JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMSJ.J">AMSJ.J</a>) posted a 7% fall in half-year profit on lower output due to shutdowns caused by COVID-19 and cautioned that further closures and power outages could put its full-year guidance at risk.FILE PHOTO: A cow is seen near the AngloAmerican sign board outside the Mogalakwena platinum mine in Mokopane , north-western part of South Africa , Limpopo province May 18, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo



Shares in one of the world’s biggest platinum producers, which have soared since mid-March, fell almost 4% before recovering to trade flat on the day as Amplats said it expects production to improve in the second half and declared an interim dividend.



Headline earnings per share, the main profit used in South Africa, for the six months to June 30 fell to 26.27 rand per share compared with 28.15 rand a year earlier.



Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose 6% to 13.1 billion rand, driven by sharply higher metals prices.



Amplats said it expects output to improve in the second half despite a 25% decline in year-on-year in platinum group metals (PGM) production to 1.6 million ounces due to shutdowns in South Africa and Zimbabwe.



Refined PGM production fell 49% due to power cuts and repairs at its ACP processing facilities 141 kms (88 miles) from Johannesburg after a blast forced it to declare force majeure.



“We expect to see a stronger production performance in H2 2020, but caution that significant headwinds still exist,” said Amplats CEO Natascha Viljoen.



Viljoen, who was appointed CEO in April, said output capacity levels were around 80% by the end of June and expected to increase to 95% by the end of the year.



Amplats said the possibility of further COVID-19 shutdowns, repairs at its plant and power outages could impact its ability to meet year end guidance of 3.1 to 3.6 million PGM ounces.



Mining companies in South Africa are anxious about managing COVID-19 and preventing outbreaks at mine sites where workers are in close quarters and confined spaces.



Viljoen said Amplats expected platinum, rhodium and palladium to be in deficit in the global market for the remainder of 2020 but expected platinum, the majority f which is mined in South Africa, to return to a surplus in 2021 as supply recovers.

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Amplats profit falls as COVID-19 shutdowns weigh, sees H2 output recovery

GABORONE, Botswana (Reuters) &#8211; Trading in shares of budget retailer Choppies resumed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday after a 20-month suspension following the company’s failure to publish its financial results.



Choppies saw its shares plunge by more than 60% in September 2018 after delaying publication of its financial statements, leading to their suspension on both the local bourse and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where it has a secondary listing.



The results were delayed after the company’s newly appointed auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) raised concerns with the board over accounting practices.



“The company has now published all its financials up to December 2019 bringing it into compliance with the stock exchange requirements,” the BSE said in a statement.



The resumption also follows publication on July 23 of an auditors’ report into allegations of fraud within the group which found any court action over those allegations was unlikely to succeed.



Trading in Choppies shares resumed at 0.69 pula per share, in line with their suspension price. Some 797,000 shares were traded in the opening auction.



As part of plans to consolidate its business and focus on more profitable subsidiaries, Choppies &#8211; Botswana’s biggest retailer &#8211; has since exited the South African and Mozambican markets.



The company is also divesting operations in Tanzania and Kenya, Chief Executive Ramachandran Ottapathu told Reuters on Monday, but will continue operating in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia.



“We are hoping the JSE will soon lift the suspension &#8230; they have to follow what has happened in the primary market,” Ottapathu said.



In the half-year to December 2019, Choppies’ group revenue fell by 17.5% to 2.9 billion pula due to a weakening currency in Zimbabwe against the Pula, the company said in its results released on Friday. It made a 204.7 million pula ($18 million) loss on discontinued operations.



Its gross profit margin for the half-year ended December 2019 improved to 22.9% from 22.5% a year before, reflecting a good performance in the local market.



($1 = 11.4286 pulas)

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Botswana retailer Choppies stock resumes trading after 20-month suspension

(Reuters) &#8211; Gold soared over 2% to its highest ever on Monday as heightened U.S.-China tensions hammered the dollar and sped up a flight to safety among investors concerned that the spat could amplify the economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic.



Spot gold hit a record high of $1,943.93 per ounce, and by 0940 GMT was up 2% to $1,939.29. U.S. gold futures gained 2% to $1,936.30 per ounce.



