millions of dollars for a campaign facing a deficit to Biden’s well-funded effort.







One adviser noted that almost exactly four years ago in 2016, Trump’s campaign was knocked off the rails by release of an “Access Hollywood” tape in which he boasted about groping women. He went on to beat the odds and win the election.



“He’s the real comeback kid and if anybody can come back from something it’s him,” the adviser said.

Doctor says Trump is symptom-free as election fight looms

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s effort to block Manhattan’s district attorney from obtaining eight years of his tax returns for a criminal probe into the U.S. president and his businesses.



In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s accusations that a grand jury subpoena from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was overly broad, or issued in bad faith to harass him.



“The President has a ‘difficult’ burden and an ‘unenviable’ task: to make plausible allegations that could persuade the court that the subpoena that has been served on him could not possibly serve any investigative purpose that the grand jury could legitimately be pursuing,” it wrote. “His complaint fails to do so.”



Wednesday’s decision heralds a renewed clash between Trump and Vance at the U.S. Supreme Court.



That court in July rejected the Republican president’s argument he was immune from criminal probes while in the White House.



But it said he could raise other objections to the subpoena to his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, for his corporate and personal tax returns from 2011 to 2018.







Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, said the president will appeal to the Supreme Court. Both sides agreed Vance would not enforce the subpoena during an appeal, according to court papers.



A spokesman for Vance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



The unsigned decision upheld an Aug. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan.



It followed a Sept. 28 report in The New York Times that Trump had paid $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and no income taxes in 10 of the prior 15 years, reflecting “chronic” losses he used to avoid paying taxes.



Trump has rejected findings from the Times report, tweeting that he had paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled to depreciation and tax credits.



He has long resisted making his tax returns public, unlike his six immediate predecessors occupying the White House.



‘IMPLAUSIBLE’ CLAIM



Vance’s probe began more than two years ago, and had focused on hush money payments that the president’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid before the 2016 election to two women who said they had sexual encounters with Trump.



The district attorney has suggested in recent court filings that his probe is now broader and could focus on bank, tax and insurance fraud, as well as falsification of business records.



Trump argued that the probe was still focused on the Cohen payments, making the subpoena an improper “fishing expedition” targeting his business interests around the world, and said Vance improperly copied a similar congressional subpoena.







But the appeals court called it “implausible” speculation to suggest the probe was limited to the Cohen payments.



The court said grand juries “necessarily paint with a broad brush,” especially in complex financial investigations, and do not know at the outset what their needs are.



It also found “no logic” to suggest the documents Vance wanted were irrelevant to legitimate law enforcement purposes, just because a congressional committee wanted the same documents for its own investigation.



The court also found no specific allegations that partisanship motivated Vance, a Democrat, to seek Trump’s tax returns.



All three judges on the appeals court panel were appointed by Democratic presidents. Five of the eight current Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican presidents.



Even if Vance gets Trump’s tax returns, grand jury secrecy rules make it unlikely he will reveal their contents unless criminal charges were brought. If that happened, it would likely occur after the Nov. 3 election.

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Trump fails to block tax return subpoena, will appeal to Supreme Court

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; World stock markets neared a more than two-week high on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House from hospital where he was treated for COVID-19, and expectations of a new U.S. stimulus package being agreed rose.



Europe saw a stuttering start with London&#8217;s FTSE&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.FTSE">.FTSE</a>&nbsp;dipping and not much traction from France&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.FCHI">.FCHI</a>, Italy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.FTMIB">.FTMIB</a>&nbsp;or Germany&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.GDAXI">.GDAXI</a>, despite a &#8220;remarkable&#8221; jump in German industrial orders.



Wall Street and most of Asia rallied overnight after Trump’s return from the Walter Reed Medical Center military hospital outside Washington eased nerves about possible disruption to next month’s Presidential election.



Gold, bonds and the dollar suffered losses amid the modestly improved risk appetite, though Wall Street futures had slipped into the red and oil was losing its strong overnight momentum.



“The market is slightly short of oomph,” said Societe Generale’s Kit Juckes, pointing to Europe’s subdued start.



“It has not managed to get a meaningful lift from it (Trump leaving hospital) and I think it is threatening to take a time out and wait for what comes next,” he added.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352574" width="698" height="518" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-265x198.jpg 265w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-485x360.jpg 485w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Trump returned to the White House on Monday after a three-night hospital stay and said he felt “real good”, although one of his doctors cautioned that he may not be out of the woods until later in the week.



MSCI&#8217;s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.MIAP00000PUS">.MIAP00000PUS</a>&nbsp;had risen 0.7% to a two and a half week-high, with Hong Kong&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.HSI">.HSI</a>&nbsp;climbing 0.8% and Japan&#8217;s Nikkei&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.N225">.N225</a>&nbsp;adding 0.5%. China&#8217;s markets remained closed for a public holiday.



