News 08:00

BULLETIN 19 June 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA welcomes South Africa’s progress in exiting the greylist
# Cosatu urges swift action to stave off the pending July fuel hike
# And Netanyahu says Israel is committed to its fight against Iran and Hamas

# The DA welcomes the Financial Action Task Force plenary’s decision to upgrade South Africa’s progress on the final two reforms necessary to exit the greylist. The country has completed all 22 recommended action items outlined in the action plan. South Africa was placed on the grey list due to deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. The DA’s, Wendy Alexander, says exiting and staying off the greylist requires sustained change and implementation:

# Cosatu is urging swift action by the government to stave off a pending July fuel price hike. Mid-month data from the Central Energy Fund shows that a sharp surge in global oil prices due to escalations of war in the Middle East has pushed local fuel price recoveries into negative territory. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Matthew Parks, says the government must put in place urgent measures to help cushion workers and the economy from a pending and likely very painful fuel price hike next month:

# The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa says a task team has been established following extensive negotiations with Denel management to find a sustainable way to fund the wage increases. Members of the union picketed outside the Denel headquarters in Centurion yesterday, demanding the implementation of a seven-percent wage increase. Numsa’s spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, says Denel has stated that it cannot afford to implement the wage increase because it would be unsustainable in the long term:

# Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the operation to eliminate Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile threat was moving forward. Israel and Iran continue to trade strikes, with the Israeli military saying it has hit military targets in Tehran and Iran claiming to fire ballistic missiles toward Israel. Netanyahu says they are also committed to defeating Hamas and to rescuing the remaining hostages in Gaza. He thanked US president Donald Trump for his support.

# Rugby: Several players could make their debuts for Argentina in tomorrow’s match against the British and Irish Lions in Dublin, Ireland. The Lions use the encounter as preparation for their tour of Australia which starts against Western Force in Perth next weekend. Hooker Bautista Bernascone, prop Boris Wenger and scrumhalf Simon Benitez Cruz could play their first Tests from the bench. Coach Felipe Contepomi realises the Lions will be a big challenge, but has the utmost confidence in his group, captained by veteran hooker Julian Montoya.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-3-cents and the euro at 20-rand-66-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-91-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-370-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-10-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….