Silver too joined the rally, jumping more than 6% to $24.36, its highest since September 2013.



Bullion is surging on a broadly weaker dollar, U.S.-China tensions and negative real yields, FXTM analyst Lukman Otunuga said.



“Buying sentiment towards the precious metal is through the roof, with further gains expected in the medium to longer term,” he added.



In the latest escalation of Sino-U.S. tensions, China took over the premises of the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Monday in retaliation for Beijing’s ouster last week from its consulate in Houston, Texas.



This sent the dollar index to its lowest since September 2018. 



“Safe-haven demand (for gold) has been rising while there is none for USD anymore,” said ANZ commodity strategist Soni Kumari.



Investors are now awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting starting Tuesday, where it could flag another accommodative policy shift.



“You’d need a pretty upbeat and unexpectedly positive assessment from the Federal Open Market Committee to really dampen this rally,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.



“Even if you had a surprise from the FOMC which weighed on gold, this is an opportunity to buy the dip.”



Non-yielding gold is considered a hedge against inflation and currency debasement, with analysts also pointing to massive inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds as a driver behind its 28% rally in 2020. 



Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases surged to over 16.13 million globally, driving expectations of more stimulus to stem the economic blow.



Platinum rose 2.3% to $934.83 and palladium was up 2.4% at $2,272.25.

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Gold surges to record high as dollar slips, Sino-U.S. row worsens

CAIRO/LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) &#8211; The threat of conflict in Libya, water security worries and a flatlining tourist sector risk upending a nascent rally in Egyptian bonds, bankers and economists say.



The North African country has attracted a wave of foreign investor interest in the past three months, emboldened by fresh financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and short-term local debt offering yields of around 13%, among the highest in emerging markets.



Bankers and economists warn, however, that the yield bonanza masks an economy with weak prospects and heightened political risk, with the Cairo bourse falling on several days this month on fears of a Libya intervention. Parliament gave President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi last week the green light for possible military intervention in Libya.



A deployment of armed forces into Libya could lead to higher military spending at a time when COVID-19 is already hitting the budget deficit.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “Obviously the IMF support package has reassured foreign investors and that is why there has been an improvement in flows, but the fundamentals are still weak,” said Zeina Rizk, executive fixed income director at Arqaam Capital.



“The virus is raging, tourism is down, and government spending – needed to boost the economy – will add further leverage,” she added.



Adding further uncertainty, Egypt has failed so far to reach a deal with Ethiopia to regulate flows from its Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) which threatens its main water source.







&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “The political risk has deteriorated,” said Hasnain Malik, head of equity research at Tellimer Research.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The tourism industry, meanwhile, which makes up as much as 15% of GDP, is unlikely to recover soon, analysts said. Egypt, unlike Tunisia and Morocco, has not been added to the European Union’s list of safe COVID-19 countries.



Egypt’s reported COVID-19 cases have been falling in the past weeks but the number of new infections remains too high for now to lift the travel warning, diplomats said.



Tourist flights to Red Sea resorts have been rising since airports reopened on July 1, but normal occupancy rates would be only back by March or April next year, said Alaa Akel, head of the Egyptian Hotels Association Red Sea.



More than half of the hotels are back in business after two months of lockdown and those still closed will probably re-open by November, he added.



The central bank and state press centre did not respond to questions sent by Reuters.



The government expected growth of 3.5% in the fiscal year 2020/21, which began in July, but growth could slow to 2% if the coronavirus crisis continues until year-end, Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed said in May.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ECONOMIC FALLOUT</h3>



Sisi in March approved a 100 billion pound ($6 billion) plan to stem the economic fallout, including support for the tourism sector, payments of salaries for staff sent home by their employers and cash for informal workers.



With foreign reserves standing at $38 billion, Egypt’s finances are in much better shape than in 2011 after the toppling of Hosni Mubarak.



This is down from $45 billion from before the pandemic, but the central bank has been able to support the currency, which strengthened in July after a dip the month before, a gain that helped buyers of short-term debt make a profit, bankers say.



