Latest news with #R37
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
R1 Announces Investment from Khosla Ventures as it Accelerates AI-Driven Healthcare Transformation
Investment Follows Recent R37 Launch MURRAY, Utah, May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- R1, an industry leader in managing and intelligently automating healthcare revenue management with over 20 years of experience, today announced an investment from Khosla Ventures, a leading backer of transformative AI companies. The investment follows the successful launch of R37, R1's enterprise-grade AI lab developed in partnership with Palantir, which is dedicated to strengthening the financial health of providers through core agentic AI applications. As U.S. healthcare providers continue to grapple with rising administrative complexity and margin pressure, AI-native solutions for revenue management have become mission-critical. Administrative costs account for over 40% of hospital expenses, and more than $160 billion is spent annually on revenue cycle operations alone. R1's R37 AI lab addresses this challenge head-on, delivering agentic AI solutions built on R1's unmatched proprietary data set that automate labor-intensive workflows such as coding, billing, and denials management with unprecedented speed and precision. Khosla Ventures invests early into companies that are bold and impactful. It was the first investor in OpenAI, Block, and DoorDash, and early into a range of AI companies from Cognition to Sword Health. 'AI is transforming every corner of the economy with healthcare being one of the largest sectors of impact,' said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. 'R1 is pioneering the use of AI in healthcare revenue management, and we are excited to partner with them as they leverage AI to simplify the healthcare experience for patients and help providers operate more efficiently.' R1's unmatched footprint — serving 94 of the top 100 U.S. health systems — positions it as a category-shaping force in healthcare financial technology. With over 180 million annual payer transactions, 1.2 billion annual workflow actions, and 20,000 proprietary automation algorithms, R1 has built one of the richest and most actionable data environments in healthcare. The launch of R37 marked a turning point in the company's strategy to apply agentic AI across this ecosystem. 'Following the milestone launch of R37 this year, having Khosla Ventures as an investor is both a validation and a catalyst for the opportunity we see ahead as we bring our proprietary, agentic AI solution to the healthcare ecosystem,' said Joe Flanagan, CEO of R1. 'Khosla Ventures' impressive track record backing transformative AI companies speaks for itself. With their engagement and deep experience with AI, we'll continue our investments in R37 and drive toward a future where we seamlessly combine enterprise-grade AI with our unique data, scale and subject matter expertise, to strengthen the financial health of providers while delivering better patient care.' About R1R1 is a leading provider of automation solutions that transform the financial performance and patient experience for health systems, hospitals, and physician groups. R1's proven and scalable operating models seamlessly complement a healthcare organization's infrastructure, quickly driving sustainable improvements to net patient revenue and cash flows while driving revenue yield, reducing operating costs, and enhancing the patient experience. To learn more, visit: About Khosla VenturesKhosla Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investments in artificial intelligence, financial services, healthcare, consumer, enterprise, and sustainability sectors. It is known for making early capital investments in startups such as OpenAI, Instacart, Affirm, DoorDash, and Block. Contacts R1:Jonathan Keehner / Madeline JonesJoele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher R1RCM-JF@ Will ReillyVP, Marketingmedia@ Khosla Ventures:media@
Eyewitness News
4 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
KwaZulu-Natal government ordered to pay crèches
Judge Siphokazi Jikela, sitting in the high court in Pietermaritzburg, has ordered the KwaZulu-Natal government to pay three Early Childhood Development centres who are owed between R37,873 and R63,784 each. Early Childhood Development (ECD) subsidies are set by the national government, currently at R17 a day per child, but the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has been failing to pay centres on time. The three centres are among at least 275 in the province that have struggled with late subsidy payments, with one of them owed more than R130,000. Friends of South Africa (FOSA) and the KwaZulu-Natal Early Childhood Development Alliance are leading the court action against the department. The organisations are represented by the Legal Resources Centre. ECD centres provide a safe place for children to receive a foundational education and have their nutritional needs met while their parents are working or studying, says Nkosinathi Sibisi, the chairperson of FOSA. Without this support, parents either have to give up