U.S. stimulus hopes were still bubbling in the background after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone for about an hour and said they were preparing to talk again on Tuesday.



“If we do see some form of stimulus coming through, I think the market will take it in a positive light,” said J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Chief Asia Market Strategist Tai Hui.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-central-focus">CENTRAL FOCUS</h2>



S&amp;P 500 futures were a touch weaker after the best daily gain on the S&amp;P 500 index&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;in a month overnight, while the optimism hit gold and other safe haven assets.



Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,911 per ounce, after hitting a two-week peak on Monday, and U.S. gold futures were down 0.21%.



Bond markets also joined in, as a sharp selloff in U.S. bonds on Monday carried over into Asia and Europe.



Benchmark 10-year German government bond yields, which move inverse to price, hit their highest in over a week. Japanese government bond futures fell to a one-month low in the steepest drop in more than five weeks and South Korean yields jumped.



However, analysts said selling in other Asian markets was more subdued than in the U.S. market because regional investors are beginning to price in a victory for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election.







European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde and U.S. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell were also scheduled to speak later in the day, giving traders extra reason for patience.



“The selloff in U.S. yields is more driven by Trump getting out of hospital,” said DBS rates strategist Duncan Tan in Singapore. “That narrows some of the uncertainties around the election process. In the short term, at the very least, it removes the tail risk of having to consider if Trump or Biden is unable to participate in the election.” U.S. 10-year yields were steady at 0.77% while in the currency markets, the dollar was under pressure from most other majors with the exception of the safe-haven Japanese yen.



The dollar gained on the yen to reach 105.62 yen, not far short of its highest levels in three weeks.



The Australian dollar gained briefly after the Reserve Bank of Australia left rates on hold, as expected, but later fell back, and the potential for further monetary easing capped gains.



Oil jumped more than 5% overnight and edged higher still in Asia, supported by the Trump news and a supply squeeze as a strike shut six Norwegian offshore oil and gas fields.



U.S. crude last stood at $39.15 a barrel, up 0.2% and, Brent crude rose 0.1% to $41.35.

wall street

World stocks inch to two-week high after Trump leaves hospital

(Reuters) &#8211; Investors are gauging how a potential deterioration in President Donald Trump’s health could impact asset prices in coming weeks, as the U.S. leader remains hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19.



So far, markets have been comparatively sanguine: hopes of a breakthrough in talks among U.S. lawmakers on another stimulus package took the edge off a stock market selloff on Friday, with the S&amp;P 500 losing less than 1% and so-called safe-haven assets seeing limited demand. News of Trump’s hospitalization at a military medical center outside Washington, where he remained on Saturday, came after trading ended on Friday.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/396x27611.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-383035" width="678" height="488"/></figure>



Many investors are concerned, however, that a serious decline in Trump’s health less than a month before Americans go to the polls on Nov. 3 could roil a U.S. stock market that recently notched its worst monthly performance since its selloff in March while causing turbulence in other assets.



If the president’s health is in jeopardy, there’s “too much uncertainty in the situation for the markets just to shrug it off,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird.



The various outcomes investors currently envision run the gamut from a quick recovery that bolsters Trump’s image as a fighter to a drawn-out illness or death stoking uncertainty and drying up risk appetite across markets.



Should uncertainty persist, technology and momentum stocks that have led this year’s rally may be particularly vulnerable to a selloff, some investors said. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell more than 2% on Friday, double the S&amp;P 500’s decline.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352574" width="674" height="500" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-265x198.jpg 265w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-485x360.jpg 485w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



“If people &#8230; get nervous right now, probably it manifests itself in crowded trades like tech and mega-cap being unwound a bit,” Delwiche said



A record 80% of fund managers surveyed last month by BofA Global Research said that buying technology stocks was the market’s “most crowded” trade.



The concentration of investors in big tech stocks has also raised concerns over their outsized sway on moves in the broader market.



The largest five U.S. companies – Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft – now account for almost 25% of the S&amp;P 500’s market capitalization, according to research firm Oxford Economics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fiscal-stimulus-talks">FISCAL STIMULUS TALKS</h2>



Trump’s diagnosis has intensified the spotlight on the fiscal stimulus talks in Washington, with investors saying agreement on another aid package could act as a stabilizing force on markets in the face of election-related uncertainty.



U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on Friday that negotiations were continuing, but she is waiting for a response from the White House on key areas.



Fresh stimulus could speed economic healing from the impact of the pandemic, which has put millions of Americans out of work, and benefit economically-sensitive companies whose stock performance has lagged this year, investors said.