“We have been seeing significant flows back into Egypt,” said Farouk Soussa, senior Middle East and North Africa economist at Goldman Sachs. “The inflows have indeed been at the short end of the curve, reflecting higher short term yields and the potential for near-term strengthening in the pound, which make the carry trade the most lucrative in Egypt at the moment,” said Soussa.



He was referring to a strategy which involves investors borrowing in currencies where interest rates are low to invest in countries where yields are high.



Egypt’s international bonds have performed better than some other similarly rated emerging market sovereigns, such as El Salvador and Sri Lanka, since the March sell-off.



Egypt’s 2025, 2027 and 2040 issues are trading around 12% or less from pre-pandemic highs, Refinitiv data shows.



But analysts say the inflow of “hot money” — or investments made for short periods — does not translate into new jobs in the real economy and might disappear if the currency slips.



Barring its energy sector, Egypt had been struggling to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), a predicament blamed by analysts on bureaucracy and an expansion of army-owned firms in sectors from food production to cement.



“Increasing long term foreign direct investment further will require improvement in Doing Business indicators, maintaining a sound, predictable macroeconomic framework and political stability,” Raza Agha, head of emerging markets credit strategy, Legal &amp; General Investment Management.

AFSisi

Economic pitfalls risk cooling Egypt’s hot money inflows

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) on Monday reported a drop in half-year earnings, hurt by the impact of the new coronavirus on output and the temporary shutdown of its processing facilities.



Amplats said headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months to June 30 fell to 26.27 rand per share, a decrease of 7%, compared with 28.15 rand a year earlier.



HEPS is the main profit measure used in South Africa that strips out certain once-off items.

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Amplats H1 earnings fall as pandemic and closure of processing facilities weigh

TOKYO (Reuters) &#8211; Gold soared to an all-time high on Monday as worsening diplomatic ties between China and the United States rattled investors and fired up demand for the safe-haven metal, while stock market sentiment was mixed ahead of corporate earnings.



European stocks are expected to claw back some of their sharp losses on Friday, with Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.2%.



In Asia, stocks were mixed as a 10% rally in Taiwanese chip heavyweight TSMC cheered some other tech shares across the region, which helped prop up the broader market with MSCI’s ex-Japan Asia-Pacific index rising 0.4%.



TSMC’s surge came after U.S. rival Intel signalled it may give up making its own components after falling far behind schedule developing its newest technology.



“Chipmaking machine makers may see reduced demand from Intel for now but as the jump in TSMC shows, markets are not pessimistic about the semiconductor industry,” said Yasuo Imanaka, chief analyst at Rakuten Securities.



Elsewhere, there was less enthusiasm with mainland Chinese shares giving up most of their early gains, with CSI300 index last up 0.1%, after steep losses on Friday.



S&amp;P500 futures were last up 0.4% in choppy trade while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.5%.



Global shares had lost steam late last week after Washington ordered China’s consulate in Houston to close, prompting Beijing to react in kind by closing the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.



U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China, saying Washington and its allies must use “more creative and assertive ways” to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways.



“U.S. President (Donald) Trump used to say China’s President Xi Jinping is a great leader. But now Pompeo’s wording is becoming so aggressive that markets are starting to worry about further escalation,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.



Gold rose 1.6% to a record high of $1,943 per ounce, surpassing a peak touched in September 2011, as Sino-U.S. tensions boosted the allure of safe haven assets, especially those not tied to any specific country.



The yellow metal is also helped by aggressive monetary easing around the world since the pandemic plunged the global economy into a recession.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">MORE STIMULUS</h3>



Hopes for a quick U.S. economic recovery are fading as coronavirus infections showed few signs of slowing.



That means the economy could capitulate without fresh support from the government, with some of the earlier steps such as enhanced jobless benefits due to expire this month.



Investors hope U.S. Congress will agree on a deal before its summer recess but there are some sticking points including the size of stimulus and enhanced unemployment benefits.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the package will contain extended unemployment benefits with 70% “wage replacement”.



Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, want enhanced benefits of $600 per week to be extended and look to much bigger stimulus compared with the Republicans’ $1 trillion plan.