working to stay at home or leave their children alone. They appeared in an urgent court hearing on Monday, asking for the department to be ordered to pay the three centres — Sakhokwethu Crèche, Phumelela Crèche, and Zenzeleni Crèche — within five days. The Department's lawyers asked for a 30 day timeframe due to issues with their payment system. But Judge Jikela ordered the department to pay within ten days. In the second part of their court application, which will be heard in court at a future date, FOSA and their co-litigants have submitted a list of 275 centres that have been receiving their subsidies late. They want the department to file a report to the court, describing the extent of the department's breach of payment obligations and 'a plan to overcome these deficiencies'. Sibisi told GroundUp that the late payment issues go back to 2022, when the KZN education department took over the subsidy payments from the Department of Social Development (DSD). 'Even though there were payment issues when it was still done by the [DSD], it was never this bad,' said Sibisi. The department has not explained the reasons for late payments in the court documents and declined to answer GroundUp's questions. Many of FOSA's members have recently had to shut their doors because they did not have enough money to keep their centres running, says Sibisi. According to court papers, Sakhokwethu Crèche has still not received subsidy grant payments for January, February and March of 2024, and March and April of this year. Phumelela Crèche and Zenzeleni Crèche have not received any payments since before December 2024. According to their court papers, these late payments have led to staff not being paid and some being laid off. The centres have had to reduce child intake due to parents not being able to pay the fees. Thembekile Ndlovu, the principal of Zenzeleni Crèche, told GroundUp the centre has had to lay off skilled staff whose salaries they can no longer afford to pay. To feed the children, Ndlovu has had to pay for groceries out of her pocket and take out personal loans. The centre has also had to turn down parents who cannot afford to pay the basic fee, says Ndlovu. Under normal circumstances, the grant from the department would cover the fees for many of these children. Sinamuva, a crèche located in Inanda that Sibisi manages, is one of the 275 centres listed in the court papers. The creche has not received its subsidy for the last two months, leaving Sibisi with no choice but to use his own money to keep the centre going. Groundup visited Sinamuva last week. Sibisi said that they have had to start finding cheaper alternatives to feed the children, deviating from their usual nutritional plan. Some days, they have had to ask parents to pack lunches for their children, which not all of them can afford. The children's toilets also have no seats because the department had instructed the centre to replace the adult seats with children's seats, but the centre does not have enough money to buy new ones. Sisile Khoza, principal of Ntukwini pre-school, which is also on the list, said the department owes her centre over six months of subsidies. This has caused the centre to quickly run into debt as it now owes many people payment, such as day labourers, says Khoza. 'We are struggling to survive here because we are in the rural areas and most of the parents are not employed, only relying on the government child support grant,' said Khoza. According to the list, the creche is currently owed R138,000 by the department. This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.
IOL News
27-04-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Trump's USAID cuts cripple American response to Myanmar earthquake
Members of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) carry boxes of aid materials after the departure ceremony for Indonesia's humanitarian aid mission to Myanmar following the earthquake at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta on April 3, 2025. The shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28 flattened buildings across Myanmar, killing more than 3 000 people and making thousands more homeless. Most of the personnel who would have made up a US response team, including security and sanitation experts, were already on indefinite leave. Many of the US programmes that would have provided lifesaving materials, including fuel for ambulances and medical kits, were shuttered weeks ago. US planes and helicopters in nearby Thailand, which have been used before for disaster relief, never made it off the ground. Hours after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake devastated Myanmar last week, sending dangerous tremors across Southeast Asia, the American officials charged with responding to the disaster received their termination letters from Washington. People line up for food aid being distributed in Sagaing on April 3, 2025, following the March 28 earthquake. America's response to the catastrophic earthquake has been crippled by the Trump administration's sweeping cuts to the US Agency for International Development, according to eight current and former USAID employees who