For those who are underweight stocks, “we would be using this volatility as an opportunity to increase equities because we think we’re in an early-stage economic recovery,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist/SunTrust Advisory.



Market action on Friday suggested some investors may have been positioning for a stimulus announcement in the midst of the selloff.







The S&amp;P 500 sectors representing industrials and financials, two groups that are more sensitive to a broad economic recovery, rallied 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively, while the broader index declined.



Even with worries over Trump’s condition, “the fiscal program has been the loudest noise in the market,” said Arnim Holzer, macro and correlation defense strategist at EAB Investment Group.



Investor hedges against election-related market swings put in place over the last few months may have softened Friday’s decline and could, to a degree, mitigate future volatility, said Christopher Stanton of hedge fund Sunrise Capital Partners LLC.



Despite Trump’s illness, futures on the Cboe Volatility Index continued to show expectations of elevated volatility after the Nov. 3 vote, a pattern consistent with concerns of a contested election.



Nagging doubts over whether the Republican president would agree to hand over the keys to the White House if he loses have grown in recent weeks. During his first debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday, Trump declined to commit to accepting the results, repeating his unfounded complaint that mail-in ballots would lead to election fraud.



“If Trump’s health does not recover &#8230; then he might give up on contesting the election,” said Michael Purves, chief executive of Tallbacken Capital Advisors. But “markets are not shifting off the contested election thing right now.”

Trump’s diagnosis fuels uncertainty for skittish U.S. stock market

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; When Boris Johnson caught COVID-19 in March, the overweight British prime minister tried to work through the illness “in denial” &#8211; but ended up wearing an oxygen mask in an intensive care unit and was ultimately out of action for almost a month.



He later said he had fought for his life as the state prepared for the unthinkable: the possible death in office of a prime minister.



Johnson’s experience of trying to stay in charge while struggling with the disease may offer clues about the potential dangers ahead for U.S. President Donald Trump, now that he has tested positive.



After being accused of initially failing to appreciate the gravity of coronavirus crisis for Britain, Johnson, then 55, felt mild symptoms on March 26 while answering questions in the House of Commons chamber.



A few hours later, he received a positive test result, and the next day he made a video statement in which he said he was self-isolating, but would continue to work and lead Britain’s coronavirus response.



But during the next nine days, as he worked in isolation in an apartment above his official Downing Street residence and office, his condition deteriorated, with persistent symptoms including a high temperature.



Later, he said he had been in denial and continued to work despite feeling groggy and “pretty rough”, until doctors told him firmly to go to hospital.







Being a national leader has offered little protection against the new coronavirus.



Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro spent weeks in quarantine after testing positive in July 7, and said he had taken antibiotics for an infection that left him feeling weak.



Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez needed hospital treatment, and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi developed double pneumonia and spent 10 days in hospital, being treated with the antiviral drug Remdesivir.



The 84-year-old was allowed home on Sept. 14 saying he had survived “the most dangerous challenge” of his life, and has made no public appearances since.



“THE BAD MOMENT”



Johnson’s sudden deterioration after continuing to work may hold a warning for the 74-year-old Trump, now in full campaigning mode for the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3.



RELATED COVERAGE<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-trump-johnson/uk-pm-johnson-says-sure-trump-will-stage-a-very-strong-recovery-idUSKBN26N1U9"></a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-trump-johnson/uk-pm-johnson-says-sure-trump-will-stage-a-very-strong-recovery-idUSKBN26N1U9">UK PM Johnson says sure Trump will stage &#8216;a very strong recovery&#8217;</a>



Johnson was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in the evening of April 5. The next day he was moved to intensive care, where he received oxygen support but was not put on a ventilator.



“The bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe,” Johnson said later.



“The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong &#8230; The bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction.”



He later said he owed those doctors his life.



While Johnson was ill, his duties were assumed by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.



“They had a strategy to deal with a ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario,” Johnson later said. “It was a tough old moment, I won’t deny it.”







Johnson left hospital on April 12, but continued his recuperation at his official country residence northwest of London, and did not return to work until April 27 &#8211; a month after announcing that he had tested positive.



When Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds gave birth to their son two days later, he was given a middle name of Nicholas partly in tribute to two of the intensive care doctors who had treated the prime minister.



Since then, Johnson has repeatedly dismissed concerns about his recovery, and said the virus has convinced him to slim down from his previous, portly 17st 6lb (244 lb, 112 kg).



As recently as Tuesday, he told a reporter: “I’m fitter than I was before, it may irritate you to know &#8230; I’m fit as a butcher’s dog, thanks basically to losing weight.”

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