News 08:00

BULLETIN 3 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa urges countries not to isolate the DRC amid the Ebola outbreak
# The ANC backs the newly appointed Social Development minister Dina Pule
# And, Iran warns the US and Israel against attacks during the funeral ceremonies for supreme leader, Ali Khamenei

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says he is hopeful that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda will remain contained and not threaten other African regions or the world. In his capacity as the African Union Champion on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, the president undertook a solidarity visit to Kinshasa in the DRC yesterday. More than one-thousand-400 cases and 438 deaths have been confirmed in the DRC alone. Ramaphosa has urged countries not to isolate the DRC:

# ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has defended president Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to appoint Dina Pule as the new minister of Social Development, saying he exercised due diligence before making the appointment. Pule was previously fired from the Cabinet for unethical conduct, after being found to have abused her position in concealing her relationship with businessman Phosane Mngqibisa. He had benefited from their relationship to the tune of a six-million-rand Cape Town ICT Indaba. Mbalula says Pule has learned from her mistakes:

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has called on Eskom to disclose its reported agreement with the City of Johannesburg before considering any electricity supply interruptions. The organisation has also proposed stricter oversight measures, including independent monitoring of electricity revenue and regular public reporting. OUTA’s Julius Kleynhans says while the utility has the right to recover money owed to it, paying residents and businesses should not be punished for the city’s financial failures:

# The Iranian military has warned the US and Israel of harsh and regret-inducing responses if they attack the country during funeral ceremonies for slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Tehran on February 28. Iranian authorities are planning funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei from tomorrow through to next Thursday in locations across Iran and Iraq. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian described Khamenei’s death as “martyrdom”, saying this is the beginning of a new chapter of unity and resilience.

# Tennis: Poland’s Iga Swiatek continued her Wimbledon title defence with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic to reach the third round. Former champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan eased past American Caty McNally, 6-1, 6-2, while last year’s finalist Amanda Anisimova battled past American compatriot ​Sofia Kenin, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6. In the men’s draw, Germany’s Alexander Zverev dispatched Frenchman Valentin Royer 6-1, 6-3, 7-6. Italian Matteo Berrettini defeated Arthur Fils of France, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, while Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov beat Czech Jakub Mensik, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

#And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-22-cents and the euro at 18-rand-55-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-454-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-180-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….