News 15:00

BULLETIN 17 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa commends international car companies for their continued investment in SA
# Cricket: Australia announces better than expected financial results
# And a famous Italian fashion house helps design spacesuits for the new mission to the moon

# President Cyril Ramaphosa thanked international car companies like Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, and Toyota for continuing to invest in South Africa. He says these companies have invested around eight-billion-rand each year, while component suppliers added four-billion-rand annually. In his keynote address at the SA Auto Week in Cape Town, Ramaphosa emphasised the importance of this partnership in driving economic growth and fostering long-term collaboration: 

# The inaugural meeting of the government of national unity’s Clearing House Mechanism got off to a good start. The mechanism was established by Ramaphosa to resolve policy disagreements within the government. It will look at preparations for the G20 meeting to be hosted by South Africa next year; preparations for the National Dialogue; and policy challenges such as the BELA Act. It will also work towards achieving the strategic priorities of government, including the drive to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living.

# A CNN survey has found more than a dozen Republicans who were fake electors in the US election in 2020, including several facing criminal charges, are serving as former president Donald Trump’s official electors in battleground states this year. Another 16 are election deniers who say president Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 was fraudulent. They represent more than a third of the 82 electors picked to support Trump in the seven states where he attempted to overturn the 2020 results.

# Cricket: Australian professional players can count on handsome salary increases after Cricket Australia announced better than expected results for the previous financial year. It says the net deficit of 379-million-rand is the result of a strong collaborative effort to manage costs and drive revenue. This follows higher than expected crowds during last season’s home Tests against Pakistan and the West Indies. They also expect a big boost in revenue over the next 18-months, with the home Test series against India and the Ashes series against England.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 19-rand-23-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-997-dollars-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-686-dollars-15-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Italian fashion house Prada and US aerospace start-up Axiom Space have unveiled the spacesuits for NASA’s upcoming Artemis 3 mission, its first crewed venture to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The new spacesuit’s design improves flexibility, can manage an eight-hour spacewalk, and will sustain two hours of the lunar south pole’s coldest temperatures. Axiom Space president, Matt Ondler, says the spacesuits have undergone rigorous testing and simulations:

Stay tuned for more news………….