Permanently-drawn curtains on the city’s empty luxury high-rises and dust gathering over shuttered storefronts in the Beirut Souks mall offer a glimpse of the economic gloom gathering over one of the world’s most indebted countries.

Finance ministers meeting in Brussels will try to push forward a legislative proposal for a levy on the European sales of companies with a global annual revenue of $853m or more, such as Facebook, Alphabet and Amazon.

President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping will sit down for a highly anticipated dinner with investors and allies eager for a truce in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Indonesia was rattled by more than 11 500 earthquakes last year, almost double the annual average of the past decade, according to the nation’s meteorological agency.

Penn State and the Palmer Museum of Art mourn the loss of dear friend, generous donor, and loyal champion John P. Driscoll, who died from complications due to COVID-19 on Friday, April 10. Driscoll, owner of Driscoll Babcock Galleries in New York, was a longtime friend and supporter of the Palmer Museum and will be remembered for his role as a leader, gracious mentor and trusted adviser, as well as for the expansive gifts he made to the collection and to his alma mater, Penn State.

Stuckeman School graduate student Debora Verniz, who is a doctoral candidate in architecture, has been awarded the 2020 Alumni Association Dissertation Award from the Graduate School at Penn State for her research work in planning affordable housing structures in low-income areas.

Unable to host their senior capstone showcase as an on-campus celebration of their work with family and friends in attendance, graduating students in the Graphic Design undergraduate program in the Stuckeman School at Penn State are turning to Instagram to highlight their design work in a creative way to an even larger potential audience during the week of May 4-8.

The Institutes of Energy and the Environment, in collaboration with Stewarding Our Planet's Resources, announced two separate community forums aimed at providing reports on existing energy and environmental activities and strategic opportunities as well as soliciting community input and recommendations for the future.

A studio course for architecture and landscape architecture students in the Stuckeman School prepares students for the collaborative design process they will take part in once they begin careers in their respective fields by blurring the boundaries between the disciplines in the college setting.

A virtual Senior Week, the first "We Are Penn State Virtual 5K" and the College of Engineering's Learning Factory Capstone Design Showcase are among the virtual highlights at Penn State this weekend and next week.

Capital structure, or the DNAs of different sectors differ substantially.

JSE: Few listings, several delistings.

There's something distinctly un-sexy about the BFA Index by sector.

The McGregor BFA table showed surprising ‘all-rounder’ listings in the top 30 rankings.

Putting the 'p' in EPS.

Belarus. Summary report on the multilateral assessment of Belarus at the forty-seventh session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation. Note by the secretariat.

Malta. Report on the individual review of the annual submission of Malta submitted in 2017. Note by the expert review team.

Report of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol on its thirteenth session, held in Bonn from 6 to 18 November 2017. Part one: Proceedings

Report of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement on the second part of its first session, held in Bonn from 6 to 18 November 2017

Report of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol on its thirteenth session, held in Bonn from 6 to 18 November 2017. Addendum. Part two: Action taken by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol at its thirteenth session

Initial draft of the technology framework. Informal document by the Chair

Informal document containing the draft elements of the draft decision on the work programme under the framework for non-market approaches referred to in Article 6, paragraph 8, of the Paris Agreement. Informal document by the Chair.

Informal document containing the draft elements of the rules, modalities and procedures for the mechanism established by Article 6, paragraph 4, of the Paris Agreement. Informal document by the Chair.

Informal document containing the draft elements of guidance on cooperative approaches referred to in Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement. Informal document by the Chair.

Draft elements of the modalities, work programme and functions of the forum on the impact of the implementation of response measures under the Paris Agreement . Informal document by the Chairs.

Monaco. Report on the individual review of the annual submission of Monaco submitted in 2017. Note by the expert review team.

Monaco. Report on the review of the report to facilitate the calculation of the assigned amount for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol of Monaco.

Cambodia. Report of the technical assessment of the proposed forest reference level of Cambodia submitted in 2017.

Allon Raiz is CEO of business incubator Raizcorp. In this series of articles, he offers entrepreneurs advice on surviving a crisis.

Banks can be as powerful and valued as the big technology firms. Yes, those trillion-dollar titans.

Stokvels are an important strategy for financial survival, so it's crucial to find a way to make them work during the pandemic, says Dr Norman Chivasa.

Now, more than ever, we need to be listening for market signals and ensuring that our businesses are primed to both take advantage of opportunities and to mitigate risks, says Allon Raiz.

For companies to survive and even thrive beyond the coronavirus pandemic, they’re going to have think more like the millennial generation, says Dr Anushka Bogdanov.

Authorities unable or unwilling to face up to a reality that might reveal their own shortcomings and ineptitude, usually resort to pinpointing a scapegoat. This year, Covid-19 fits that bill, says Terry Bell.

There’s always been massive inequality in South Africa, but those who have the money and power still aren’t getting it, says Carmen Williams.

As editor Wilhelm Crous puts it, "We haven't seen this movie before."

The future choices made by airlines matter a great deal for the oil market, say Liam Denning and Brooke Sutherland.

The furore surrounding the arrival of over 200 Cuban medical doctors in South Africa to fight the coronavirus has highlighted a failure on the part of the SA government to explain the nature and drivers of our country’s relationship with Cuba, says Mills Soko.

For the first time in 130 years, there will be no rallies and marches to celebrate what began as a campaign for an eight-hour working day.

Handyman Vincenzo Perugia walked out of the Louvre with a rolled-up painting under his smock. What ensured should be a lesson to us all, says Hannes Viljoen.

Where businesses are fighting to survive, agility is the name of the game, says Mignon Reynecke.

Read an extract from business author and coach Douglas Kruger's latest book, Virus-proof your small business.

Strategic partnerships could be used to create win-win outcomes, says Sifiso Skenjana.

To history buffs, the Covid-19 pandemic must seem eerily familiar, says Noah Smith.

A team of social media analysts at an SA business school is tracking misinformation, disinformation, distortion and lies online.

Government went to war against Covid-19 with very low supplies in citizen trust and financial reserves, says Solly Moeng.

Argentina is a case study in what happens when an economy already on its knees implements an aggressive lockdown, says Mac Margolis.

Our economy is in deep trouble, from whichever perspective you look at it. The economic battering taken by economically strong countries is frightening, leaving us in South Africa to fear the worst.

Even before the recent news of the season’s first confirmed spotted lanternfly hatches in the Philadelphia region, homeowners in many parts of Pennsylvania were gearing up for their annual battle with the destructive pest.

Trees, shrubs and woody vines are among the top food sources for honey bees in urban environments, according to an international team of researchers. By using honey bees housed in rooftop apiaries in Philadelphia, the researchers identified the plant species from which the honey bees collected most of their food, and tracked how these food resources changed from spring to fall. The findings may be useful to homeowners, beekeepers and urban land managers who wish to sustain honey bees and other bee and pollinator species.