Concerns about the U.S. economic outlook have also started to weigh on the dollar.



The dollar index dropped 0.4% to its lowest level in nearly two years.



The euro gained 0.4% to $1.1697, hitting a 22-month high, after a European agreement on a recovery fund last week supported sentiment toward the common currency.



Against the yen, the dollar slipped 0.5% to 105.605 yen, a four-month low while the British pound hit a 4 1/2-month high of $1.2832.Slideshow&nbsp;(2 Images)



Oil prices were capped on worries about the worsening Sino-U.S. relations.



Brent futures slipped 0.05% to $43.32 per barrel while U.S. crude futures were flat at $41.29.



Editing by Sam Holmes

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Gold hits record high, stocks mixed as U.S.-China ties worsen

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Scandal-hit South African retailer Steinhoff International said on Monday it had proposed a settlement, worth up to around $1 billion, to settle a stream of legal claims against the company.



The value would be paid in both cash and shares in retailer Pepkor, Steinhoff’s subsidiary, if the settlement is given the consent of creditors, regulators and eligible claimants, Steinhoff said in a statement.

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S.Africa’s Steinhoff proposes $1 bln settlement to solve legal disputes

MONTREAL (Reuters) &#8211; A pick-up in leisure trips and easing European travel restrictions are driving demand for business jet flights this summer, fueling cautious hopes for a rebound in an industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, executives and forecasters said.



Commercial and business aviation are both seeing improved domestic traffic this summer. But private flights, which carry smaller groups and promise wealthy passengers less risk of exposure to the coronavirus, have generally fared better than commercial airlines since the start of the pandemic.



U.S. business aviation traffic is down around 20% year to date through July 19 on an annual basis, compared to a decline in U.S. commercial airline traffic of 48% over the same period, according to FlightAware data.



Adam Twidell, chief executive at Private Fly, a global booking service for charter flights, said his company’s booking levels are around 80% of last year’s mark in Europe, and over 100% in the U.S., helped by inquiries from new passengers.



Nw customers, including those who normally fly first class on airlines, now make up around 60% of the company’s flight bookings compared with around a quarter normally.



“We know that a considerable number of them have not flown privately before,” Twidell said.



Private jet charter VistaJet said it recorded a 153% increase for European departures between May and June and expects a similar increase for July.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">GREEN SHOOTS</h3>



Business aviation flights in Europe could be down just 10% this summer compared with the same period a year earlier, helped by pent-up leisure travel demand and limited selection of commercial flights, said Richard Koe, managing director of data research and consulting company WINGX Advance GmbH. By comparison, European flights were down 15% in July and 30% in June on an annual basis, Koe said.



But industry executives cautioned that the green shoots of demand for private aviation will only continue into the fall if there is a pick-up in company travel.



“Personal travel is the driving force on both continents at the moment as business travel continues to be down significantly,” said Patrick Gallagher, a marketing executive for Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s NetJets, which is seeing improved European demand following the easing of travel restrictions last month.



“Relaxation in travel restrictions certainly played a part in that, but the seasonality of demand in Europe also led to the later, steeper recovery,” he said.









Business jet makers are waiting to see if the revival in flights could eventually lead to new orders. For now, charters are using existing fleets to meet demand.



While jet makers are seeing little appetite for new plane sales, firm orders are not being canceled, which points to some stability, two industry sources said.



Business jet makers, like General Dynamics Corp’s Gulfstream Aerospace, Textron Aviation and Bombardier, have cut jobs and some forecasters expect a 30% decline in deliveries this year.

Vacation trips, easing of travel rules fuel hopes of business jet rebound

BANGUI (Reuters) &#8211; Deposed former Central African Republic President Francois Bozize announced on Saturday his candidacy for the December presidential vote despite being under U.N. sanctions and subject to an arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity.



He made the expected announcement in a speech to a large crowd of supporters at a congress of his party Kwa na Kwa (Work, Nothing But Work) in the capital Bangui.



The 73-year-old former general and army chief was overthrown in a 2013 rebellion by a coalition of mainly Muslim rebels from the north, plunging the majority Christian nation into a violent civil war and an acute and ongoing humanitarian crisis.



