CEOtimes

South Africa’s Eskom faces ‘existential problem’ as local councils fail to pay their bills

South Africa’s government has warned that power utility Eskom is facing an “existential crisis” after the amount of unpaid bills owed by local municipalities surged to a record R95bn ($5.2bn).

Outstanding municipal debt for power has jumped from R74.4bn at the end of March to R95bn currently, and is forecast to hit R110bn by the end of the first quarter. Money owed by the City of Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic powerhouse, jumped by almost 400 per cent.

Ramokgopa said Eskom’s progress comes as municipal debt has surged by 28% since March, potentially threatening the company’s financial stability and ability to improve infrastructure.

“This is an existential question facing Eskom,” he told a media conference on Thursday. “This is not an Eskom issue. This is a sovereignty issue and someone will have to pay for it much later.”

Mr Ramokgopa said municipal power debt outstanding had jumped from R74.4 billion at the end of March to R95 billion now, and is expected to reach R110 billion by the end of the first quarter.

Funds owed by the City of Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic powerhouse, have soared by almost 400 per cent.

Eskom CEO Dan Malokane said the downturn in South Africa’s economy, where many residents were unable to pay their service charges, and mismanagement of local authorities, which led to a payment crisis, led to some councils He also accused the government of unpaid water charges.

“There is a lack of strong leadership in some of these municipalities in terms of doing the right thing,” he said. “Electricity bills are collected from residents, but are used by municipal officials for other purposes.”

Eskom, Africa’s largest power company with an annual revenue of R295 billion, is forced to burn expensive diesel to keep the lights on as many of its aging power plants break down and less electricity is sold. As a result, the company has suffered significant losses in recent years.

Eskom on Thursday reported an after-tax loss of R55 billion for the year to March, which also included R36 billion in one-off costs related to the unbundling of its transmission unit. Pre-tax loss fell from R34.6 billion to R25.5 billion, which Chairman Mutet Nyati described as a “very poor performance”.

Malokane said the company’s fortunes had improved dramatically with the cessation of power outages, and the power company now expected to make a profit of more than R10 billion in the year ending March.

Nyati told the Financial Times earlier this year that the utility was able to restore power outages by focusing on maintenance at its six worst-hit power plants and overhauling its management.

However, the end of the blackouts came too late for the ANC to maintain its parliamentary majority, and its vote share collapsed to 40.2% in the May elections, forcing it to form a coalition with nine other parties.

Eskom’s problems went beyond its weak power plants, as the power company, the source of billions of rands worth of public contracts, became a hotbed of corruption during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure.

The post South Africa’s Eskom faces ‘existential problem’ as local councils fail to pay their bills appeared first on RawNews1st.

A broad crypto market slide worsened at the start of U.S. trading hours as bitcoin (BTC) neared the $93,000 level.

Ether, Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA, xrp (XRP) and bnb (BNB) fell as much as 16%, while memecoin dogecoin (DOGE) fell over 27%, data shows.

Some traders say a hawkish tone in this week’s FOMC meeting flipped market sentiment ahead of the new year.

A broad crypto market slide worsened at the start of U.S. trading hours as bitcoin (BTC) neared the $93,000 level, leading to a fallback across all major tokens.

Ether, Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA, xrp (XRP) and bnb (BNB) fell as much as 16%, while memecoin dogecoin (DOGE) fell over 27%, data shows. Crypto market capitalization is down more than 11% in the past 24 hours, one of the worst single-day drops in the year.

Some traders say a hawkish tone in this week’s FOMC meeting flipped market sentiment ahead of the new year.

Some traders say a hawkish tone in this week’s FOMC meeting flipped market sentiment ahead of the new year.

“The Fed rate cut itself was already expected and priced in as markets hinged on the Fed’s outlook for next year, which was less optimistic than expected and included only two rate cuts instead of the four that were previously expected,” Jeff Mei, COO at crypto exchange BTSE, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

“Traders should be cautious until inflation is tamed and we see more concrete Trump policies in the coming year.”

But in the mid to long run, we believe that monetary and fiscal stimulus policies in both the US and other parts of the world will ultimately expand liquidity. This will boost crypto markets, and especially Bitcoin as it becomes more of a safe haven asset akin to gold,” Mei added.

The post Bitcoin Plunges to $93K, Dogecoin Down 27% appeared first on RawNews1st.

