News 08:00

BULLETIN 12 February 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The South African Medical Association is concerned about US funding
# The FF Plus accuses Andile Mngxitama of hate speech
# And Donald Trump signs an executive order giving Elon Musk more power

# The South African Medical Association has expressed concern at US president Donald Trump’s decision to halt funding for foreign sites supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and all other research funding. Pepfar contributes 17-percent of South Africa’s HIV response funding, with the remainder funded through domestic resources and the Global Fund. The association’s chairperson, doctor Mvuyisi Mzukwa, says the abrupt nature of this decision, coupled with its severe implications for patient care, underscores the gravity of the situation:

# The Freedom Front Plus has complained with the Human Rights Commission and Parliament’s Ethics Committee against MK Party’s, Andile Mngxitama, for hate speech and incitement to violence. In a post on X, Mngxitama wrote, that he agrees with US president Donald Trump that the land thieves must leave SA and go to the USA, adding that the country’s land shall be free of colonialists. FF Plus says such statements cannot be justified in a free and democratic country, much less in a country with a volatile political climate.

# ActionSA says the City of Tshwane’s decisive action plan in just over 100 days, has set a new standard for governance. On Tuesday, mayor Nasiphi Moya presented the achievements of the mayoral executive as part of the 100-day plan, to strengthen the metro’s finances, revitalise the economy, and prioritise service delivery. ActionSA’s spokesperson, Matthew George, says they welcome the progress in finally restoring the dignity of clean drinking water to the residents of Hammanskraal:

# US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing agencies to work with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut staff and limit hiring. The order directs agencies first to initiate large-scale reductions in their workforces, then hire no more than one employee for every four departing employees. Speaking at the White House, tech billionaire Elon Musk, gave a blistering assessment of the federal bureaucracy, which he described as rife with unelected fraudsters:

# Tennis: World number one Aryna Sabalenka and world number three Coco Gauff have been knocked out in the second round of the Qatar Open in Doha. Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Sabalenka of Belarus, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, while Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk saw off American Gauff, 6-2, 7-5. Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, last year’s Wimbledon and French Open runner-up, defeated France’s Caroline Garcia, 6-3, 6-4. American Jessica Pegula beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 6-3, 7-6, and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur knocked out Qinwen Zheng of China, 6-4, 6-2.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-50-cents and the euro at 19-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-308-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-888-dollars-62-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….