South Africa has active investigations into alleged corruption totaling more than $7 billion at some of its top state-owned companies, according to a report published Tuesday by the national anti-graft unit.

The investigations are not new, and some have been running since 2018, and all of them were cited by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) in a report to a parliamentary committee to give an update on the status of the probes.

The high cost of caring for children and the elderly has forced American women out of the workforce, devastated family finances and left professional caretakers in low-wage jobs — all while slowing economic growth.

That families are suffering is not up for debate. As the economy emerges as a theme in this presidential election, the Democratic and Republican candidates have sketched out ideas for easing costs that reveal their divergent views about family.

Markets on Wall Street were largely unchanged in light trading early Wednesday as investors eagerly anticipated an earnings report from chipmaker Nvidia later in the day.

French prosecutors are expected to charge or release the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, after his police custody order expires on Wednesday.

Durov was detained Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a judicial inquiry opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations. They include allegations that his platform is being used for selling child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, fraud, abetting organized crime transactions and Telegram's refusal to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.

When electrical engineer Preetam Gaikwad first moved to Jena in 2013, she was smitten by what the eastern German city had to offer: a prestigious university, top research institutions, and cutting-edge technology companies, global leaders in their field.

Eleven years later, the Indian native takes a more sober view.

The leaders of Germany and the United Kingdom announced plans on Wednesday to draw up a treaty meant to deepen the two nations' trade, defense and other ties.

The move comes as new U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer moves ahead with plans for a "reset" of relations with the European Union.

European markets opened higher while Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to an all-time high and Big Tech companies pulled the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite lower.

Germany's DAX picked up 0.3% to 18,665.08 after data from the statistics office on Tuesday showed the country's second-quarter gross domestic product fell by 0.1% from the previous quarter.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has a new advertising push to draw attention to her plan to build 3 million new homes over four years, a move designed to contain inflationary pressures that also draws a sharp contrast to Republican Donald Trump's approach.

Canada announced Monday it is launching a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, matching U.S. tariffs imposed over what Western governments say are China's subsidies that give its industry an unfair advantage.

The announcement came after encouragement by U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Cabinet ministers Sunday. Sullivan is making his first visit to Beijing on Tuesday.

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested in Paris over the weekend over allegations that his platform is being used for illicit activity such as drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images.

Durov, who was born in Russia, spent much of his childhood in Italy and is a citizen of France, Russia, the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis and the United Arab Emirates. He was taken into custody at Paris-Le Bourget Airport in France on Saturday after landing from Azerbaijan.