News 06:00

BULLETIN 2 July 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The governor of the Reserve Bank says bringing expectations back to target is a priority
# President Ramaphosa will study the Nkabinde Report on the fitness of Andrew Chauke
# And, Iran warns it will respond to threats against its citizens and leadership

# South African Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, says he is concerned that inflation expectations have risen above the central bank’s three-percent target. In response to oil shocks resulting from the Middle East war, the bank raised rates in May for the first time in three years, lifting them by 25 basis points to 7-percent. Kganyago told Bloomberg that core inflation, which strips out energy and food prices, is expected to peak in the first quarter of next year:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has received the report of the Nkabinde enquiry into the fitness of South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Andrew Chauke, to hold office. The enquiry, led by retired Constitutional Court Justice Baaitse Nkabinde, was established in September last year to assess allegations regarding Chauke’s fitness and propriety. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says Ramaphosa had suspended Chauke in July last year pending the outcome of the process:

# The Border Management Authority says the cause of a bus crash near the Beitbridge border in Limpopo on Tuesday is still under investigation. It’s deeply saddened by the accident, which involved a bus transporting foreign nationals for repatriation from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal to Musina. The driver died in the crash, while seven passengers were injured and taken to hospital for treatment. The authority’s Mmemme Mogotsi expressed condolences to the driver’s family and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

# Iranian Foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has warned that any threat against its people and leadership will receive an immediate and powerful response. His remarks come after Israeli Defence minister Israel Katz warned that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “marked for death.” He described the Iranians as “good merchants” trying to extract concessions in negotiations. Araghchi says the terms of the memorandum of understanding, which is intended to lay out a pathway to a long-term agreement between Iran and the US, are crystal clear and public for all to see.

# Cricket: The Proteas Women face co-hostess England in today’s second T20 World Cup semifinal at the Oval in London. Australia awaits the winner in Sunday’s final at Lord’s after easily beating the West Indies in Tuesday’s first semifinal. South Africa’s showing so far this tournament wasn’t very consistent, succumbing to Australia in their first match, followed by an unconvincing victory over Pakistan, a good showing against India, and an 88-run victory over the Netherlands. England is undefeated in the tournament so far.  

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-38-cents and the euro at 18-rand-66-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-443-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-39-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-75-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A total of 50 young scientists from 20 African countries have been selected for this year’s African Stars Fellowship Programme. The programme focuses on training in genomics, diagnostics, vaccine development, and biotechnology entrepreneurship. It is run by Stellenbosch University’s centre for epidemic response and innovation and the Pasteur Institute of Dakar, with support from the Mastercard Foundation. The programme brings together early-career and established researchers for advanced training designed to improve Africa’s capacity in epidemic preparedness and health innovation.

Stay tuned for more news………….