News 11:00

BULLETIN 14 July 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Hlabisa calls for greater collaboration as the winter initiation death toll rises to 35
# Trump says a deal with Iran is still possible despite renewed attacks
# And golf: The injured Louis Oosthuizen withdraws from the British Open

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, says the continued loss of lives and incidents recorded during initiation seasons are concerning. Thirty-five initiates died during the current winter season, with 75 hospitalised and 180 rescued from illegal initiation. Twelve abductions have been reported and 40 suspects were arrested in 130 criminal cases. Spokesperson Pearl Maseko-Binqose says much more must be done collectively to eliminate preventable deaths, injuries and criminal activities:

# Public Interest SA says the repeated failure of key witnesses to appear before the Madlanga commission, often citing last-minute medical emergencies, is becoming a serious public concern. Investigating Directorate Against Corruption head, Andrea Johnson, failed to appear yesterday after being hospitalised. She joins a list of witnesses who had fallen sick shortly before testifying. Public Interest SA says where circumstances warrant, the commission should conduct independent medical verification to ensure postponements are genuine and do not erode public confidence.

# Police arrested 13-thousand-and-20 suspects for various criminal offences during nationwide Shanela operations last week. Among those arrested are one-thousand-886 wanted for serious and violent crimes, including murder, rape, armed robbery, and hijacking. Spokesperson Amanda van Wyk says two-thousand-and-89 illegal immigrants were also arrested for contravening the Immigration Act, of which 801 were apprehended in Gauteng:

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump still believes a deal with Iran can be reached, despite renewed military escalation. The US military carried out a third consecutive night of strikes against Tehran, targeting military assets including coastal surveillance systems, drone and missile capabilities. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted and destroyed several weapons-support warehouses, a satellite communications centre, and a building housing US forces in Bahrain. Trump says they will keep striking until the threat is gone:

# Golf: South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen has withdrawn from both the 154th British Open and LIV Golf’s UK event in Rocester due to a back injury. The 43-year-old, who won the 2010 Open at St Andrews, says his priority now is to focus on his recovery so he can return to competition. South African Aldrich Potgieter will replace Oosthuizen as the first alternate for the Open, starting at Royal Birkdale in England on Thursday. German Matti Schmid and Britain’s Andrew Wilson are now the first and second alternates, respectively.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-47-cents and the euro at 18-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-529-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-27-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….