News 18:00

BULLETIN 5 July 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Fifty-five-percent of national government spending goes towards grants
# The NPA opposes bail for the 19-year-old accused of assaulting his grandmother
# And motorsport: McLaren is confident ahead of its home-race at Silverstone

# Statistics South Africa’s latest data shows that 55-percent of the national government’s 2.04-trillion-rand expenditure was allocated to grants. Provincial governments received 694-billion-rand, mainly for health and education. Public institutions like the Road Accident Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund received 180-billion-rand. Local governments got 151-billion-rand, while higher education institutions, foreign governments, and international institutions received less than 50-billion-rand each. These allocations emphasise the government’s focus on supporting various levels of governance and public services.

# The National Prosecuting Authority will oppose bail for a 19-year-old charged with assaulting his 82-year-old grandmother in Wallacedene, Cape Town. The accused appeared in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court today on charges of assault and contravention of the Older Persons Act. A video showed the elderly woman being struck and falling. NPA regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed the case was postponed to next Friday:

# Newly appointed British prime minister Keir Starmer says its time for change. He was officially appointed by King Charles today following Labour’s decisive election win. Starmer takes over 10 Downing Street from outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak, who conceded defeat and announced his resignation as Conservative Party leader. In his first address, Starmer promised to bring hope and positive change, marking Labour’s return to power after 14-years in opposition:

# Catania airport on the Italian island of Sicily was closed today after the largest active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna, erupted and spewed ash into the sky, disrupting air travel. The runway at Catania Airport is unusable due to volcanic ash fall. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology says ash plumes shot up into the sky as high as 4.5 kilometres. Footage shared on social media showed the streets of Catania’s city centre covered in thick layers of black ash, slowing down traffic.

# Motorsport: Formula One is in England this weekend for the British Grand Prix. It is the 12th stop on the 24-race calendar. McLaren has been competitive for most of this season. They are currently in third place in the constructor standings, while Lando Norris is second in the drivers race, behind Max Verstappen. It is a home-race for McLaren and their young Australian driver Oscar Piastri says they are confident: 

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-27-cents and the euro at 19-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-38-cents and Bitcoin trades at 55-thousand-561-dollars-82-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-377-dollars-41-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-23-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….