“The country needs a man of experience, peace and conviction,” Bozize said in the speech that criticised the tenure of current president, Faustin-Archange Touadera.



Bozize first took power after a 2003 coup and served 10 years as president, before fleeing the country in 2013. The new administration sought his arrest for alleged crimes against humanity and incitement to genocide, but has not moved to detain him since he returned from exile late last year.



It is not clear how the warrant or foreign sanctions will affect his candidacy. In January, Bozize said he would ask the United Nations to lift the sanctions imposed in 2014 over his alleged support for ‘anti-balaka’ Christian militias.



Touadera, who was elected in 2016, is expected to seek a second term in the election but has not yet confirmed he will run. The first round of the race is scheduled for December 27.



Most of the diamond-rich country remains beyond government control as rival militias continue to clash. The violence has forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes.

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Deposed Central African Republic leader announces presidential bid

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa has doubled to six months the term of loans to small and medium-sized businesses to help them survive the COVID-19 recession and made other changes to make the credit easier to access, the treasury said on Sunday.



President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 200 billion rand ($12.00 billion) loan scheme in April to help businesses, as part of stimulus measures to lessen the pandemic impact on South Africa’s already shrinking economy.



The loans are intended to meet urgent requirements, such as salaries, rents and contractual obligations.



Many of South Africa’s small and medium-sized firms were thrown into disarray when the government introduced a lockdown at the end of March to try to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.



They lost much of their revenue but still faced fixed costs, and many have struggled to recover even as the lockdown lifted.



Sunday’s changes to the scheme include making “bank credit assessments and loan approvals more discretionary and less restrictive,” the treasury said in a statement.



They extend the draw-down period and the interest and capital repayment holiday to six from three months and replace the 300 million rand turnover cap with a maximum loan amount of 100 million rand.

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South Africa extends COVID-19 loans for struggling businesses

(Reuters) &#8211; One person was killed when several shots were fired amid a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, Texas, on Saturday, authorities said.



Footage posted during a Facebook Live showed the moment when several shots rang out in the Texas capital as about 100 people marched and chanted, “Fists up! Fight back!”



Austin police and emergency medical services said on Twitter that one person was killed during the shooting. There were no other deaths or people shot, according to the EMS department.



Initial reports indicate the suspect was carrying a rifle and shot at the victim, who was in his car, police told a briefing. The suspect has been detained, they said.



Protests against racism and police brutality were sparked worldwide following the May killing of African-American George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while detaining him.

How Police Track Protesters With High-Tech Surveillance Tools

One person shot, killed during Black Lives Matter protest in Texas

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s national police service has arrested two police officers and opened an investigation after “a shooting incident” in the eastern county of Garissa, the police service said on Sunday.



The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), a body set up to investigate cases of police brutality, has also sent its investigators to Garissa, it said late on Saturday.



The national police service said two officers had been arrested “over a shooting incident at Soko Ng’ombe market within Garissa Township” and that the inspector general had ordered an investigation.



“The inspector general has equally directed the directorate of criminal investigations to carry out forensic analysis on the firearms used by the officers,” it said.



Garissa member of parliament Aden Duale said in a Twitter post police had shot dead Aden Abdi Madobe and Muhiyadin Adow Shibin on Saturday during an “arrest mission”. He did not give further details.



International campaigners have raised concerns about police behaviour in the East African nation, including during lockdown restrictions.



Rights group Amnesty International said Kenyan police had killed at least 100 people in 2020, with 21 related to COVID-19 lockdown infractions, such as curfew or mask violations.

Op-Ed: Jubilee, Kanu formalise coalition as internal battles rage in Kenya

Kenya arrests two police after ‘shooting incident’, launches enquiry

SEATTLE (Reuters) &#8211; Dozens were arrested and many police injured in clashes around Seattle’s biggest Black Lives Matter protest in weeks on Saturday, police said, with a renewed energy sparked by violent clashes between activists and federal agents in nearby Portland, Oregon.



Police said officers used non-lethal weapons in attempts to disperse the thousands of marchers in the late afternoon after some protesters set fire to the construction site for a King County juvenile detention facility and courthouse.



