News 08:00

BULLETIN 25 September 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa says efforts are underway to bridge the gap in global health financing
# The Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27 are against plans to close UNAIDS
# And netball: The Baby Proteas are through to the World Youth Cup quarterfinals

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says conflict, displacement, economic shocks, and the climate emergency have reversed hard-won gains in health and development. He co-chaired the Global Leaders Network event on Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health in New York. Ramaphosa says since last year, many critical programmes for women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health have collapsed or face severe cuts. He says it is necessary to close the health financing gap left by the withdrawal of official development assistance for global health:

# The Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27 have strongly opposed the imminent plans to shut down UNAIDS, saying this will have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. The United Nations agency focusing on the HIV/AIDS pandemic could close by the end of next year, as it copes with the fallout from US foreign aid cuts. SECTION27 executive director,  Sasha Stevenson, says closing UNAIDS now would undermine decades of progress and weaken global coordination of the HIV response.

# Eskom says all safety-critical systems at the Koeberg nuclear power station in Cape Town are fully functional, carefully monitored, and continuously improved in line with strict nuclear safety standards. This follows reports that the vital monitoring system at the power station has malfunctioned, and tests have been repeatedly delayed. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena says they will continue to invest in its safety systems, infrastructure, and personnel to ensure that Koeberg remains a reliable, secure, and compliant source of energy for South Africa:

# A shooting at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas has left one immigration detainee dead and two others injured. Officials say a preliminary investigation determined the suspect had opened fire from an adjacent building, shooting indiscriminately at the ICE building, including at a van where the victims were shot. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. FBI special agent Joe Rothrock says they are investigating this incident as an act of targeted violence:

# Netball: The South African under-21 team are through to the quarterfinals of the Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar. The Baby Proteas retained their unbeaten run at the tournament with a comfortable 85-35 victory over Fiji in their final Pool D match. South Africa, whose best-ever finish at the tournament is fifth, will face the Cook Islands today for a place in the semifinals. The other quarterfinalists are defending champions New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, England, Jamaica, and Malawi.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-31-cents and the euro at 20-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 112-thousand-573-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-735-dollars-18-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….