Newspaper headlines from around the world - Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Here are the stories that made headlines on the front pages of newspapers worldwide on Wednesday, 2 July 2025. The New York Times front page reported that AI-generated content is beginning to undermine democracy. The Jerusalem Post's front page reported that Trump expects a Gaza truce to be reached by next week. China Daily's front page reported that Xi advances efforts to build a unified market. The Daily Mail's front page reported that a record 20 000 small-boat migrants had reached Britain in the first half of the year, raising concerns over Labour's handling of border security. The Guardian front page reported that the welfare bill passes as bruised PM backtracks to avert Labour revolt.
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an hour ago
- IOL News
AfDB slashes SA's growth forecast by half amid structural challenges, trade war concerns
The bank said priority actions should include enhancing governance and operational efficiency of State-Owned Enterprises, particularly of Eskom and rail, ports and pipelines operator Transnet, to restore service reliability and unlock growth. Image: Leon Lestrade/ Independent Newspapers The African Development Bank (AfDB) has drastically cut South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2025 below 1%, saying that the economy continued to be weighed down by a range of structural constraints and could take a hit from Trump's trade war. In its Country Focus Report for South Africa published on Wednesday, the AfDB lowered its forecast for Africa's most-industrialised economy to a meager 0.8% this year from a previous estimate of 1.6%. This forecast by the AfDB is more pessimistic than the National Treasury's growth forecast of 1.4% for the year, which was revised down from a prior 1.9% on the back of geopolitical tensions including Trump's trade levies. It is also less than the South African Reserve Bank's latest projection of 1.2% this year amid declining mining and manufacturing output and rising unemployment, though it is expected to rise to 1.8% by 2027. S&P Global also recently lowered its 2025 GDP growth projection for South Africa to 1.1% from 1.3% previously due to weaker-than-expected GDP print for the first quarter. AfDB country economist Akhona Peter said South Africa's economy was vulnerable to external shocks particularly from the United States, its second largest export destination after China. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The Trump administration is expected to implement its hefty 31 import tariffs on a number of exporting countries next week, including South Africa, which exports a variety of minerals and commodities to the US. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was not considering delaying implementing the tariffs again after he temporarily suspended them for 90 days in April. 'This is mainly on the fact that we expect trade tensions to pretty much affect net exports negatively,' Peter said. 'Industries such as agriculture, which rely heavily on US market access, will be particularly vulnerable. In the short-term, this could slow economic activity, decrease firm profitability, and constrain job creation in export-linked industries.' The South African government is keen to ensure that the new requirements by the US do not unduly disadvantage local enterprises, hence the appeal for strategic patience from the South African industry. South Africa's proposed Framework Deal, which was submitted to the US Trade Representative in May, aims to tackle a range of US concerns including non-tariff barriers and longstanding market access issues. It seeks specific exemptions from Sections 232 duties for key export products such as automobiles, auto parts, steel, and aluminium, ensuring these critical sectors can remain competitive in the US market. Meanwhile, the AfDB recommended that the South African government should accelerate structural reforms to offset global challenges. The bank said priority actions should include enhancing governance and operational efficiency of State-Owned Enterprises, particularly of Eskom and rail, ports and pipelines operator Transnet, to restore service reliability and unlock growth. It also called for strengthening local government capacity, addressing spatial inequality, advancing digital government, promoting public-private partnerships (PPPs), and reducing wasteful expenditure through fiscal consolidation are also essential to improve service delivery and public trust. 'To accelerate domestic capital mobilization, reforms must focus on improving governance, enhancing institutional effectiveness, and fostering transparency and accountability. At the same time, promoting industrialization, deepening trade and investment, and building a competitive export base can drive higher growth and employment,' recommended the report. 'Tackling youth unemployment requires focused skills development and capacity building initiatives, aligned with labor market demands, to take full advantage of the country's human capital. 'Trade needs to be diversified under AfCFTA and into new Asian markets. Lastly, improving the business environment by cutting red tape, ensuring fair market access for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and increasing labor market flexibility will support entrepreneurship, firm growth, and job creation — essential ingredients for sustainable economic transformation.' BUSINESS REPORT
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
Bring back the cane? Groenewald sparks debate with corporal punishment call
Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald stresses protecting vulnerable communities, especially women and children, by tightening parole approvals and urges honest dialogue on crime solutions, including revisiting corporal punishment despite its ban since 1996. Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald has put forward the suggestion of corporal punishment to be reintroduced as part of the national debate on crime and justice reform in South Africa. Speaking during his budget vote debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Groenewald laid bare the depth of the crisis facing the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), pointing to overcrowded prisons, deteriorating infrastructure, and a strained parole system. Groenewald turned to a controversial but deliberate proposal: the reinstatement of corporal punishment. 'We must start a debate to say, shouldn't we bring back corporal punishment?' he said. Groenewald's proposal comes despite corporal punishment having been outlawed in South African schools since 1996, with subsequent legal rulings extending the ban to the home. Groenewald tied this call to broader concerns about the effectiveness of the criminal justice system, especially about violent crime and gender-based violence. He highlighted the need for honest conversation around crime deterrence, particularly given the limitations of the current correctional model. Groenewald described a prison system under intense strain, housing over 104,000 sentenced offenders with facilities designed for 108,000 inmates, and an additional 60,000 remand detainees, many of whom are in jail simply because they cannot afford bail.