worked on Myanmar, as well as former State Department officials and leaders of international aid agencies. Three days after the disaster, American teams have yet to be deployed to the quake zone - a marked contrast with other similar catastrophes, when US personnel were on the ground within hours. The situation unfolding in Myanmar, which has been battered by years of civil war and was the biggest recipient of US aid in Southeast Asia last year, is the clearest demonstration to date of how Elon Musk's US DOGE Service has upended the global aid system - allowing Beijing and other rival powers to take the lead in providing relief. The Trump administration has promised R37 million in aid, saying, 'The United States stands with the people of Myanmar as they work to recover from the devastation.' But distributing this relief will be more difficult than ever, USAID officials said, because the US has severed valuable ties with local organisations and fired staff who could have restored relationships. The US commitment so far has also been dwarfed by the R250 million pledged by China, which borders Myanmar and is one of the few remaining allies of its military junta. Survivor Tin Maung Htwe is comforted by his sister as he rests on a bed in the compound of a hospital as he receives treatment a day after his extraction from the ruins of a hotel in Sagaing on April 3, 2025. 'This is what the world looks like when the US is not a leadership role,' said Chris Milligan, who served as USAID's top civilian official until he retired in 2021 and was USAID's top official in Myanmar under former US president Barack Obama. 'Other countries have mobilised, and we have not, and that's because we have shut down parts of the US government that have the capability to respond.' As the Trump administration moved to formally dismantle the agency, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that 'USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. … Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over.' The powerful quake in Myanmar has killed more than 2 000 people, according to the country's military junta, and the toll is still rising. As many as 20 million people in the country needed humanitarian assistance before the quake; millions more have now been displaced and will need food, clean water and protection from the scorching heat. In the hard-hit city of Mandalay, quake survivors are sleeping in the streets. 'We are suffering a lot,' said Than Aye, 64, who said she has spent the past three nights outdoors. Typically, for a disaster of this scale, the US would have assembled a Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, within hours and deployed it as quickly as possible to coordinate with international aid agencies and local partners, USAID officials said. When a 7.8-magnitude quake hit Turkey and Syria two years ago, the US had a DART on the ground within a day, swiftly followed by two urban search-and-rescue teams. By late Monday, three days after the worst temblor to hit Myanmar in nearly 40 years, the US had sent no one. A delegation of three USAID employees is scheduled to arrive in the coming days, but 'at this time, we do not intend to deploy a DART,' an official at the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media. The crucial 72-hour window after a quake, when rescuers are most likely to find survivors in the rubble, has already passed, current and former USAID employees said. 'We had the assets. We could have saved lives, and we missed it,' Milligan said. Myanmar's junta has plunged the country into isolation since it violently seize power in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil war against ethnic and pro-democracy militias. The junta has been accused of war crimes and has lost control over parts of the country. After the military's top general issued a rare and desperate appeal for international help in the wake of the quake, Chinese rescue teams equipped with heavy machinery were the first on the scene in the most affected areas in central Myanmar, according to the United Nations. Russia has also deployed a relief team, alongside responders from India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. But no country can come close to matching the disaster relief capabilities of the United States, which have now been paralysed, USAID officials said. The few foreign aid workers and local journalists who have made it to the worst-hit areas say rescue efforts have been slow-moving. The stench of death has become overwhelming, they say, and few communities have received any help searching for their loved ones in the rubble. The US has helicopters, planes and other transport vehicles stationed at an air base in eastern Thailand that have been used in the past for disaster relief, including to airlift heavy machinery like forklifts and excavators, said a former USAID official who worked on the US response to the 2015 Nepal quake, when U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield served as a base of operations. 'It would have been really easy for the US to mobilise that equipment … but we haven't,' said the official, who, like some others in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared government retaliation. