News 11:00

BULLETIN 1 August 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The death toll from the school bus accident in Mpumalanga has risen to six
# Saftu condemns the bullying of a Miss SA contestant over her citizenship
# And rugby: Australia includes six uncapped players in its squad for the Bok Tests

# The death toll from a collision between a learner transport bus and a train on the R-104 road outside Middelburg in Mpumalanga climbed to six. The sixth learner died in hospital. It is understood the driver of the bus was attempting to cross a railway line when the accident happened. He reportedly fled the scene. Transport minister Barbara Creecy has expressed shock at the accident and has called on law enforcement agencies to intensify the road safety campaign.

# The EFF says the current administration has demonstrated no capability to address the country’s urgent problems. The party has rejected the Presidency’s budget in the National Council of Provinces, which has already been approved in the National Assembly. For the 2024/’25 financial year, the Presidency is allocated a budget of 612-million-rand. The EFF’s Mandisa Makesini says president Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure to oversee the economy properly is leading the country to complete collapse:

# Union federation Saftu says it’s appalled by the bullying and outrage towards Miss South Africa contest Chidimma Adetshina over her citizenship. She is at the centre of a debate around her eligibility to participate in the competition because she has a Nigerian father and a South African mother of Mozambican descent. The 23-year-old was born at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and raised in Soweto. Saftu’s spokesperson, Trevor Shaku, says Adetshina’s citizenship should not have been questioned:

# Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, has blamed America for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, claiming it could not have happened without US authorisation and intelligence support. Haniyeh was killed by a strike in Tehran yesterday, which has been blamed on Israel. Iravani told the UN Security Council Haniyeh’s assassination is another manifestation of Israel’s decades-long pattern of terrorism and sabotage targeting Palestinians and their supporters:

# Rugby: Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has included six uncapped players in his 36-man squad for their opening two Rugby Championship Tests against the Springboks in Brisbane and Perth. The uncapped players include Olympic sevens star Corey Toole and Japan-based Marika Koroibete. Angus Bell and 19-year-old Max Jorgensen have both been recalled after missing parts of the Super Rugby season due to injury. Schmidt says he is hopeful that the squad will embrace the challenge of playing South Africa.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-35-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-363-dollars-16-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-443-dollars-20-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-30-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….