By 10 p.m.(0500 GMT), police had “made 45 arrests in connection with today’s riot in the East Precinct,” the Seattle Police wrote in a Twitter post.



It said “21 officers sustained injuries after being struck by bricks, rocks mortars/other explosives. Most officers were able to return to duty. One was treated at a hospital for a knee injury.”



Earlier the police had said they were working to secure access for the city’s fire department to the blaze, which it said was started by about a dozen people who were part of a large group of demonstrators.



President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he expanded the deployment of federal police to Seattle, enraging local officials and igniting anger among protesters.



“We saw what was happening in Portland and we wanted to make sure in our city we were standing in solidarity with other moms,” said Lhorna Murray, who attended on behalf of the newly formed Wall of Moms Seattle, replicating a tactic from the Portland protests where mothers, dressed in yellow, form a human wall between protesters and law enforcement.



The tactics of federal officers in Portland have drawn the ire of local leaders and Democrats in Congress, who say those officers are using excessive force and complain of overreach by the Trump administration.



U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Brian Moran said in a statement on Friday that federal agents are stationed in Seattle to protect federal properties and the work done in those buildings.



The Trump administration has also sent federal police to Chicago, Kansas City and Albuquerque, New Mexico, over the objections of those mayors.

Seattle Black Lives Matter clashes spark 45 arrests, 21 police injured

(Reuters) &#8211; Almost 40 countries have reported record single-day increases in coronavirus infections over the past week, around double the number that did so the previous week, according to a Reuters tally showing a pick-up in the pandemic in every region of the world.FILE PHOTO: A nurse works inside a field hospital builtÊon a soccer stadium in Machakos, as the number of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases continues to rise in Kenya, July 23, 2020. Picture taken July 23, 2020.REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo



The rate of cases has been increasing not only in countries like the United States, Brazil and India, which have dominated global headlines with large outbreaks, but in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Uzbekistan and Israel, among others. &nbsp;



Many countries, especially those where officials eased earlier social distancing lockdowns, are experiencing a second peak more than a month after recording their first.



“We will not be going back to the ‘old normal’. The pandemic has already changed the way we live our lives,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week. “We’re asking everyone to treat the decisions about where they go, what they do and who they meet with as life-and-death decisions – because they are.”



The Reuters data, compiled from official reports, shows a steady rise in the number of countries reporting record daily increases in the virus that causes COVID-19 over the past month. At least seven countries recorded such increases three weeks ago, rising to at least 13 countries two weeks ago to at least 20 countries last week and to 37 countries this week.



The true numbers of both cases and deaths are almost certainly underreported, particularly in countries with poorer health care systems, health experts and officials say. For this report, the Reuters data was restricted to countries that provide regular daily numbers.



A surge in cases usually precedes a rise in deaths by a couple of weeks.



The United States remains at the top of the case list, this week passing more than 4 million cases and recording more than 1,000 deaths for four consecutive days. Brazil and India &#8211; which epidemiologists say is still likely months from hitting its peak &#8211; have also exceeded 1 million cases.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">SECOND WAVE</h3>



The data reveals a growing number of resurgent cases in countries across all regions.



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In Australia, officials enforced a six-week partial lockdown and made face masks mandatory for residents in the country’s second-largest city, Melbourne, after a fresh outbreak.



Australia and Japan, which also posted a daily case record this week, both warned of a rise in infections among young people, many of whom celebrated the end of social restrictions at bars and parties.



In Mexico, which also posted a daily record this week and has the fourth-highest death toll of any country, officials warned that a downward trend in case numbers that began in mid-June &#8211; about the time the city began relaxing social distancing measures &#8211; could reverse.



Based on the rate of hospital admissions over the past week, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said, hospitalisation levels by October could exceed those registered in June, the height of the pandemic.



“It is important to recognise that if we do not change the trend, there could be exponential growth,” she said.



In Europe, where the summer vacation season is in full swing, a new daily record figure in Spain is likely to deter tourists from visiting one of the continent’s most popular destinations.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



In Africa, Kenya recorded a record high daily case number less than two weeks after reopening activity, including domestic passenger flights. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who had announced international flights would resume on Aug. 1, has summoned officials to an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the surge in cases.



