Xiaomi signals turnaround ahead as Q2 profit drops 43 percent on component costs

Xiaomi signals turnaround ahead as Q2 profit drops 43 percent on component costs

Xiaomi announced that the heaviest pressures on its smartphone business have likely passed, even as second-quarter earnings missed analyst projections due to elevated component prices. High memory costs severely squeezed margins across its mobile division, but management expects cost inflation to temper throughout the second half of the year as its fast-growing electric vehicle (EV)…

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Trump bemoans Fed interest rate policy, says U.S. should be paying much less

Trump bemoans Fed interest rate policy, says U.S. should be paying much less

President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a meeting with cryptocurrency executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Aug. 19, 2026. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed frustration that the Federal Reserve isn’t cutting interest rates, insisting that solid economic data shouldn’t stop the central…

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The U6 GHz decision: A foundation for SA’s digital trajectory

The U6 GHz decision: A foundation for SA’s digital trajectory

South Africa’s digital trajectory gets a boost with U6 GHz spectrum allocation. On 24 July 2026, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) published the National Radio Frequency Plan 2026 (NRFP 2026), formally allocating the full U6 GHz band, 6 425MHz-7 125MHz, for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) use. This decision, which incorporates 700MHz of…

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Africa: Millions of Africans Are Displaced Without Crossing a Border – and Their Needs Are Often Overlooked

Africa: Millions of Africans Are Displaced Without Crossing a Border – and Their Needs Are Often Overlooked

The eruption of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in May 2026 sparked a major crisis. Transmissions and deaths are skyrocketing, and no vaccine is currently available. This virus is notably prevalent in settlements and communities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and communities. This happened too…

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Africa: Millions of Africans Are Displaced Without Crossing a Border – and Their Needs Are Often Overlooked

Africa: The Soil’s Early Warning System – Microbes Can Predict Desertification Before Plants Start to Die

Microbial ecology (the study of how tiny microbes interact with each other and their environment) underpins the health of every ecosystem on Earth. The microbes living in soil recycle nutrients, support plant growth and help ecosystems respond to environmental change. In this explainer, microbial ecologist Marc Van Goethem tells us why microbes are critical to…

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WhatsApp’s free lunch ends on 1 October

WhatsApp’s free lunch ends on 1 October

Meta will start charging South African businesses for the replies they send customers on WhatsApp from 1 October, ending an exemption that has made customer service on the platform free since November 2024 – but with six weeks to go, it has not said what those replies will cost. The charge applies to service messages…

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Africa: World Humanitarian Day 2026 – Aid Workers Under Fire As Armed Drones Transform War-Making

Africa: World Humanitarian Day 2026 – Aid Workers Under Fire As Armed Drones Transform War-Making

(Geneva/New York, 19 August 2026): 2025 set another grim record for violence against aid workers, with 907 colleagues killed, injured or kidnapped, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today on World Humanitarian Day. While the death toll decreased slightly to 350 last year, the overall level of violence did not ease:…

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