News 08:00

BULLETIN 25 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Interpol is supporting South Africa to combat transnational organised crime
# The DA remains adamant the NHI won’t provide universal quality healthcare
# And Joe Biden says the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation [

# Interpol says it is committed to bolstering the global network against transnational organised crime including terrorism, human trafficking, cybercrime, and drug smuggling. Interpol’s secretary general doctor Jürgen Stock is on an official visit to South Africa. Yesterday, he handed over mobile devices to Interpol SA to enhance the South African Police Service’s policing capabilities, including tackling cross-border criminal activities. Stock told the SABC that information sharing is key to dismantling organised crime groups:

# The DA has welcomed the ruling by the High Court in Pretoria, declaring sections 36 to 40 of the National Insurance Health Act invalid and unconstitutional. With these sections, the government would have the power to determine where medical practitioners may practice. The ruling now has to go to the Constitutional Court for confirmation. The DA says it has always been committed to universal quality healthcare for all citizens but remains adamant that the National Health Insurance is not the vehicle for this.

# The Department of Correctional Services carried out a raid at the Johannesburg Correctional Center, commonly known as Sun City yesterday evening. Cellphones, marijuana, screwdrivers, knives, and wifi routers are some of the things that were seized inside the cells. National Correctional Services Commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale, says the raid was aimed at rooting out the smuggling of contraband within the prison:

# US president Joe Biden says he ended his re-election bid to unite his party and the country. He addressed the nation from the Oval Office after stepping aside as the Democratic candidate for the November election last weekend, following mounting pressure over concerns about his fitness for office. He says for the next six months he will be focused on doing his job including defending the right to vote and the right to choose, as well as calling out hate extremism:

# Olympic Games: The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City but warned they could be stripped of the Games if US authorities kept up their feud with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Salt Lake City, which hosted the Games in 2002, was the only candidate to stage the winter sports spectacular. Chairman of the IOC’s legal commission, John Coates, said the host city contract had been altered to allow the IOC to remove the Games if US authorities did not respect the supreme authority of WADA.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-40-cents and the euro at 19-rand-96-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-269-dollars-74-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-371-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-8-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….