News 07:00

BULLETIN 11 June 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Patriotic Alliance says it is committed to a government of national unity
# The EFF’s application challenging the contempt of Parliament ruling is dismissed
# And Malawi’s president appeals for international help to find the missing plane carrying the country’s vice president

# The Patriotic Alliance says it remains open to participating in a government of national unity and is actively in discussions with other political parties. The party garnered 2.05-percent of votes in the May 29 election, giving it eight seats in Parliament. Party leader Gayton McKenzie has claimed that some individuals in the ANC were trying hard to convince them to stay out of the government of national unity, to oust president Cyril Ramaphosa. The party says now is the time to overcome political differences and focus on the country’s development.

# The South African Human Rights Commission has urged political parties to prioritise service delivery and human rights when negotiating the models of coalitions. The DA and IFP, the second and fifth-largest parties have expressed interest in joining a government of national unity punted by the ANC. The commission, Wisani Baloyi, says parties must draw lessons from the negative experiences of local government coalitions during negotiations:

# The Western Cape High Court has dismissed the EFF’s application to invalidate the National Assembly rules that saw the legislative body take action against six party members. Last year, the members, including leader Julius Malema and deputy president Floyd Shivambu, stormed the stage while president Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the State of the Nation Address. They were found guilty of contempt of Parliament and suspended for 30 days with no pay. The EFF’s spokesperson, Leigh-Ann Mathys, says they will appeal this ruling:

# Malawi’s president Lazarus Chakwera has requested assistance from the US, Israel, UK, and neighbouring countries, to find the aircraft carrying his vice-president, Saulos Chilima, and nine others. The defence force aircraft went off the radar when it left the capital Lilongwe yesterday morning and failed to land in Mzuzu. Chilima was on his way to the funeral of a former cabinet minister. Chakwera says all efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar have so far failed:

# Rugby: Flanker Tom Curry has been named in England’s squad for their tour of Japan and New Zealand despite an injury-wrecked season. Seven players from Premiership champions Northampton are also included. Curry is part of a 36-strong group that departs Britain tomorrow despite playing just 34 minutes since last year’s World Cup. The 25-year-old back-row recovered from a hip injury in time to make a brief appearance in Sale’s Premiership play-off semi-final defeat by Bath on 1 June.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-74-cents and the euro at 20-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-87-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-114-dollars-52-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-302-dollars-75-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A new study has found that brightly coloured plastics degrade into microplastics quicker than plain coloured ones. A study by researchers from the University of Cape Town and the University of Leicester shows that pigments like red, blue, and green accelerate plastic breakdown, potentially increasing environmental harm. These findings, based on both rooftop exposure and beach samples, suggest manufacturers should reconsider the use of certain colorants to mitigate microplastic pollution.

Stay tuned for more news………….