Global stocks sank Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with talks that are aimed at averting a trade war with China. Equities were also dented by poor eurozone economic data, and as Trump cast doubt on a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Trump (is) continuing to drive uncertainty over global trade,” said analyst Joshua Mahony at trading firm IG. “European markets are following their Asian counterparts lower, as a pessimistic tone from Trump is compounded by downbeat economic data,” he added. Markets had surged Monday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said they had agreed to pull back from imposing threatened tariffs on billions of dollars of goods, and continue talks on a variety of trade issues. However, Trump has declared that he was “not satisfied” with the status of the talks, fuelling worries that the world’s top two economies could still slug out an economically pain
Zimbabwe’s main state hospitals turned away many patients and only attended to emergency cases on Wednesday as a strike by doctors escalated.
The strike, which seek to pressure the government for salary increases and address drugs shortages in hospitals, has spread since starting two weeks ago among junior doctors.
“We will only return to work when all issues raised have been fully resolved,” the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) said in a statement.
“We note with concern the closure of almost all central hospitals, children’s units, provincial hospitals and cessation of emergency life-saving procedures throughout the country.”
On Wednesday, senior doctors joined the strike, stoking fears of loss of lives.
Labour unrest could pose a test for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who came to power in November after the fall of Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa has vowed to revive the economy and boost investment, after public sector strikes were a regular feature of Mugabe’s rule due to delayed payment of salaries.
“My brother had an appointment for a review for his broken arm, but the doctors are only attending to critical cases,” Sicelo Phahlane, said leaving Mpilo, the main state hospital in the second city of Bulawayo.
“This new government must address the doctors’ grievances urgently to save lives and show it has a different approach to issues from the previous one.”
A doctor at Mpilo, asking not to be named said: “We are not going back to work until the authorities address us.”
Zimbabwe’s economy has been on a downturn for nearly two decades and cash shortages have been experienced for more than a year with banks running out of banknotes.
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