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In February, the US cut 39 of 40 development projects in Myanmar, many of which would have pivoted to supporting relief and recovery efforts after the quake, said five agency employees and contractors who worked on Myanmar. One of the terminated programmes involved helping ethnic minority groups and pro-democracy organisations respond to attacks from the junta, including by providing medical kits and gasoline for ambulances, which would have been diverted to earthquake response, USAID employees said. Another terminated programme involved helping grassroots organisations provide basic services, such as clean water, food and health care. The abrupt cancellation of the programs meant the US has lost its network of trusted local groups that it would have relied on to disburse aid quickly and without interference from the junta, which has had a history of blocking relief to areas that are contested or under rebel control. The US now has a 'very limited ability to get money out the door in a reliable way,' said a USAID contractor. Already, watchdog groups say the military has been routing rescue teams toward the capital, Naypyidaw, which serves as its command center, while largely abandoning rebel-held communities. Fourteen of the 15 officials who made up 'USAID Mission Burma' and who would have guided relief funding were placed on indefinite leave in February. Authorities have scrambled to bring back several of them since the quake, two employees said. Before the disaster, a small group of officials at USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs in the Thai capital of Bangkok had been given exemptions to continue their work. On Friday, hours after sheltering from strong tremors that rippled across the city, the officials recounted rushing to an ad hoc situation room set up at the residence of the US ambassador to Thailand. They were coordinating an aid plan with Washington late into the night, they said, when they received their final termination letters, which went out to USAID employees worldwide. 'It was beyond cruel,' said a USAID official in Bangkok. 'You have extraordinarily talented people who have put on the sidelines,' said another USAID employee working on the Myanmar response. The costs of DOGE's 'thoughtless approach to efficiency … is being exposed right now, right here.' The gutting of USAID has also slashed US support for the international aid agencies now left to lead the humanitarian response, which experts say is among the most complex they have had to execute in recent years. 'The US has always been the biggest donor,' said Michael Dunford, Myanmar's country director for the UN World Food Program. Dunford was in a meeting with team members in Naypyidaw to discuss how to scale back the country's bare-bones operations in response to the US cuts when the building started to shake, he said. The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, felt the tremors while he was on the Thai-Myanmar border assessing clinics for refugees that had lost American funding. A decade ago, when major floods hit Myanmar, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, the US was the single largest provider of relief. An image went viral at the time of Derek Mitchell, the US ambassador to Myanmar, distributing seeds to farmers. 'We used to be the first or one of the first to respond,' Mitchell said. 'Now, we're simply not present.'
The Citizen
22-04-2025
- General
- The Citizen
PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
R37 million in jackpots are up for grabs! Here are your PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results. Get the PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results as soon as they are drawn on The Citizen, so you can rest easy and check your tickets with confidence. Estimated jackpots for Tuesday, 22 April 2025: PowerBall jackpot: R18 million guaranteed. PowerBall Plus jackpot: R19 million estimated. PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results for Tuesday, 22 April 2025: PowerBall: 00, 00, 00, 00, 00. Powerball: 00. PowerBall Plus: 00, 00, 00, 00, 00. Powerball: 00. The winning PowerBall numbers will appear after the draw. Usually within 10 minutes of the draw. You might need to refresh the page to see the updated results. While great care has been taken to ensure accuracy, The Citizen cannot take responsibility for any error in the PowerBall or PowerBall Plus results. We suggest verifying the numbers on the National Lottery website. How much does it cost to play PowerBall? Lottery outlets close at 8.30pm on the day of a draw, which happens at 9pm. The terms and conditions may differ from other service outlets. Visit for more information. You can find the historical winning numbers for PowerBall and Lotto draws here. How much does it cost to play PowerBall? PowerBall entries cost R5 per board including VAT. PowerBall Plus costs an additional R2.50 per board. You can also play PowerBall on selected banking apps (T's & C's apply). Visit and go to the How to Play section to find out more.