According to nearly two dozen staffers at Travel + Leisure, the best destination for 2025 might just be one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean, or an undiscovered corner of Europe, or a remarkable nation in Asia that’s about to become even buzzier thanks to a certain HBO show.

These are places that feel of the moment, whether that’s because they offer unparalleled access to the outdoors, a cultural immersion you can’t find anywhere else, a pulse-quickening hit of excitement, or the sort of blissful luxury only a true five-star property can deliver.

Each of these 50 noteworthy destinations may have their own distinct allure, but all are worthy of a closer look in the year ahead. In fact, the well-traveled staff of T+L is hoping to check out more than a few of them in the coming months. Who knows, maybe we’ll see you out there? — Edited by Paul Brady and Alisha Prakash

Detroit

Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China

Marrakesh: A new nonstop United Airlines flight between Newark, New Jersey, and Marrakesh may be one of the most anticipated routes in years, finally giving U.S. travelers a connection-free link to the enchanting Moroccan city.

“It’s something we’re really excited about, as it’s going to make access much, much easier,” said Stefanie Schmudde, a senior vice president at Abercrombie & Kent. 

She also noted that a new Park Hyatt and a newly refurbished Four Seasons Resort are among other reasons to take a closer look at the destination now. Other worthwhile stays include the opulent Oberoi, which opened in early 2020; Rosemary, a chic five-room riad designed by the lifestyle brand Lrnce, which debuted in 2023; and the brand-new Nobu Hotel Marrakech Riad, a private six-bedroom villa inside the medina.

Portland

Rome

Sacramento, California

Budapest, Hungary

In 2023, the W Budapest opened in the Drechsler Palace, one of the grand palazzos that line the city’s Andrássy Avenue, a tony commercial thoroughfare that is, like the palace itself, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

With its punchy contemporary design, the hotel has become a calling card for a more cosmopolitan Budapest.

A wave of new luxury hotels has emerged to complement venerable stalwarts like the Four Seasons — this past summer saw the launch of the Kimpton BEM Budapest in a former 19th-century residence, and, in November 2023, the Dorothea Hotel, part of the Autograph Collection. But Budapest’s most spectacular draw might be Városliget — or City Park — the site of Heroes’ Square, built in 1896 to celebrate the country’s first millennium.

The park, after years of neglect, is now the recipient of a $1 billion restoration that includes new cultural spaces like the House of Music Hungary and the Museum of Ethnography. 

Continue to read Here

The post Who made the list: TOP 50 Best Places to Travel in 2025 appeared first on RawNews1st.

The Cradle

Turkiye Provides ‘Air Support’ To Extremists Violating Ceasefire In North Syria: SDF

The US-backed militia says it downed an advanced Turkish drone and has warned that Ankara is massing its troops near the Syrian border in preparation for a ‘possible invasion’

The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on 18 December that the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) has continued to launch attacks on the city of Kobane and the strategic Tishreen Dam in northern Syria with air support from Ankara.

“Despite ongoing de-escalation efforts by the United States of America, the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries continued their attacks on numerous areas in the vicinity of Kobani, the Tishreen Dam, and Ain Issa yesterday and today,” the SDF said in a statement.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed that the SNA once more violated a US-mediated ceasefire agreement by launching a “surprise attack on [SDF positions] around the Tishreen Dam and Qaraqozak Bridge in eastern Aleppo countryside.”

“According to reliable SOHR sources, the attack was accompanied by intense aerial and ground bombardment in attempts to take control of Qaraqozak Bridge and Tishreen Dam, where a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone was shot down, and a Turkish radar vehicle was destroyed in the area by SDF,” the UK-based monitor reported on Wednesday.

The post Turkiye Provides ‘Air Support’ To Extremists Violating Ceasefire In North Syria: SDF appeared first on RawNews1st.

DailyMail

The vaccine will apparently be used to treat cancer patients, rather than being given to the general public to prevent tumors from forming in the first place.

Previous comments by Russian government scientists suggest each shot is personalized for the individual patient, which is similar to cancer vaccines being developed in the West.

It is currently not clear which cancers the vaccine is designed to treat, how effective it is or how Russia plans to roll it out.

The name of the vaccine has not been revealed. 

Similar to the rest of the world, cancer rates are increasing in Russia, with more than 635,000 cases recorded in 2022. 

Colon, breast, and lung cancers are believed to be the country’s most common forms of the disease.

Personalized cancer vaccines are designed to teach the immune system how to recognize and attack proteins specific to that patient’s cancer. 

