South Africa slips into recession

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, is warning that this year will be tougher than the last and that the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and higher interest rates will weigh heavily on the global economy. She expects the EU to be particularly hard hit, with half of its members seeing declines in growth.

The global economy is at an inflection point. The IMF projects that a third of the world economy will be in recession next year. War in Europe, a slowdown in China and soaring inflation have contributed to widespread pessimism around a growing, multifaceted economic crisis.

The EU's Economic Commissioner said the bloc had encouraging economic news and may avoid a much-feared deep recession in 2023.

Eight-year-old Bengal tiger Sheba was euthanized early Wednesday morning - after she escaped an enclosure in a private home in Johannesburg last week. Police spent days tracking her down.

Gloomy economic forecasts have cast a long shadow over this year's event in the Swiss Alps. But Georgieva said that although the IMF projects 2023 to be "a difficult year" and for growth to fall further, "we don't expect a global recession". She cited resilient labour markets and consumer spending, the post-Covid reopening of China and signs of inflation trending downwards.

South Africa said on Monday it was "friends" with Russia, as it hosted Russia's top diplomat for a visit that has sparked criticism against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.

The German economy is withstanding the aftershock of the Ukraine war better than prior projections showed.

Thousands turn out to opposition-organised protests in South Africa to express deepening frustration over the country's power crisis. Also, in a rare trial of a former president, ex-Mauritanian leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appears in court on corruption charges.

Thousands turn out to opposition-organised protests in South Africa to express deepening frustration over the country's power crisis. Also, in a rare trial of a former president, ex-Mauritanian leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appears in court on corruption charges. Finally, faced with about 15,000 tonnes of "e-waste" dumped in landfills every year, Rwanda is focusing more resources on recycling old smartphones.

Police are searching for two gunmen who opened fire on guests at a birthday party in Gqeberha. There has been a growing number of mass shootings in South Africa in recent years.

The International Monetary Fund has given a brighter outlook in its latest report than in October, predicting that inflation will slow. It said that European economies had shown more resilience than expected.

Economic output grew by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2022 compared with the previous quarter, according to an early estimate.