News24
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
Reflections of the National School of Arts' highs and lows
The National School of Arts (NSA) artistic director, Brenda Sakellarides, began the interview by sharing with City Press that the school was built as the original Johannesburg College of Education more than 100 years ago. The school, built as an institute of higher learning, is reflected in the hostels, as there are no traditional dormitories and the pupils are all accommodated in single rooms. Another striking feature is its enormous tennis court. However, Sakellarides revealed that there were plans to build an amphitheatre in that space, as no tennis is played there. Over time, some of the school's infrastructure began to deteriorate, prompting the closure of parts of the NSA at the advice of engineers. Securing funding for the repairs has been an uphill battle because there are multiple bodies to be contacted for approval. While the NSA managed to overcome the financial difficulties threatening the teachers' salaries last August, time has taken its toll on the buildings. In addition to ceilings on the brink of collapse, some taps were also dripping and the school's electricity needed to be rewired. Sakellarides said: We understand that there are a lot of schools that need attention so we can't take a 'what about us stance'. When [Sports, Arts and Culture] Minister Gayton McKenzie visited the school, he immediately offered to bring maintenance workers and agreed to pay for the art educators as per his department's mandate. "Bathrooms, doors … we suddenly realised that there was a lot to be done. Because if you fix one thing, other things start jumping at you too to say 'fix me too'," she chuckled. McKenzie's R2 million cash injection ensured that the teachers were taken care of until the end of last year. However, Sakellarides explained that teachers are also safe this year as a result of some of them being members of the school governing body, and others having been moved to the Gauteng Department of Education. The minister also committed to 35 bursaries, as the school is more talent-focused than the school fees demand. To qualify, pupils must be orphans, Sakellarides explained. Twitter NSA X page While some of the disadvantaged pupils end up shining above the rest artistically, the reality is that they need sponsorships. Ideally, the school, which currently has 460 pupils, needs 65% of paying parents in order to sustain itself adding that fees cost R37 000 per year, payable over ten months, with some pupils qualifying for school fee exemption. Braamfontein, where the school is situated, bears its own challenges including being linked to drug activity. Matric learners from St Mary's School, Waverley's School, and the National School of Arts had the opportunity to learn about a world of diverse career opportunities beyond traditional university paths. — Rosebank Killarney (@RK_Gazette) April 16, 2025 Given its geographic location, the school has heightened its security controls and is extra vigilant in monitoring the large campus. NSA students, as aspiring artists, may be more vulnerable than their peers—especially to drug use—given how many industry professionals have admitted to struggling with substance dependency at some point in their careers. The socioeconomic issues they may face, coupled with the pressures of being budding creatives, mean they often require extra emotional support and guidance. Sakellarides gave assurance: We have a partnership with the JPCCC [the Johannesburg Parent Child Counselling Centre] who place counsellors at the school for one-on-one therapy sessions. Intern counselling psychologists from the counselling and careers development unit at Wits [University] spend a year at the NSA. "Our school-based support team works conscientiously to monitor the vulnerable learners. If substance abuse is suspected, the learner will be tested and appropriate disciplinary steps taken. There is always a focus on remedial and restorative measures [we are] aware that substance abuse is often a cry for help," she added. On a more positive note, the school is situated in a cultural and educational precinct with neighbours such as the Joburg Theatre, the Human Rights Commission and others. City Press Mbali Mbatha The NSA's music department boasts more than 30 practice rooms, including the Beethoven room, which is to be renamed after late South African jazz legend Gloria Bosman. Sakellarides said it was important for an institution hailed as the leading arts school in Africa to reflect the continent's legacy. She beamed: I cannot specify a time yet but some time in the foreseeable future, the school is going to become the home of a Bösendorfer grand piano from the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Keeping up with the Joneses, the NSA has introduced digital arts into its curriculum and extension programme offering. This includes a digital orchestra, multimedia for the art students and technology-based innovations for those doing drama. The NSA rivals the other schools in Braamfontein in terms of size and Sakellarides acknowledges that maintaining a space of that magnitude had been no walk in the park. @GaytonMcK Minister of DSAC shares some of his proudest moments during his 100 Days in Office briefing at @MarketTheatre, including how the National School of Arts was rescued @City_Press — Women Love Each Other (@mbathambali493) October 17, 2024 Some Grade Eight pupils shared with City Press that the biggest challenge coming from traditional primary schools to an arts high school was balancing academics and artistry. However, they revealed that the transition became easier after a while, allowing them to thrive at the NSA. Pupil Masa Mchavi explained: We have a choir. We have dance and other activities we participate in outside our school schedule. Some say it's a lot, but it eventually becomes a daily routine. We struggled in January [when we started], but we are okay now. Natasha Mzwane described the NSA as a school that breeds multitaskers and advised aspirant pupils to have a balanced schedule and make time to sleep. Simphiwe Ndhlovu added: "There is no school better than the NSA and I proudly say that. We are the top performing school and if the NSA were to close down, there is no future because there is no other school like it." Mzwane added that the closure of the NSA would mean no musicians, arguing that it allowed them to express themselves in ways that other schools could not.
