News 14:00

BULLETIN 21 May 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa heads to the White House with golf legends and the billionaire Johan Rupert
# Consumer inflation inches up to 2.8-percent in April, driven by soaring beef prices
# And a final farewell for Cornal Hendricks is set for Sunday

# President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Washington, DC, today for high-level talks with US president Donald Trump. According to TimesLive, Ramaphosa will be joined by a unique delegation that includes billionaire Johan Rupert and golf legends Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. The talks aim to present a trade package featuring a gas deal and an alternative to the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which was affected by Trump’s global tariffs. The US side is expected to include vice president JD Vance and South African-born billionaire Elon Musk.

# Statistics South Africa says the annual consumer inflation rate increased to 2.8-percent in April, from 2.7-percent in March. The uptick was mainly due to a sharp rise in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices, which climbed four-percent year-on-year. Meat prices saw the biggest jump, rising 2.3-percent in a single month, with stewing beef, mince, and steak leading the increase. Stats SA’s Patrick Kelly says coffee prices also went up sharply:

# Oil prices rallied following a report that US intelligence suggested Israel was planning a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, which would send geopolitical tensions into overdrive and fuel regional conflict fears. While gold pushed almost two percent higher, the news from CNN appeared to be having little detrimental effect on Asian equities. Still, investors are keeping tabs on China-US relations after Beijing hit out at Washington’s bullying over chip export controls, just over a week after the two sides dialled down trade tensions by temporarily slashing high tariffs.

# Cricket: New England women’s coach, Charlotte Edwards, says she will impose minimum fitness standards from next year. The players’ fitness standards were criticised in the Ashes defeat against Australia, which cost coach Jon Lewis his job and Heather Knight the captaincy. The team is returning to action today with the first of three T20 internationals against the West Indies, which will be followed by three one-day internationals. Edwards says the aim for the series is to perform better:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-87-cents and the euro at 20-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 106-thousand-227-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-316-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Former Springbok winger Cornal Hendricks will be laid to rest at the NG Kerk Moedergemeente in Wellington in the Boland on Sunday. The 37-year-old passed away from a suspected heart attack last week. Despite a heart condition sidelining him in 2015 after earning 12 Bok caps, Hendricks made a strong comeback in 2019, winning major titles with the Bulls. Two memorial services will be held ahead of the funeral – at Boland Stadium tomorrow and at CRC Paarl church on Friday to honour Hendricks’s rugby legacy.

Stay tuned for more news………….