News 09:00

BULLETIN 27 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Nersa has registered 143 new generation facilities
# South African researchers find brown locusts pose a health risk
# And Trump is threatening to impose 25-percent tariffs on EU goods

# The National Energy Regulator of South Africa says it has successfully registered 143 generation facilities during the third quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year. These new facilities contribute a total capacity of one-thousand-107-megawatts and represent an investment value of 23-billion-rand. The Western Cape, Gauteng, and North West provinces were the leaders in the newly registered facilities. Nersa’s spokesperson, Charles Hlebela, says the most favoured technology during this period was solar photovoltaic:

# South African researchers have confirmed for the first time that brown locusts carry the pathogenic yeast, Candida auris, a drug-resistant yeast that’s a global health threat. This yeast can cause severe infections in humans with weakened immune systems. Scientists from the University of the Free State, National Health Laboratory Service, and the University of Venda found fluconazole-resistant strains in locusts’ digestive tracts, raising concerns about environmental spread. While healthy individuals are at low risk, researchers stress the need for new antifungal treatments.

# Western Cape premier, Alan Winde, says the singular focus for the next five years is to help businesses drive economic growth to create more jobs in the province. He delivered the state of the province address in Beaufort West on Wednesday evening. The province has faced a 3.8-billion-rand budget shortfall, partly because it received only 64-percent of the nationally negotiated wage agreement for public workers from the national government. Winde says unemployment at 19.6-percent is still horrifyingly high:

# US president Donald Trump says he is planning to hit goods made in the European Union with tariffs of 25-percent, accusing the 27-country bloc of taking advantage of America. The bloc is the US’s third largest trading partner alongside China. Earlier this month, Trump abruptly agreed to hold off imposing 25-percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days. Speaking at his first cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said the EU has not been beneficial to the US:

# Tennis: Top seed Russia’s Daniil Medvedev is through to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Champions for the third consecutive year. The 2023 champion defeated big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 6-4, 6-4. Medvedev will next face Dutch Tallon Griekspoor, who rallied past defending champion France’s Ugo Humbert, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to reach his 18th tour-level quarterfinal. Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, to earn his 350th tour-level win, while Italian Matteo Berrettini saw off Australian Christopher O’Connell, 7-6, 6-2.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-47-cents and the euro at 19-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 84-thousand-677-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-905-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….