In the Middle East, Oman imposed new restrictions that begin on Saturday in addition to a two-week lockdown that will overlap the Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha after reporting a record number of cases.

Clarification on COVID-19 “hotspots” as SA moves to level 3 lockdown

Record numbers of coronavirus cases in every global region: Reuters tally

MBABANE (Reuters) &#8211; Eswatini’s central bank has cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%, it said in a statement on Saturday, the latest of several cuts meant to counter a coronavirus-linked downturn.



The previous 50bps cut was in May. As is often the case, the central bank’s decision mirrored that of neighbour South Africa, which also cut by 25pbs on Thursday.



The government forecast in May that the economy would contract by 6.7% this year owing to the COVID-19 crisis.

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Eswatini central bank cuts base rate 25bps to 3.75%

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Jimmy Tosh, who runs a multi-million dollar hog and grain farm in Tennessee, is a lifelong Republican. He is pro-gun, supports lower taxes and agrees with most of Republican President Donald Trump’s agenda.



He is also spending his money to help defeat Trump in November’s election.



“I agree with 80% of the things he does; I just cannot stand a liar,” Tosh, 70, said of Trump.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RELATED COVERAGE</h4>



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Tosh is one of a growing number of wealthy conservative Americans who say Trump is a threat to democracy and the long-term health of the Republican Party. They are actively supporting his Democratic opponent in the Nov. 3 vote, former Vice President Joe Biden.



Several billionaire and millionaire donors to The Lincoln Project, the most prominent of Republican-backed groups opposing Trump’s re-election, told Reuters that elected Republicans should also be punished for enabling him. Some even support the ouster of vulnerable Republican senators to hand control of the chamber to Democrats.



Their money has fueled an unprecedented campaign from members of a sitting president’s own party to oust him from office. This is a sign that Trump has alienated some Republicans, most recently with his response to the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests over police brutality against Black Americans.



The ultimate impact of these actions remains to be seen in a country so deeply polarized. The “Never Trump” Republicans failed to stop his ascent in 2016 and became marginal figures as Trump came to dominate the party during his presidency. But this year could be different, some strategists from both parties said.



“The distinction in 2020 that we didn’t see in 2016 is the amount of money backing their efforts and their size,” said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist and a spokesperson for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.



“The number of people willing to go public about Trump and put serious money behind beating him — I don’t think we’ve seen an effort on this scale.”



Besides The Lincoln Project, several Republican-backed groups have been formed in recent months to support Biden including 43 Alumni for Biden, a super PAC involving hundreds of officials who served in Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, and a coalition of former Republican national security officials.FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the administration&#8217;s plan for reopening schools during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque



Others are skeptical, noting that Trump is vastly outraising and outspending the Never Trump groups and still enjoys nearly 90% support among Republicans. In June alone, Trump’s campaign raised $55.2 million, compared to the $20 million that The Lincoln Project has raised since its formation in December.



Yet in a close election, even peeling away a sliver of wavering Republicans and some independents could make a difference, analysts said.



Tosh, who has given $11,000 to The Lincoln Project after seeing one of their ads attacking Trump, said he might give to other Republican-led groups too.



“I made the decision I will not support a Republican candidate in an election until Trump is gone,” he said.



Other top individual donors to The Lincoln Project include Christy Walton, the Walmart heiress who has mainly given to Democratic candidates in recent years; hedge fund billionaire Andy Redleaf, who sits on the board of visitors at the conservative Federalist Society; and Sidney Jansma Jr., an oil and gas executive from Michigan and a frequent donor to Republican candidates and causes.



The Lincoln Project ads have attacked Trump over his response to economic and health crises and racial tensions, targeting wavering Trump voters and independents.



Democratic ad maker Jimmy Siegel who worked on Clinton’s 2008 campaign, said some of the spots, viewed by millions, could be persuasive to “teetering” Republicans on the fence.



