News 17:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 12 August 5 pm Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BOSA launches a petition for public access to a national register of sexual offenders
# The DA urges the Health minister to address the Gauteng cancer treatment crisis
# And, soccer: A Tottenham midfielder is in hot water over a laughing gas video

# Build One South Africa has launched a nationwide petition calling for the national register of sexual offenders to be made public and easily accessible. The party argues that the current process for accessing the register, which involves a 150-rand fee and a six-week wait, obstructs transparency and accountability. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, BOSA deputy leader Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster believes that public access is vital for community safety and for deterring sexual offenders:

# The DA is calling on Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi to address the life-threatening cancer treatment crisis in Gauteng. According to the party, over two-thousand-600 cancer patients are awaiting treatment in the province, with many facing deteriorating conditions due to delays, affecting their chances of survival. The DA’s Jack Bloom says the Department of Health has failed to utilise 250-million-rand budgeted for cancer treatment last year, exacerbating the backlog:

# Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other after a fire broke out at the cooling towers of the giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant yesterday. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, says Russian forces had started a fire at the plant, which has been occupied by Moscow’s forces for more than two years. Zaporizhzhia’s Kremlin-installed governor said Ukrainian shelling caused the blaze. The plant has not produced power in more than two years and all six reactors have been in cold shutdown since April.

# Soccer: Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma apologised and admitted he showed a severe lack of judgement after he was recorded inhaling nitrous oxide. Bissouma posted a social media video on Saturday in which he was seen inhaling from a balloon containing the Class C drug known as laughing gas. The 27-year old Mali international is set to face an internal club investigation and could face punishment for his actions. Nitrous oxide possession for recreational use has been a criminal offence in Britain since last year, and can result in a prison sentence.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-19-cents and the euro at 19-rand-87-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-594-dollars-96-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-444-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

# And, finally: SANParks is marking World Elephant Day, highlighting the role of scientific data in managing healthy elephant populations. The commemoration focuses on habitat management and mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. SANParks spokesperson, JP Louw, says South Africa is home to around 44-thousand elephants and the parks manage 75-percent of these elephants, with innovative solutions addressing the challenges of human-elephant interactions:

Stay tuned for more news………….