News 09:00

BULLETIN 28 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The cabinet welcomes the adoption of a convention against gender violence by the African Union
# Today is the last day for spaza shop registration
# And Donald Trump says a US-UK trade deal is imminent

# Cabinet has welcomed the adoption of the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, a legal instrument aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls across Africa. Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told the media the adoption of the legally binding framework follows a historic decision by AU heads of state in February 2023:

# Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, is urging spaza shop owners and food-handling outlets to make sure they are registered. Today is the deadline for registration. Over 20 children died last year from suspected food poisoning after eating snacks bought from various spaza shops across the country. President Cyril Ramaphosa called for the registration to address food safety and to regulate the industry. Ndabeni-Abrahams says all outlets must be compliant with municipal by-laws:

# ActionSA in Tshwane says it is concerned about the exorbitant, unauthorised, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure incurred for the 2023/2024 financial year under the previous DA-led administration. The metro has racked up over five-billion-rand in unauthorised, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure from July first 2023, to 30th June 2024. This period was a few months before the current administration came into office. ActionSA’s, Tshepiso Modiba, says that under former DA mayor Cilliers Brink, about three-billion-rand in fruitless and wasteful expenditure was recorded:

# US president Donald Trump says he envisages a real trade deal between the US and UK happening very quickly. This could see the UK avoid the kind of tariffs the president has been threatening on some of America’s other trading partners. Trump met with UK prime minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday. Successive British governments have sought a trade deal with the US since the country’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Trump says the trade deal will be beneficial for both countries:

# Tennis: Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor recorded the biggest win of his career as he stunned top seed Daniil Medvedev to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Championships. The 28-year-old saved four match points on his way to a 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 victory against the Russian. Griekspoor will face Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated Italian Matteo Berrettini, 7-6, 1-6, 6-4, to reach his first semifinal since July last year. The other semifinal will see Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime take on qualifier Quentin Halys of France.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-49-cents and the euro at 19-rand-21-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-491-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-860-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-13-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….