News 08:00

BULLETIN 7 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa appoints Ayanda Dlodlo as ambassador to France
# Israel continues to launch strikes on targets in southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire
# And soccer: Donald Trump confirms he called the FIFA boss about Folarin Balogun’s red card

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed former State Security minister, Ayanda Dlodlo, as South Africa’s ambassador-designate to France. She will succeed Nathi Mthethwa, who died in September last year after serving as ambassador since 2024. Sixty-three-year-old Dlodlo has held various cabinet positions under former president Jacob Zuma and Ramaphosa. She held the security portfolio during the deadly July 2021 riots and resigned in April 2022, when she took up a position at the World Bank. Dlodlo’s appointment comes ahead of Ramaphosa’s two-day working visit to France later this week.

Meanwhile, the DA has slammed Ramaphosa’s decision to appoint Dlodlo as South Africa’s new ambassador to France to replace the late Nathi Mthethwa. The party has accused the president of placing the interests of ANC cadres above those of the country and its foreign policy. The DA’s Ryan Smith says Dlodlo is severely compromised and lacks the requisite integrity and skill to be trusted with any form of economic diplomacy and international trade:

# Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, has called on communities to protect school infrastructure, saying every classroom, sanitation facility, and school preserved is an investment in the community’s future. All three-thousand-372 schools identified in the 2018 Sanitation Appropriate for Education initiative have now been provided with safe and appropriate sanitation facilities. Gwarube says the successful completion of the backlog does not suggest that every pit toilet in the country has been eradicated. She says some schools had developed new sanitation challenges or were not included in the original 2018 audit.

# The Israeli military carried out several strikes in Lebanon on Monday, including a drone strike on a car that killed four people. A school principal, her mother, a foreign domestic worker, and a Syrian citizen were killed. Israel has continued to launch strikes on targets in southern Lebanon, saying it is targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah sites and fighters, despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreement signed two weeks ago. At least four-thousand-319 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since March 2nd, while over 1.2-million people have been displaced.

# Soccer: USA president Donald Trump has admitted that he personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review American striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension at the World Cup. The 25-year-old was set to miss his side’s last-16 tie against Belgium after being shown a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the round of 32. FIFA decided to suspend Balogun’s one-match ban for 12 months. Trump says FIFA made the right decision:

# 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-73-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-264-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-131-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….