Category Archives: Business

Why Netflix is a lifeline for African film-makers

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The streaming giant’s ambitious initiative Made By Africa, Watched By the World is a welcome platform for the continent’s overlooked cinematic talent

‘Have you ever had someone tell your story, take your voice … and replace your face until no one else can see or hear you?” These are the powerful words that Nigerian actor/director Genevieve Nnaji speaks to introduce the Netflix initiative Made By Africa, Watched By the World. Mixing new, original content with older African classics that have not previously been streamed elsewhere, this initiative, much like Strong Black Lead (2018), aims to showcase content that centres black stories but – unlike Strong Black Lead – it will be by and about Africans. It creates a path for stories that specifically address different slices of the African experience to see the light of day and reach a wider audience. Considering that there’s a growing feeling among Africans that inaccurate representation on screen is a given, that’s a good thing for everyone.

So what does Made By Africa, Watched By the World give us? Netflix has purchased previously produced content and also produced its own, both TV shows and films. Kagiso Lediga and Pearl Thusi have followed up their 2018 romantic drama Catching Feelings with a TV show, Queen Sono, about an undercover spy, that premiered earlier this year. Nick Mutuma’s coming of age drama, Sincerely Daisy, is having its highly anticipated premiere on Friday, while other Kenyan films – Tosh Gitonga’s romcom Disconnect and Tom Whitworth’s Poacher – have also found a home on Netflix.

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‘We were a laughing stock’: Berlin airport finally finished as Covid bites

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Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport, €4bn over budget and nine years late, now has virus to contend with

Almost three decades after the plans were first mooted, over nine years behind schedule and more than €4bn (£3.6bn) over budget, Berlin’s new international airport is finally ready to open its doors.

But the already tortuous birth of Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport (BER) expected to open on 31 October, and once hailed as a celebration of the ambitious German reunification project, has only been compounded by the decision to unveil it in the middle of a pandemic.

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Australian budget reaction updates: Coalition punts on business for Covid recovery – politics live

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Josh Frydenberg’s budget relies on tax cuts and business incentives, but rests on some optimistic assumptions. Follow all the reaction and coronavirus news

Meanwhile, once upon a time

I know it is a bit much for her to be morally consistent but. https://t.co/jKpD1iHTu7 https://t.co/UmUUfDSMfe pic.twitter.com/U7WUbxPPXP

High from being retweeted and quoted by Donald Trump, who proved he had learned more about the seriousness of Covid by forcing public employees to drive him around in a sealed vehicle, and then removing his mask for a photo op, Miranda Devine continues to do Australia proud, making even a Fox News host raise an eyebrow

"It's incredibly selfish of older people or neurotic people who are timid & afraid & won't come out of their basements to confine children & young people to miss out on the most important part of their lives" - Fox News is now straight up blaming old & vulnerable people for Covid pic.twitter.com/mLhiwDHmrN

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EU court rules against Hungary over law that targeted Soros-affiliated university

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Billionaire philanthropist hails ‘victory’ but says court’s decision too late to save university’s presence in Budapest

The European Union’s highest court has ruled that changes by Hungary to its law on higher education, which effectively forced a university founded by George Soros to leave the country, were not in line with EU law.

The European court of justice (ECJ) ruled against prime minister Viktor Orbán’s government, saying in the ruling that “the conditions introduced by Hungary to enable foreign higher education institutions to carry out their activities in its territory are incompatible with EU law”.

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‘You’re left to rot if you speak up’: the abuse faced by female roadies

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For years, women who work on music tours have been patronised, denigrated and abused. But as the industry takes stock during the pandemic, change is hopefully coming

Sandwich-maker. Foot-rubber. Mother. Eye candy. Enabler. Subordinate. Weakling. Women and non-binary (NB) touring crew members have heard it all while working as managers, sound techs, drivers, engineers and other roles – and resistance is mounting as live gigs fitfully begin to return.

In 2018, sound engineer Chez Stock published a widely shared blog post detailing her experiences on tour with an unnamed major band, including allegations that the crew were offered bonuses if they could bring girls backstage for the band members and, on one occasion, being invited over the radio comms to take turns having sex with a drunk woman who had been brought into a dressing room.

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Commons rebellions expected at votes on curfew and rule of six

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Conservative and Labour MPs are unhappy with lack of evidence behind 10pm closing time

MPs could signal growing discontent with the government’s coronavirus restrictions at key votes on the regulations this week, amid growing calls for the government to publish the scientific advice behind the 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants in the UK.

