News 08:00

BULLETIN 17 June 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa increases South Africa’s contribution to the Ebola response effort
# Peet Viljoen is arrested shortly after arriving at OR Tambo Airport
# And, Iran says the war is not over without Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will increase its financial contribution to the Ebola response effort to approximately 218.7-million-rand, up from around 81-million-rand. The Democratic Republic of Congo has 837 confirmed Ebola cases with 196 deaths, while Uganda has recorded 19 cases with two deaths. Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the African Union Champion for Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention and Response, participated in a virtual meeting on the outbreak yesterday. He called upon international partners to continue to stand with Africa in a spirit of solidarity:

# ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says they are open to forming co-governments and coalitions in local government, but they have three uncompromising conditions. Ahead of the local government elections in November, ActionSA has merged with smaller political parties, aiming to turn around its poor showing in the 2024 general elections, where it garnered 1.2-percent of the national vote. Mashaba told the SABC that they will work with any political party that puts South Africans first and is committed to stable, functional municipalities that deliver services:

# South African reality television personality Peet Viljoen was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday evening, after arriving in the country from Newark, New Jersey. According to reports, his arrest is linked to allegations of fraud, theft, and corruption dating back to 2010. Viljoen was deported from the US after spending about 100 days in detention. He and his wife, Mel, a former Real Housewives of Pretoria star, were arrested in Florida in March for allegedly stealing groceries from a supermarket worth around 88-thousand-rand. Mel returned to the country in May.

# Iran’s Foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has cautioned that any ongoing Israeli presence in Lebanon would breach the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and the US, scheduled to be signed on Friday. Lebanon was pulled into the war in early March when Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion. Araghchi says they have insisted from the onset that ending the war in Lebanon was a prerequisite for ending the war with Iran.

# Tennis: Six-time Wimbledon doubles champions Serena and Venus Williams have received a wild card into the women’s doubles draw for the third Grand Slam of the year. Twenty-three-time major champion Serena returned to the sport after four years at Queen’s last week, while Venus returned to the tour last July after a 16-month absence. The Williams sisters have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, the second most by any women’s team in the Open Era. Wimbledon begins on the 29th of this month.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-19-cents and the euro at 18-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-73-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-783-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-332-dollars-57-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-56-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….