The local bourse had managed to open firmer following a rally in Asian stocks in earlier trading.

Stock markets plunged on Thursday after economic growth data confirmed fears of Covid-19's bruising impact on the world economy.

Swiss refiner Valcambi SA tried for five straight days last month to move a shipment of gold out of Hong Kong. Twice the metal was packed carefully onto a plane, only to be offloaded again.

Deep losses were recorded across most European benchmarks except the FTSE 100 which managed to trade relatively flat on the day.

On the currency market, the rand traded softer against the greenback as it slipped to a session low of R18.77/$.

Still, there was disappointment in terms of economic data following the release of the SACCI Business Confidence index data for April which came in at 77.8, compared to a forecast of 89.2.

Oil headed for its first back-to-back weekly gain since February as output cuts from the biggest producers and a nascent recovery in demand began to rebalance a market awash with crude.

Around the world, education is the largest recipient of philanthropic giving by a large margin, but in the United States, funders are moving away from investing in K-12 schools in favor of early childhood and higher education.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Antibiotic therapy is often prescribed for suspected community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children despite a lack of knowledge of causative pathogen. Our objective in this study was to investigate the association between antibiotic prescription and treatment failure in children with suspected CAP who are discharged from the hospital emergency department (ED).

BACKGROUND:

For children who cannot be discharged from the emergency department, definitive care has become less frequent at most hospitals. It is uncertain whether this is true for common conditions that do not require specialty care. We sought to determine how the likelihood of definitive care has changed for 3 common pediatric conditions: asthma, croup, and gastroenteritis.

BACKGROUND:

The association of dietary fat distribution with markers of subclinical atherosclerosis during early life is unknown. We examined whether success in achieving the main target of an infancy-onset dietary intervention based on the distribution of dietary fat was associated with aortic and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and distensibility from childhood to young adulthood.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Children with medical complexity (CMC) comprise only 6% of the pediatric population, account for ~40% of pediatric health care spending, and provide an important opportunity for cost saving. Savings in this group can have an important impact on pediatric health care costs. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a multicenter care management program on spending and use in CMC.

BACKGROUND:

Elevated non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are used to identify children at increased cardiovascular risk, but the use of non–HDL-C in childhood to predict atherosclerosis is unclear. We examined whether the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute classification of youth non–HDL-C status predicts high common carotid artery intima-media thickness in adulthood.

Although it's pricey, the intuitive Salesforce Pardot offers standout features, making it a leader among today's marketing automation platforms.

Players who provide excellent value for money are a key component of successful Fantasy sides; check out our suggestions.

The UEFA Champions League is back and UEFA.com are here to guide #UCLfantasy managers through the first legs of the round of 16.

Ahead of Matchday 7, UEFA.com looks at some obvious selections and some lesser-owned options.

Two Erling Braut Haaland strikes have given Dortmund an advantage to take to Paris, although Neymar's away goal could prove crucial.

Antoine Griezmann's first-leg away goal has given Barcelona an advantage after the game in Naples finished 1-1.

Erling Braut Haaland and Robert Lewandowski continued to hit the net, although injury means the latter is likely to miss the second leg.

Jose, an Argentinian worker serving in Southeast Asia, tells of how he entered overseas service and what he has seen God do through his not-so-typical ministry.

An Albanian man's heart is forever changed after suffering a heart attack and meeting Jesus in his recuperation.

For years, Gustavo, an architect from Central America, felt drawn to working in the Arabian Peninsula. Then, on a short-term trip, he saw what it could be like to use his profession overseas.

From age 17, Ana Maria prayed to serve God in Switzerland. While she waited, she became a dance instructor with no idea dance would become her ministry.

God uses Janet to reach people through one-on-one encounters at a bookshop in a closed country.

Benetech, a Palo Alto, Calif. based software company, is embarking on is third 5-year award with the U.S. Department of Education to create books for students with print disabilities.

An AI-powered digital assistant to take notes for you? It’s already happening in the workplace, but classroom note taking could prove harder to automate.

If we truly want educational technology to take root in schools and finally live up to the promise we've been expecting for more than a decade, schools need to develop a cadre of well-trained tech instructional coaches.

Michelle R. Darnell, associate clinical professor in management and director of honor and integrity at Smeal, has been appointed as the inaugural director of the Tarriff Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility.

The Penn State Smeal College of Business has announced the recipients of its spring 2020 Senior Awards.

Rachel Hooker, who will graduate May 9 with a 3.99 GPA in supply chain and information systems, has been selected as the Smeal College of Business’ spring 2020 supply chain and information systems student marshal.

Emilee Yaeger, an undergraduate student in the Science BS/MBA accelerated joint degree program, has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Eberly College of Science Cooperative Education Student of the Year Award. The award recognizes the student’s academic achievements and contributions to the participating employer, the University, the community, and the field of cooperative education.

Jake Griggs, who will graduate Saturday with a 3.95 GPA with dual majors in management and political science, has been named Smeal’s spring 2020 management and organization student marshal.

In an effort to help mitigate the disruptive effects of the deadly COVID-19 virus, an interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers are developing a novel methodology to analyze its spread and the impacts on policy to create better-prepared and more-resilient health care systems.

Penn State University Libraries has developed a curated guide to COVID-19 related resources for researchers, including ongoing research at Penn State.

With speed and ingenuity, more than 100 researchers across Penn State are shifting their research programs to address the COVID-19 crisis, thanks to funding from a seed grant initiative led by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. In total, the initiative awarded $2.25 million to 47 teams of researchers from three campuses, 10 colleges and more than 25 departments.

To assess public perceptions about COVID-19 and identify populations whose behaviors put them at risk of infection, researchers at Penn State have released an online survey for the general public.

Penn State Health today resumed construction of Penn State Health Cocoa Outpatient Center, an expansion of medical services at the former CocoaPlex Center location.

MASC has successfully designed and delivered critical equipment and supplies needed to protect health care workers and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Penn State Center for Structural Oncology is shifting some of its focus from fighting cancer to fighting COVID-19, with three projects.

Two alumni and one community partner contribute clinical medicine and research experience during the pandemic

Beth E. Michalec, lecturer of corporate communication at Penn State Lehigh Valley, earned a doctorate in rhetoric from Duquesne University. Michalec was selected as a Fulbright specialist in June 2019 by the U.S. Department of State.

Students celebrated for athletic and student life achievements during the Finally Finished Fest

Your smooth-talking builder may promise you the world, but you could end up in a world of pain, writes Angelique Ruzicka.

Unsuspected consumers are being targeted by fraudsters using the name of Sanlam to swindle cash out of them, the financial service provider has warned.

Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are the hot spots for card fraud in South Africa, according to a report on global fraud activity.

New research has found that inequality in SA has increased, with wealth becoming ever more concentrated among the rich.

Reducing indebtedness and improving savings in South Africa is a major socio-economic challenge, warns an industry expert.

Despite the many investment scams that the South African public is falling for, in many cases the Financial Services Board (FSB) finds its hands tied when it comes to protecting the public.

Payments Association of South Africa has warned consumers to be cautious when sharing personal information which can be used by fraudsters to make unauthorised debit orders.