News 08:00

BULLETIN 3 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Election Commission welcomes the positive response to the final voter registration weekend
# South Africa prepares for a new adult TB vaccine
# And, Team SA returns with 28 medals from the Commonwealth Games

# The Electoral Commission says South Africans responded positively to the final voter registration weekend ahead of the local government elections in November. A preliminary report shows that KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of voter registration transactions, followed by the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. During the first voter registration weekend held on 20 and 21 June, over three million registration transactions were recorded. IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo says hopefully minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, will proclaim the election date soon:

# The Health Department has welcomed progress made towards a new tuberculosis vaccine and confirmed preparatory work to ensure timely access for South Africans. This forms part of ongoing efforts to eliminate this epidemic as a public health threat by the year 2030. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale says a vaccine that prevents TB disease in adolescents and adults will be a game-changer for TB control and elimination, both globally and here in South Africa:

# Western Cape police have launched a manhunt following the killing of four men in Nyanga, Cape Town, on Saturday night. Police spokesperson Andrè Traut says the victims were travelling in a Toyota Avanza along Old Klipfontein Road when they stopped to repair a flat tyre. He says while they were attending to the vehicle, they came under attack by unknown gunmen who opened fire on them. The victims were declared dead on the scene. Traut says the motive for the killings could be taxi-related:

# Russia and Ukraine exchanged fresh attacks over the weekend, leaving at least 14 people dead. Officials say Ukrainian attacks killed at least nine people in Moscow, while Russian strikes claimed the lives of at least five people in Kyiv. Russia has ramped up its use of hard-to-intercept long-range missiles. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his plea for Western nations to provide much-needed air defence systems to protect cities and critical infrastructure from aerial attacks. Zelensky says the shortage of anti-ballistic interceptors only encourages Russia to carry out more deadly strikes.

# Commonwealth Games: Team South Africa won 28 medals at the 23rd Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, seven gold, eleven silver and ten bronze medals. The swimmers accounted for the majority of the country’s medals with 22, with Pieter Coetzé completing a clean sweep of the backstroke events and setting six Games records in the process. Chad le Clos became the most decorated athlete in the history of the Games, winning three medals in Glasgow, to bring his medal tally to 21 across five Games and 16 years. Australia finished top with 171 medals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-47-cents and the euro at 18-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-968-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-63-dollars-72-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-52-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….