Flash Briefing: US stocks surge; Eskom asks Italians to help; China hedging Venezuela bets; SA withdraws ECA Bill

In today’s global business headlines… US share prices rose strongly last night, with the three major indices gaining almost 1.5%. After decades of steadfast support for the socialist regime in Venezuela, China is now hedging its bets on tyrant Nicolas Maduro. Italian energy group Enel SpA has been called in by the South African government to help sort out the country’s two new power stations which the country says have been “badly designed and badly constructed.” In other South African related news, the controversial Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, which proposed heavy state control over the sector, has been withdrawn.