News 09:00

BULLETIN 2 July 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa is starting with the vaccination of poultry against bird flu
# The controversial televangelist Jimmy Swaggart dies at 90
# And motorsport: F1 has a plan if the Middle East races cannot continue

# The minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has announced the country’s first-ever vaccination of poultry as a proactive measure to minimise the risk of avian flu outbreaks. A vaccination permit has been issued to Astral Foods, authorising the company to vaccinate about 200-thousand broiler birds. This represents approximately 5-percent of Astral’s total breeding stock, valued at an estimated 35-million-rand. Steenhuisen emphasised that the campaign is a vital step to strengthen flock immunity and prevent the devastating economic losses witnessed during previous outbreaks. The 2023 outbreak resulted in millions of birds being culled, affecting both producers and consumers.

# The Gauteng Department of Health says it will remain on high alert following scheduled water supply interruptions that affected health facilities in Johannesburg. Rand Water has commenced with its infrastructure maintenance at Eikenhof, Zwartkopjes, and Palmiet pumping stations that will last until 21 of this month. The department’s spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, says the Helen Joseph Hospital is currently experiencing water supply interruptions affecting parts of the hospital and surrounding communities:

# The GOOD Party says gun violence continues to plague the Western Cape. It says the City of Cape Town remains disturbingly unprepared, and seemingly unwilling, to confront the root causes of the crisis. The party says, according to the Crime Statistics, over one-thousand people were murdered in the province between January and March this year. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron:

# The American televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who visited South Africa in the 80s, has died at the age of 90, after being in poor health for a while. The Louisiana native was best known for being a captivating Pentecostal preacher with a massive following before being caught on camera with a prostitute in New Orleans in 1988. He became one of a string of successful TV preachers brought down by sex scandals. Swaggart resigned from the Assemblies of God shortly after the church said it was defrocking him for rejecting the punishment it had ordered for moral failure.

# Motorsport: Formula One has a plan should season-ending races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi be affected by conflict in the Middle East. Iran responded to US participation in Israel’s 12-day air war last month by firing missiles at a US airbase in Qatar, just across the Gulf from Iran. Qatar is due to host the penultimate round of the championship on 30 November, with Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina following on 7 December.  F1’s chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, said Formula One is in daily contact with promoters in the Middle East to monitor the situation.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-60-cents and the euro at 20-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 106-thousand-252-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-339-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-97-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….