News 17:00

BULLETIN 5 May 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy president Mashatile says government appreciates the Microsoft agreement on a 1.32-billion-rand investment
# Eskom projects a load-shedding free winter with plans for Stage 2 at most
# And soccer: Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says government appreciates efforts by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and Microsoft for reaching an agreement on a 1.32-billion-rand investment. He says this will be deployed over the next ten years in the development of black-owned small, medium and micro enterprises in both tech and non-tech sectors. Mashatile says the agreement makes provision for the skills development of young black South Africans in emerging technologies:

# South Africans can anticipate a winter without load-shedding, with a worst-case scenario of Stage 2 outages. The utility’s winter outlook is based on expected breakdowns between 13-thousand- and 15-thousand-MegaWatts. Eskom CEO Dan Marokane emphasised that the return of Medupi’s Unit 4, Kusile’s Unit 6, and Koeberg’s Unit 1 is expected to add approximately two-thousand-500-MegaWatts to the grid, bolstering supply during peak demand:

# Jury selection begins in New York today in the blockbuster federal sex trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who stands accused of years of harrowing abuse. The 55-year-old has pleaded not guilty on all counts, insisting that any sex acts were consensual, but prosecutors say for years he coerced victims into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence. The prosecution said it had offered Combs a plea deal, the specifics were not disclosed, but that he had rejected it.

# Soccer: Trent Alexander-Arnold announced he will leave boyhood club Liverpool after 20 years when his contract expires at the end of the season. He says it was the hardest decision of his life. The 26-year old England defender, who helped Liverpool win the Premier League this season, has been heavily linked with a free transfer to Real Madrid. Alexander-Arnold made his senior debut in 2016 and went on to make 352 appearances for the Reds to date, scoring 23 goals. 

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-25-cents and the euro at 20-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-32-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-176-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-319-dollars-78-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Weather Service has dismissed a viral message warning of an extremely cold winter due to the so-called Aphelion phenomenon as false and misleading. The hoax, widely circulated on social media, claims the Earth’s distance from the sun will cause a colder-than-usual season. Forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela clarified that the Aphelion, expected on 3 July, has no significant impact on temperatures or seasons:

Stay tuned for more news………….