eNCA
an hour ago
- eNCA
Trump tax bill stalled by Republican rebellion in Congress
US - Republican leaders in the US Congress delayed a key vote for hours on Donald Trump's signature tax and spending bill Wednesday as they scrambled to win over a group of rebels threatening to torpedo the centerpiece of the president's domestic agenda. Trump is seeking final approval in the House of Representatives for his Senate-passed "One Big Beautiful Bill" - but faces opposition on all sides of his fractious party over provisions set to balloon the national debt while launching a historic assault on the social safety net. House Speaker Mike Johnson told lawmakers to return to their offices, holding open a series of afternoon procedural votes required before final approval for more than three hours after it was first called - with no sign of the stalemate breaking. Meanwhile his lieutenants huddled in tense meetings with holdouts behind the scenes. "We're going to get there tonight. We're working on it and very, very positive about our progress," Johnson told reporters at the Capitol, according to Politico. Originally approved by the House in May, the bill squeezed through the Senate on Tuesday by a solitary vote but had to return to the lower chamber Wednesday for a rubber stamp of the Senate's revisions. AFP | Drew ANGERER "This bill is President Trump's agenda, and we are making it law," Johnson said in a determined statement, projecting confidence that Republicans were "ready to finish the job." The package honors many of Trump's campaign promises, boosting military spending, funding a mass migrant deportation drive and committing $4.5 trillion to extend his first-term tax relief. But it is expected to pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the country's fast-growing deficits, while forcing through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program since its 1960s launch. Fiscal hawks in the House, meanwhile, are chafing over spending cuts that they say fall short of what they were promised by hundreds of billions of dollars. Johnson has to negotiate incredibly tight margins, and can likely only lose three lawmakers among more than two dozen who have declared themselves open to rejecting the bill. - 'Abomination' - AFP | Jim WATSON Lawmakers were hoping to return from recess early Wednesday to begin voting straight away, although they have a cushion of two days before Trump's self-imposed July 4 deadline. The 887-page text only passed in the Senate after a flurry of tweaks that pulled the House-passed text further to the right. Republicans lost one conservative who was angry about adding to the country's $37 trillion debt burden and two moderates worried about almost $1 trillion in health care cuts. Some estimates put the total number of recipients set to lose their health insurance at 17 million, while scores of rural hospitals are expected to close. Meanwhile changes to federal nutrition assistance are set to strip millions of the poorest Americans of their access to the program. Johnson will be banking on Trump leaning on waverers, as he has in the past to turn around contentious House votes that were headed for failure. The president has spent weeks cajoling Republicans torn between angering welfare recipients at home and incurring his wrath. Trump pressured House Republicans to get the bill over the line in a private White House meeting with several holdouts on Wednesday. "Our Country will make a fortune this year, more than any of our competitors, but only if the Big, Beautiful Bill is PASSED!" he said in a Truth Social post. House Democrats have signaled that they plan to campaign on the bill to flip the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections, pointing to analyses showing that it represents a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest. "Shame on Senate Republicans for passing this disgusting abomination," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. By Frankie Taggart