To do this, vaccines use genetic material called RNA from a patient’s own tumor.

In the same way traditional vaccines use part of the virus to prevent disease, these use harmless proteins from the surface of cancer cells, known as antigens.

When these antigens are introduced into the body, it should stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against them, which then kill the cancer cells. 

Other countries have also been working to develop their own personalized cancer vaccines. 

In May, researchers at the University of Florida tested an individualized vaccine in four patients with glioblastoma, the aggressive brain cancer that killed Senator John McCain and Beau Biden. 

The team found that the shot triggers a strong immune response just two days after injection. 

Senior study author Elias Sayour, a UF Health pediatric oncologist, said: ‘In less than 48 hours, we could see these tumors shifting from what we refer to as “cold” – immune cold, very few immune cells, very silenced immune response – to “hot,” very active immune response.’

And in the UK, scientists are testing a personalized vaccine for melanoma.

Early results have shown that it drastically improved survival chances of the disease, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. 

Steve Young, a 52-year-old melanoma patient in the UK, has taken the vaccine as part of a clinical trial. 

He said: ‘This is my best chance at stopping the cancer in its tracks.’ 

The post Russia’s health ministry claims it has developed a vaccine against cancer that will be rolled out to patients for free appeared first on RawNews1st.

CNBC

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point, the third consecutive reduction and one that came with a cautionary tone about additional cuts in coming years. 

In a move widely anticipated by markets, the Federal Open Market Committee cut its overnight borrowing rate to a target range of 4.25%-4.5%, back to the level where it was in December 2022 when rates were on the move higher. 

Though there was little intrigue over the decision itself, the main question had been over what the Fed would signal about its future intentions as inflation holds steadily above target and economic growth is fairly solid, conditions that don’t normally coincide with policy easing. 

“We currently have over 900 Realtors in our board of Realtors, and with our inventory right around 346 houses and condos available, that makes the competition pretty stiff,” said Realtor Jane Eurek.

She’s been a real estate agent in Rockford, Illinois — a city about 90 miles northwest of Chicago — for 38 years. Homes there are priced attractively, in the low-to-mid 200s. The problem is finding interested sellers.

“There are people that look at that 3% interest rate and aren’t giving it up unless life issues come up — estate sales, divorces, job relocations,” she said.

According to research from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the lock-in effect reduced home sales nationally by 1.7 million between 2022 and 2024.

“This reduction in supply increased prices by 7%,” said Jonah Coste, an economist with the FHFA.

That’s part of the reason housing prices stayed high when the Fed was raising rates to fight inflation. And unless rates drop dramatically, which feels unlikely, Coste doesn’t see the lock-in effect dissipating.

“We don’t find any evidence that, simply, time is going to do much to alleviate this,” he said.

This new normal — so many homeowners with dramatically cheaper-than-market-rate mortgages — is basically unprecedented, said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin.

And that’s widening the gap between the have-nots and have-homes.

“Well, there’s definitely this unfortunate inequality between people who had a home or bought a home during the pandemic and people who weren’t ready to buy a home quite yet,” she said.

Read what changed in the Fed statement.

The post The Fed Committee cut its overnight borrowing rate to a target range of 4.25%-4.5% appeared first on RawNews1st.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, Sunshine State residents won’t be able to view X-rated content there anymore, thanks to a new law intended to protect minors online.

In just a few days, Florida’s stringent law will require companies with adult content on their websites to verify that all visitors are 18 years or older. The law further will require social media platforms to find and shut down the accounts of children younger than 14.

Officials from PornHub’s parent company, Aylo Holdings, confirmed it will deny access for all users geo-located in the state, Florida Politics reported. An email to the outlet said the restriction will happen “in protest of new age verification requirements.”

Pornhub appears to have already advised users about the change in plans. According to BNO News, a notification was sent to users lamenting the new law’s implementation and admonishing it as ill advised.

If you casually scroll over to the X-rated site, (please, not during work hours) you’ll receive this message:

“This website contains age-restricted materials including nudity and explicit depictions of sexual activity. By entering, you affirm that you are at least 18 years of age or the age of majority in the jurisdiction you are accessing the website from and you consent to viewing sexually explicit content.”

Will Floridians miss Pornhub? Most definitely. It’s currently in the top 20 most-visited sites in the world.

“Did you know that your government wants you to give your driver’s license before you can access Pornhub?” reads a screenshot obtained by the outlet. “As crazy as it sounds, it’s true. 

