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2 hours agoChristine Law,Technology ReporterGetty ImagesHot tubs are standard at many holiday parksSome people criticize Severin Borenstein for having a hot tub.”Typically, the criticism of owning a hot tub is that it's a waste of energy,” he says.The main reason for the high energy consumption is that the heater is running on days when the hot tub is not in use to keep the water from getting too cold.Professor Borenstein studies energy economics at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, so he was able to take a closer look at the numbers for his own…

3 hours agoEssilt Carr,Business reporter, LondonPost Office lawyer Jane MacLeod questioned about failure to attend inquiryA woman who was the Post Office's most senior in-house lawyer when it fought a landmark court case brought by Alan Bates and other sub-postmasters has been challenged by BBC News in Australia for refusing to attend hearings into the Horizon scandal.The BBC interviewed Jane MacLeod, who served as general counsel for the Post Office from 2015 to 2019, as she was walking her dog outside her Sydney home.She replied “no comment” when asked why she wasn't appearing. She was scheduled to testify this week.”It's…

(Wittaya Prasongsingh/Getty Images) The dollar fell to a three-week low on Monday after data showed the U.S. economy was slowing on weaker-than-expected manufacturing and construction spending and raised the prospect of the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates later this year.Sean Mallison, senior market analyst at IG Markets, said the rand benefited from a weaker dollar, rising 1.4 percent and also managed to claw back some of its recent losses as the dust from the local elections began to settle.”The rand's recovery from oversold conditions is the result of coalition talks and may signal optimism that a more conservative,…

Snow, rain and strong winds continue to bring winter chill to much of the country. (Marta Fernandez/Getty Images) The South African Weather Service is predicting cold, wet and windy weather across several provinces, with snow, rain and strong winds.Impact-Based WarningsAn orange level 6 alert has been issued for the north-eastern highlands of the Eastern Cape as heavy snowfall has damaged livestock and crops and left some communities inaccessible.Heavy snowfall is expected to cause icy roads and traffic disruptions in the northern highlands of the Eastern Cape, leading to a level 2 amber warning.A level 4 amber warning for heavy rainfall…

De Beers is abandoning a controversial experiment to sell lab-grown diamond jewelry, ending a six-year plan that broke one of the company's oldest taboos. The company has had the technology to produce synthetic gemstones for many years, but has always refused to sell them as jewelry for fear that they would diminish the appeal of natural stones. But as man-made stones have grown in popularity and begun to compete directly with natural diamonds, De Beers launched its own jewelry brand in 2018.The company introduced Lightbox, selling synthetic diamonds at significantly lower prices than rival producers, in a bid to drive…

Reading Time: 2 MinutesA judgement has been reserved on an urgent application brought by expelled Umkhonto weSizwe party founder Jabulani Khumalo. Lawyers representing former president Jacob Zuma and his MK party argued that the urgent application filed by Khumalo did not meet the statutory requirements for the matter to be brought on an urgent basis. However, there are requirements that the parties must meet in an emergency application, including that the applicant must convince the court that they have a legal right which should be protected, that they will suffer irreparable harm if the court does not intervene in the…

Plans for greater vaccine autonomy are gaining momentum as the continent seeks to reduce reliance on foreign companies, which supply about 80% of the medicines and 99% of the vaccines used in the region, according to Aspen Pharmacare Holdings. “The establishment of strong domestic industries in Africa will ensure sufficient supplies of critical therapeutic drugs,” Stavros Nikolaou, head of strategic trade at Aspen, said on Monday after talks at a regional health conference in Egypt. The Durban, South Africa-based company has already signed a deal with India's Serum Institute to manufacture and distribute four of its Aspen-branded vaccines in Africa,…

MK leader Jacob Zuma claims the formation of the party was his idea. (Alfonso Nkunjana/News24) Jacob Zuma said his party would be a “big problem” for the IEC..Zuma claimed, without providing any evidence, that his party had won national and provincial elections.Find out everything you need to know about the 2024 general election in News24's elections hub.Mkhonto weSizwe leader Jacob Zuma told the IEC that he “doesn't know what kind of party it is” and warned that he would take “unprecedented action” – namely, file a complaint against the electoral body.Addressing party members outside the Electoral Tribunal of the Gauteng…

Reading Time: 3 MinutesPolitical analyst Enock Maponya said the current electoral system makes it difficult for independents to win elections. All 11 independents who ran in this year's general election failed to win any seats in state or legislative assemblies. The Electoral Law Amendment Bill, signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year, allows individuals to stand in general elections as independent candidates. Former welterweight boxing champion Lovemore Ndu was also among the contenders, having initially committed to competing at the national level before dropping his focus to Limpopo. Ndu won just over 500 votes in the hotly contested 2024 general…

Asked by MK leader Jacob Zuma. (Delwyn Velassamy/M&G) Lawyers for Jabulani Khumalo, the founder of the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party who has already been expelled from the organisation, claimed on Monday that a forged letter claiming that Jacob Zuma was the party's leader had been sent to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). The matter was heard by the Electoral Tribunal of the Johannesburg High Court after Khumalo filed an urgent application to be reinstated as MK leader. According to court documents filed by Khumalo's lawyers, Khumalo wrote to the Electoral Commission on April 9 informing them that Zuma's…