News 12:00

BULLETIN 14 August 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The PSA calls on Home Affairs to support employees following the arson attack in Germiston
# Green Connection welcomes the ruling on TotalEnergies’ drilling project
# And SANParks takes a big step forward for lion conservation in Kgalagadi

# The Public Servants Association is concerned about the safety measures at the Germiston Department of Home Affairs following Tuesday’s fire . The incident occurred during violent protests linked to eviction operations at the nearby Pharoe Park flats, where residents had been occupying municipal housing without paying rent. PSA’s spokesperson, Claude Naiker, says acts of violence and destruction of public infrastructure jeopardise the safety of employees and undermine the provision of essential public services:

# Green Connection has welcomed the Western Cape High Court’s overturning of government’s approval of TotalEnergies’ Block offshore drilling plans. The exploration permission was granted in 2023 in an area between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas. The court ruled that the environmental impact assessment was deeply flawed, failing to address key risks, legal requirements, and public participation. Green Connection’s Shahil Singh says it omitted crucial climate and fairness considerations:

Moving abroad:

# Tomorrow’s summit between US president Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. The two leaders will meet to discuss an end to the more than three-year war in Ukraine, in what will be their first stand-alone summit since a 2018 meeting in Helsinki. The base is the headquarters for entities including Alaska Command, responsible for US forces in the state, as well as the Alaskan NORAD Region, which helps provide aerospace control and warning.

# Cricket: Australia’s batting duo of Matt Short and Mitch Owen, and all-rounder Lance Morris have been ruled out of the upcoming three-match one-day home series against South Africa. Short and Morris are injured, while Owen picked up delayed concussion symptoms after being struck on the helmet by a Kagiso Rabada delivery during the second T20 on Tuesday. The three have been replaced in the squad by Matthew Kuhnemann, Aaron Hardie, and all-rounder Cooper Connolly. The first ODI will be played in Cairns on Tuesday.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-56-cents and the euro at 20-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 121-thousand-901-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-374-dollars-29-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

# And finally: SANParks, in partnership with the Endangered Wildlife Trust, launched a new lion research project in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape, which also extends into Botswana. SANParks’ JP Louw says over the next few months, teams will be out in the field using cameras, tracks, sightings, and other safe, non-invasive methods to gather information. He says each lion has unique features like whisker spots and scars, which will help identify them individually:

Stay tuned for more news………….