Conservative and Labour MPs have signalled they could withdraw backing for implementing the rule of six regulation and the curfew at votes expected this week.

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Indonesia mass strikes loom over cuts to environmental safeguards and workers’ rights

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New law to boost investment is a ‘tragic miscalculation’, campaigners say, as unions plan strike action in protest

Indonesia has passed a wide-ranging bill that will weaken environmental protections and workers’ rights in an attempt to boost investment, a move condemned as a “tragic miscalculation” that could lead to “uncontrolled deforestation”.

Groups representing millions of workers said they would strike on Tuesday in response to protest against the bill, which will amend about 1,200 provisions in 79 existing laws after it was pushed through parliament with unprecedented speed. Police said that a permit for the protest had not been approved, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Credit Suisse apologises over black janitor act at chairman’s party

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Bank’s former chief executive reportedly walked out of room during act at party last year

A leading investment bank has apologised for “any offence caused” after it was reported that its black former chief executive left his chairman’s birthday party when a black performer dressed as a janitor danced on stage.

The New York Times reported that Tidjane Thiam, who ran Credit Suisse between 2015 and February this year, walked out of the room during the act at Urs Rohner’s 6oth birthday celebration.

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UK court overturns ruling on $1.8bn of Venezuelan gold

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Appeal court sets aside ruling that gold could not be released to Nicolás Maduro-backing bank

A battle for the control of more than $1.8bn worth of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England has swung in favour of the government of Nicolás Maduro after an appeals court in London overturned an earlier high court ruling concerning whom the UK recognised as Venezuela’s president.

The court of appeal granted an appeal by the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) and set aside July’s high court judgment, which had found that Britain’s recognition of the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the “constitutional interim president of Venezuela” meant the gold could not be released for the Maduro-backing bank.

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US police used British anti-riot gear at Black Lives Matter protests

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Revelation contradicts official assurance that no UK-made equipment was used to repress peaceful demonstrations

US law enforcement officers used British anti-riot gear to strike protesters during their controversial policing of Black Lives Matter demonstrations, despite assurances from the Conservative government that no UK-made equipment was used to repress peaceful protest.

Officers deployed at demonstrations in Washington DC hit protesters and in one case a journalist using shields made by the British-based firm DMS Plastics. Video and photographs suggest, and a lawsuit alleges, that officers charged at protesters, rather than acting in self-defence. US forces deny the allegations.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria reports nine new cases and Bondi beach to close as crowds reach capacity

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Victoria to return to staged face-to-face teaching next week; treasurer Josh Frydenberg promises a jobs-focused budget. Follow live

Here’s the latest case data from Victoria:

Three of today’s nine new cases have been linked to known outbreaks or are considered complex cases. These are linked to the Butcher’s Club Chadstone Shopping Centre outbreak, with single cases linked to Corrigan Produce Farms Clyde North and Coles Williamstown. The other six cases remain under investigation.

Anglicare is calling on the federal government to increase jobseeker and fund social housing projects in tomorrow’s budget announcements.

“A permanent boost to jobseeker will add billions of dollars to the economy and at least 145,000 full-time jobs. The benefits would go straight to the areas that need them most,” Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said in a statement.

Social housing will offer relief for the tens of thousands of people who are homeless in Australia. It also boosts GDP, and creates jobs in construction for the regions that need it most.

With the economy reeling in the wake of the coronavirus, we need to invest in projects that are shovel-ready. There is no time to waste. Social housing projects can get off the ground quickly – and they bring long-term benefits.

The fact is that one-off payments and tax cuts won’t help people out of poverty. And they won’t boost the economy. A jobseeker increase and social housing will do both.

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Creditors must wake up fast to threat of emerging market debt crisis

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Zambia could become the first country to default on its debts amid the fallout from Covid-19, but it won’t be the last

Zambia is running out of money to pay its debts. It has asked bondholders for breathing space so that it can put a restructuring plan in place. The copper-rich African state is at risk of being the first country to default on its debts since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Not the last though. Zambia is the canary in the coalmine, a harbinger of a full-blown crisis that has been lurking in the background from the moment the seriousness of Covid-19 became apparent.

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Summer spending boosted Britain but winter job cuts have yet to bite

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Reductions in government support as the original furlough scheme ends point towards a brutal round of redundancies

The UK economy continued its rapid rebound from the depths of the coronavirus lockdown in August, the latest official data on growth is expected to show on Friday, but many economists are braced for a grim winter as job losses mount.

The Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, predicted last week that GDP would be “only around 3-4% below its pre-Covid level” by the end of the third quarter, covering July to September.

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Pilot scheme: planes may be grounded but there’s work on Australia’s farms

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With the airline industry at a standstill and farmers desperate for workers, aviation staff are finding opportunities in a new field

The cabin of a harvester in the middle of a vast wheat field might be a strange place to find an airline pilot at work, but for Andrew King it all makes sense.

King worked as a passenger jet pilot for Hainan Airlines but has been on leave without pay since the pandemic hit in February.

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Fears for Obamacare if Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to supreme court

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Case due before court seeks to strike down landmark Affordable Care Act – which could leave millions of Americans adrift

This month, Congress is expected to begin confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s nominee for the supreme court, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, she could be the decisive vote in a case being heard days after the election, which seeks to strike down the landmark Affordable Care Act – a move that could leave millions of Americans without healthcare in the middle of a pandemic.

Related: Amy Coney Barrett: what will she mean for women's rights?

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records seven new cases as Queensland opens borders to NSW from 1 November

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The government will announce tax and deregulation measures on Friday, as declining Covid-19 cases offer hope for economic revival. Follow all today’s news

Labor’s Julie Collins has responded to the aged care royal commission’s Covid response report:

I am sure the public will have very little confidence that this government, or the minister, is up to implementing these recommendations by 1 December because what we have seen is that when it came to the royal commission’s interim report, very unusual of a royal commission to actually issue an interim report, the very first recommendation – the first one was to fix the home care wait list.

Here we are 12 months later, [and there are] still [more than] 100,000 older Australians waiting for home care.

Linda Burney was on ABC Queensland radio talking about the people the jobseeker changes were going to affect the most.

It’s your mum, your grandmother, or their friends.

The reduction in the jobseeker allowance is going to disproportionately affect older women, particularly women who are over 60.

And it’s very hard for those women to find a job because you face age discrimination. All those – all those issues, of course, that we are familiar with older people trying to get a job.

Related: 'It's degrading': Australians on the poverty line brace for pain after jobseeker cuts

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Nearly 14,000 Australians with disability made to live on $40 a day for 18 months before receiving pension

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People without a specific severe impairment who want to access disability payment are being forced to first do 1.5 years of job search

Nearly 14,000 people have now been forced to do 18 months of job search and survive on $40-a-day jobseeker benefits before they were finally granted the disability pension.

Under Gillard government-era changes aimed at reducing the welfare spend and increasing workforce participation, people without a specific severe impairment who want to access the disability payment must complete up to 18 months of job search within three years.

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How HSBC got caught in a geopolitical storm over Hong Kong security law

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Bank’s future remains uncertain as it finds itself under pressure from Beijing and Washington

HSBC has been a fixture of the Hong Kong economy for more than a century. However, its origins as a financial bridge between Asia and the west have placed it in the centre of a modern day geopolitical storm. Facing pressure to choose sides as Hong Kong is convulsed by the new security law imposed by Beijing and Donald Trump pursues a trade war with China, HSBC is in danger of finding itself without friends in either direction.

Headquartered in London, but dependent on Hong Kong and China for profits, HSBC has been affected by tensions between Washington and Beijing – and shareholder concern over its controversial acceptance of an authoritarian crackdown in its key market.

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Protests and Covid leave Hong Kong stuck in recession

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Political unrest hit tourism and retail, and coronavirus response has delayed recovery

Hong Kong’s economy was already in recession when the pandemic hit in January. Six months of running battles between pro-democracy campaigners and local government had deterred many of the visitors who fuel the lucrative tourism industry, while the threat of violence on the streets and closures of shops had sent retail sales down nearly a quarter on the previous year.

With much of Asia shut down by coronavirus restrictions during the winter months, there was little expectation of a recovery until the spring, when the level of infections fell to almost zero across mainland China and most of the rest of the region, and the measures could be eased.

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Walt Disney sheds 28,000 jobs at theme parks as pandemic bites

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  • Company blames limited attendance at reopened parks
  • Disney posted $4.72bn loss in second quarter

Walt Disney announced it was laying off 28,000 employees from its theme park business on Tuesday, the latest company to announce huge jobs cuts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The entertainment company blamed limited attendance at the theme parks it has reopened and the continuing closure of others for the “difficult decision”.

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