News 13:00

BULLETIN 4 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC in the Western Cape is to remain a robust opposition
# The PSA urges vigilance amid an M-pox outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal
# And chess: A nine-year-old British girl is set to make history in September

# The ANC in the Western Cape says it hopes the government of national unity will positively impact local politics and expedite service delivery. The party aims to remain a robust opposition in the province, despite losing four seats, leaving it with eight in the legislature. Spokesperson Khalid Sayed says they will raise above party-political conflicts and will work with all parties to ensure productive engagement and policy implementation.

# The Public Servants Association is alarmed by the rapid rise of M-pox cases in KwaZulu-Natal, with a third fatality reported since last month. The Department of Health has confirmed 16 cases, mostly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The PSA demands increased testing and support for healthcare workers from the province’s Department of Health. The association’s Mlungisi Ndlovu urges stringent infection control measures, enhanced cleaning protocols, and public vigilance:

# The death toll in the destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl has risen to at least eight after one person died in Jamaica. The hurricane is described as one of the strongest to impact Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. The hurricane, now a category four, was previously the earliest category five on record in the Atlantic. Beryl is heading for the Cayman Islands and is forecast to remain a hurricane until it makes landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula tonight or tomorrow.

# Chess: A nine-year-old British girl is set to make history later this year as the youngest person ever to represent the country in a senior international event. Bodhana Sivanandan from London was included in the national team that will participate in the chess Olympiad in the Hungarian capital of Budapest in September. Her next youngest teammate is 23-year-old Lan Yao. Bodhana started playing chess during the Covid-19 lockdown and became England’s first world youth champion in 25 years in 2022.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-86-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-46-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-129-dollars-40-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-356-dollars-86-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

# And finally: An early artwork by Venetian master Titian, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, has sold for a record-breaking estimated 405-million-rand at an auction in London. The painting which has been stolen several times, was found in a plastic bag at a bus stop in London in 1995 after it was taken from Longleat House in England. Auction house Christie’s Letizia Treves says Titian created the work in the first decade of the 16th century, at the beginning of his career:

Stay tuned for more news………….