Erin Perrine, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, said of the anti-Trump groups: “This is the swamp – yet again – trying to take down the duly elected president of the United States.” She said Trump’s level of support among Republicans is “something any former president of any party could only dream of.”A logo for The Lincoln Project, funded by wealthy conservative donors who are opposed to the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump, is seen in a still image from video July 23, 2020. The Lincoln Project/Handout via REUTERS



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘REPUBLICANS SHOULD BE PUNISHED’</h3>



It is not just conservatives giving to the Republican anti-Trump groups. The Lincoln Project, for instance, is also receiving large sums from wealthy Democrats, filings with the Federal Election Commission show. Its biggest single donation in June was $1 million from hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel, a prolific Democratic donor.



Reed Galin, one of the group’s founders who worked for Bush and the late Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, said Trump’s bullying brand of politics is “not good for the party, and it’s also bad for the country.”



Redleaf, founder of Minnesota-based hedge fund Whitebox Advisors, said Biden will be the first Democratic presidential candidate he has voted for.



Readleaf, who calls himself a “conservative libertarian,” has donated $35,000 to The Lincoln Project. He said he agreed with the group’s push to also target Republican senators who face tough re-election battles in November.



Tosh said he has “mixed emotions.”



“I’ve been a Republican all my life and want to stay Republican &#8211; but the Republican Party has to change after what it’s done over the past three years.”

gettyimages-642093036-594×594-2

The wealthy Republicans who want to oust Trump in November’s election

(Reuters) &#8211; Credit card issuer American Express Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AXP.N">AXP.N</a>) reported an 85% slump in quarterly profit on Friday after it set aside nearly $628 million to prepare for a flood of potential defaults caused by coronavirus-led layoffs.FILE PHOTO: American Express logo and trading symbol are displayed on a screen at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 6, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid



Shares were down about 1% before the bell, even as the group managed to eke out a small profit rather than report a loss as expected by analysts.



The health crisis has hammered economies worldwide and triggered mass layoffs, which in turn made more people default on their bills, hurting credit card issuers.



AmEx said its consolidated loss provisions stood at $1.6 billion, up from $861 million a year ago, with the increase driven primarily by new reserves created to account for the effects of the pandemic.



JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/JPM.N">JPM.N</a>) and Citigroup (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/C.N">C.N</a>), which are among the largest credit card issuers in the world, have created about $18 billion in provisions for potential credit losses.



U.S. consumer spending suffered its sharpest ever drop in April after stay-at-home orders shut down large parts of the economy, but it rebounded in May and June as businesses started to reopen.



Spending by customers using AmEx cards during the quarter dropped 34% to $205.1 billion, with overseas markets down 38% and spending in the United States down 32%.



Net income fell to $257 million, or 29 cents per share, in the second-quarter ended June 30, from $1.76 billion, or $2.07 per share, a year earlier.



Analysts on average expected a loss 11 cents per share, according to IBES estimates from Refinitiv.



Total revenue, excluding interest expense, fell 29.2% to $7.67 billion, a steeper drop than a 24.8% decline forecast by analysts.

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Newsletter

Amplats profit falls as COVID-19 shutdowns weigh, sees H2 output recovery

Botswana retailer Choppies stock resumes trading after 20-month suspension

Gold surges to record high as dollar slips, Sino-U.S. row worsens

Economic pitfalls risk cooling Egypt’s hot money inflows

Amplats H1 earnings fall as pandemic and closure of processing facilities weigh

Gold hits record high, stocks mixed as U.S.-China ties worsen

S.Africa’s Steinhoff proposes $1 bln settlement to solve legal disputes

Vacation trips, easing of travel rules fuel hopes of business jet rebound

Deposed Central African Republic leader announces presidential bid

South Africa extends COVID-19 loans for struggling businesses

One person shot, killed during Black Lives Matter protest in Texas

Kenya arrests two police after ‘shooting incident’, launches enquiry

Seattle Black Lives Matter clashes spark 45 arrests, 21 police injured

Record numbers of coronavirus cases in every global region: Reuters tally

Eswatini central bank cuts base rate 25bps to 3.75%

The wealthy Republicans who want to oust Trump in November’s election

AmEx profit tumbles 85% as pandemic-related defaults loom

News Tips

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