News 13:00

BULLETIN 17 April 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Food inflation is at a three-and-a-half-year low
# The DA says more than 200 doctors are still waiting for community service placement
# And cricket: A milestone for Ayabonga Khaka in the deciding ODI against Sri Lanka 

# Statistics SA says inflation is at a three-and-a-half-year low. Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed to 5.1-percent in March from 6.1-percent in February. This is down from its recent peak of 14-percent in March last year, and is the lowest annual increase since September 2020 when the rate was 3.8-percent. According to data eggs were 28-percent more expensive last month compared to a year ago. Rice was almost 26-percent more expensive and the price of white and brown sugar, potatoes and condensed milk increased by more than 20-percent.

# The DA says it will ask Health minister, Joe Phaahla, for his reaction to information the party received that more than 200 doctors that have successfully completed their internships, have yet to be placed for community service. The DA says this contradicts Phaahla’s statement in February that all those graduates who were eligible for placement, have been placed. The DA’s Michele Clarke says according to the Internship and Community Service Programme, there are no vacant positions:

# Russia, but not president Vladimir Putin, will be invited to the French ceremony in June to mark 80 years since the Second World War D-Day landings in Normandy. In February 2022, Putin sent troops to Ukraine and the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him on the accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children. A host of world leaders are expected to attend, including US president Joe Biden. Organisers say Russia will be invited to honour the importance of the commitment and sacrifices of the Soviet people.

# Cricket: The Proteas Women are gearing up to face Sri Lanka in the third and final One-day International in Potchefstroom this afternoon. South Africa currently leads the series one-nil after securing a seven-wicket victory in the second match following the washed-out opening encounter. The contest will also deliver an individual milestone for Ayabonga Khaka, who will play her 100th ODI, after making her debut in 2012:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-94-cents and the euro at 20-rand-16-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-63-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-434-dollars-89-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-393-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A groundbreaking oral history of The Beatles, All You Need Is Love, is currently number two on Amazon’s music books chart, a week after its release. The 352-page hardcover is presented in a question and answer interview format, with the band members, friends and families sharing unpublished stories. All the interviews in the book, written by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, were conducted between 1980 and ’81. Meanwhile, Disney Plus is adding the 1970 Beatles film Let It Be to its platform on the eighth of next month.

Stay tuned for more news………….