The post Pornhub says it’s pulling out of Florida on January 1, when age verification law takes effect appeared first on RawNews1st.

Forbes – Elon Musk just added fuel to the fire by claiming to be developing a new email service called Xmail.

Despite the viral message about Google shutting down the Gmail email service this summer, that’s not going to happen. As I reported on February 23, the message was nothing more than a realistic-looking fake.

.It was posted to X (formerly known as Twitter) with the headline that Google is sunsetting Gmail, which was enough to fool lots of people, it has to be said.

Now another message has been posted to X, this time from the owner and richest person on the planet, Elon Musk, which has also got people talking. In fact, the message was a reply to a question tweeted by X security engineer Nate McGrady that asked when the company would be developing Xmail. Musk was quick to respond with two words: It’s coming.

Of course, in true Musk fashion, those two words say both a lot and nothing at all simultaneously. His response would appear to be a case of throwing an idea out there and seeing what the response from the masses is. I have reached out to X in order to see if it can provide any further information.

Given the fact that the hype around the viral Gmail closure message is still swirling around, I would advise caution about responding to any messages on any platform that relate to your Gmail account or further information about closures.

The same advice goes for messages concerning Musk’s Xmail.

It’s likely cybercriminals will seize the opportunity to exploit confusion and distribute phishing messages with malicious intent.

The post Elon Musk To Take On Gmail With New Xmail Service appeared first on RawNews1st.

The Hill – Donald Trump hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook for a Friday evening dinner at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Cook is the latest in a string of big tech leaders — including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos — who have sought to improve their standing with the incoming president after choppy relations with Trump during his first term.

Trump has said he has spoken with Cook about the company’s long-running tax battles with the European Union.

The meeting comes less than two months after Trump said he spoke to Cook by phone, and soon after Apple lost its last appeal in a dispute with the EU over 13 billion euros ($14.34 billion) in back taxes to Ireland.

The decision by the EU top court was the finale to a dispute that centered on sweetheart deals that Dublin was offering to attract multinational businesses with minimal taxes across the 27-nation bloc. The European Commission in 2016 ruled that Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid that Ireland was required to recover.

Trump’s transition team and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his dinner with Cook.

OpenAI CEO Altman is planning to make a $1 million personal donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, the company confirmed Friday. Amazon and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, confirmed this week they had each donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

During his first term, Trump criticized Amazon and railed against the political coverage at The Washington Post, which Bezos owns.

Meanwhile, Bezos had criticized some of Trump’s past rhetoric. In 2019, Amazon also argued in a court case that Trump’s bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract.

More recently, Bezos has struck a more conciliatory tone. Last week, he said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York that he was “optimistic” about Trump’s second term while also endorsing president-elect’s plans to cut regulations.

The donation from Meta came just weeks after Meta CEO Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago.

The post President Donald Trump elect will host Apple CEO at Mar-a-Lago as big tech leaders continue outreach to president-elect appeared first on RawNews1st.

AP – President-elect Donald Trump has recently expressed support for ending daylight saving time (DST) through statements made by key allies in his incoming administration. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are set to advise Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have publicly mused about eliminating the biannual clock changes.

Musk responded affirmatively to a query about ending time changes on X, and Ramaswamy described the practice as “inefficient & easy to change.”

However, it’s unclear how seriously they intend to pursue this change, given that DOGE is an advisory committee without formal policy-making power.

Legislatively, there has been ongoing interest in making daylight saving time permanent. The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make DST year-round, has been reintroduced by Senators Marco Rubio and Ed Markey, with a companion measure in the House by Representative Vern Buchanan. Despite passing the Senate in 2022, it has not moved forward in the House, indicating the legislative process’s complexity and the need for bipartisan support.

Public sentiment and expert opinions are mixed. Some argue for the benefits like more evening daylight, potentially reducing energy use and improving mood, while others highlight health concerns, including disruptions to circadian rhythms and increased risks of heart attacks and car accidents. There is also debate on whether permanent DST or standard time would be preferable, with medical professionals often advocating for standard time aligning better with natural light cycles.

Given these points, Trump’s bid to end daylight saving time would require significant legislative effort and would face a broad spectrum of opinions and interests. The current administration has not taken an official stance on this matter, and any change would need to go through Congress.

The post President-elect Donald Trump has recently expressed support for ending daylight saving time (DST) appeared first on RawNews1st.