The head of the International Monetary Fund said Friday that previous estimates for the world economy to contract by three percent this year were too optimistic.

SA faces its gravest test in over 70 years, to rebuild an economy that was already in a protracted slump after the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, one could be forgiven for believing there's a wedge between the state's main actors tasked with the job of resurrecting a country that may see its jobless rate rise as high as 50%.

Canada shed three million jobs in the last two months due to the coronavirus lockdown, causing the unemployment rate to shoot up to 13% in April, the government reported Friday.

Once the coronavirus pandemic is over, the tourism industry will probably find that older, more affluent travellers are more hesitant to do so.

It’s been a nerve-wracking few years for the traditional auto industry. One Silicon Valley VC firm speculates on its future in an interview with Bloomberg.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that institutional investors in South Africa and across the globe are starting to take their ownership rights more seriously.

The Black Business Council stood by Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane and South Africa's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment policy.

For me, art galleries have always provided shelter from the storm. The tempest in question might be a literal one, such as Storm Dennis, who buffeted us all from on high last weekend, or it could simply be a sudden squall in the mind. Art in all forms can take us out of ourselves – even if it's for a split-second – and recalibrate the mind.

New Contemporaries is in its 12th year now, an annual showing of the Royal Scottish Academy’s pick of graduates from the previous year’s degree shows. A wonderful opportunity for the young artists themselves – this is a prestigious exhibition and a prestigious venue to put on one’s CV – it is also a handy shortcut for anyone who wants to get a snapshot of the kind of work coming out of our art colleges at the moment.

Celebrated artist and wood sculptor, Tim Stead, may be best known for public works such as the Millennium Clock in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, the furniture in Glasgow's Cafe Gandolfi and the North Sea Oil Industries Memorial Chapel in Aberdeen, but his masterpiece is closer to home.

The contemporary art space Cample Line has been set up amongst the fields and agricultural vistas of Dumfriesshire for three years now. Occupying what was once a set of three single-storey mill workers cottages, before it was knocked through and given a second storey in the Victorian period, it will open for the 2020 season later this month with a somewhat aptly themed exhibition – “Acts for placing woollen and linen” - by the American conceptual artist Helen Mirra, whose strong socio-envi

For three decades now, the artist and playwright John Byrne has been sitting regularly for photographer David Eustace, the Glasgow-born photographer who left school at 16 and joined first the navy and then the prison service before settling on a career behind a camera.

The Herald, in proud partnership with Royal Bank of Scotland, is inviting the country's photographers to enter their most accomplished work in a new competition which celebrates the launch of a stunning new £20 banknote design.

Lorraine Wilson

I have touched Billy Connolly's coattails with the best of them so I know what it is like to have a brush with stardom. This brief encounter with the Big Yin's coat of many colours happened the night before the opening his new exhibition, Born on a Rainy Day, opened at Glasgow's Castle Fine Art gallery.

OF course, it’s a ridiculous idea. The 10 best Scottish paintings. As if anyone could choose. But if you take the folly of it as read, well, then, why not? See it as a game. A declaration of taste and bias, prejudice and ignorance and, more than likely, stupidity. Something to argue with at the very least. A list to incite your own counterblast.

By John-Paul Holden

Under a fifth of South Africans over the age of 60 are receiving private pensions, a new report has shown.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority warns the public not to conduct financial services business with Masibekele Funeral Parlour and MISI Burial Society.

A Fin24 reader nearing retirement wants to know if he can access his retirement annuity now while still employed or only after officially retiring.

Are you in your twenties and wonder how you can use the current market crash caused by fears related to the coronavirus pandemic as a way to get into the investment market?

A health expert discusses what late joiner penalties are and how to avoid them.

Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni has announced a number of "exceptional tax measures as part of the fiscal package outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Experts say if you can afford to continue repaying your debts, resist the temptation to take a payment holiday, even if you qualify for the relief.

Due to the spreading coronavirus pandemic and compounded by the lockdown, more South Africans have chosen to or have been forced to work from home.

There has been a distinct trend of consolidation among private medical schemes in South Africa, according to an actuarial specialist at Alexander Forbes.

A Fin24 reader under debt consolidation is left with less than R3 000 per month, finding it impossible to make ends meet. A finance expert responds.

A Fin24 reader currently under debt wants to know how lockdown will affect his monthly debt repayment order.

A South African working abroad, able to save R36 000 per month, hopeful that he will continue these earnings, seeks the best investment strategy. Investment expert Elian Wiener responds.

A Fin24 reader who bought a property in December 2019 sent his registration papers off just before the lockdown was announced, which was unfortunately too late. A property law expert responds.

If you contracted the coronavirus at work, you may be able to claim for temporary or permanent disability, depending on how you were affected - but you will have to prove that you did, in fact, become ill at work.

A Fin24 reader heading into retirement seeks the opinion of an expert on investing during the uncertainty of Covid-19.

Due to markets and festivals closing until the end of June, a Fin24 reader will have no source of income and wants to know if there will be a payment holiday period. A debt expert responds.

A Fin24 reader whose son is a student at Stellenbosch University and stays at a private residence near the campus wants to know what his options are in requesting a rental payment holiday.

Investment consultant, Andre Tuck, tackles the question of investment strategy.

9 January 2012This briefing details the development of the Agricultural Holdings (Amendment)(Scotland) Bill and the changes proposed by the Bill.

25 June 2007This briefing provides information on the legislative framework for promoting tourism in Scotland, describes the main organisations supporting tourism, provides statistical information and summarises Executive policies.

28 October 2009Restructuring announcements by large companies within the Scotch Whisky industry over the summer of 2009 have brought the industry under the public and political spotlight.

2 June 2011This briefing provides information on the legislative framework for promoting tourism in Scotland, describes the main organisations supporting tourism, provides key statistics, and summarises Scottish Government policies.

6 December 2011This briefing highlights some of the important issues in the December 2011 fisheries negotiations at which decisions on fishing quotas and limits on fishing time will be made for 2012.

16 May 2013The Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 27 March 2013. This briefing provides background information on existing regulatory regimes, and the introduction of the Bill.

24 October 2013The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill aims to establish a national legislative framework for public procurement in Scotland. This Briefing sets out the background to the Bill and summarises its main provisions.

This briefing outlines the nature and purpose of non-domestic (business) rates in Scotland and analyses the most recent data on businesses and revenues from business rates.

13 January 2013This briefing provides a summary of the parliamentary scrutiny of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Bill prior to Stage 3 proceedings which are scheduled to take place on 16 January 2014.

24 April 2014This briefing is produced to assist the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee in their inquiry into Scotland’s Economic Future Post-2014.

8 May 2014This briefing summarises Stage 1 and Stage 2 consideration of the Procurement (Reform) (Scotland) Bill, introduced in the Parliament on 3rd October 2013.

17 June 2015This briefing provides information on non-domestic rates and analyses the most recent data on revenues from these rates.

03 November 2016 This briefing analyses the characteristics of EU nationals living in Scotland, based on the 2015 Annual Population Survey. The briefing also reviews evidence relating to the economic contribution of migrants.

Just like grocery stores offer free food samples, technology companies, such as VoiceThread, offer free accounts for educators who want to try their products.

Digital curricula repositories are helping to fill the growing need for more and better multimedia content.