News 13:00

BULLETIN 19 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Trump administration is proposing to increase the refugee admissions for white Afrikaners
# The Western Cape Agriculture Department says the severe weather impacts will affect the agricultural economy
# And cricket: Newlands is already sold out for the New Year’s Test against England

# US president Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly planning to increase the refugee admissions ceiling for white Afrikaner South Africans to 17-thousand-500 for the fiscal year 2026. Trump has repeatedly justified allowing more Afrikaners to obtain refugee status by claiming a genocide is happening in South Africa. He also alleged that white farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated. Government has vehemently denied these claims. The US admitted about four-thousand-500 South Africans as refugees during the first six months of the fiscal year.

# The Western Cape Agriculture Department is assessing the significant impact of last week’s severe weather conditions. A series of intense cold fronts resulted in widespread flooding, infrastructure damage and disruptions to farming communities, and claimed the lives of eleven people. MEC for Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, Ivan Meyer, says the knock-on effects are expected to impact the province’s agricultural economy, particularly fruit and wine export supply chains:

# The African People’s Convention supports the caution issued by renowned South African epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim regarding the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. He has warned South Africa should be vigilant and ready to respond to the outbreak. At least 100 Ebola deaths have been reported in the DRC. APC’s spokesperson, Lucas Mphaka, says the country needs to strengthen preparedness measures against the virus:

# The bodies of four Italian divers who went missing during a scuba diving accident in the Maldives last week have been located. Officials confirmed the Italians were found inside a 60-metre-deep cave in Vaavu Atoll by a joint team of highly trained Finnish and Maldivian divers. The body of a fifth Italian diver, a member of the group, had already been recovered shortly after Thursday’s accident. This is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination.

# Cricket: All tickets have reportedly been sold out for the New Year’s Test between the Proteas and England at Newlands in Cape Town. The super popular date returns after it was skipped this year. Ticket sales opened yesterday, with Cricket South Africa confirming shortly afterwards all tickets were snatched up. The match will be the third and final one in England’s first Test series in South Africa since 2019. The first Test starts in Johannesburg on 17 December, and the second in Centurion on the 26th.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-65-cents and the euro at 19-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-880-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-541-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 106-dollars-90-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….