News 12:00

BULLETIN 7 February 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The national flag is flying at half-mast in honour of the fallen SANDF soldiers
# South Korea orders airports to install bird detection cameras after December’s deadly crash
# And rugby: Italy makes one change for the clash with Wales in the Six Nations

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the national flag be flown at half-mast for a week, to honour the 14 South African National Defence Force soldiers who died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The soldiers died while fighting Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the eastern DRC. In his state of the nation address, Ramaphosa paid tribute to the fallen soldiers, who were part of a peacekeeping mission:

# The Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls for urgent action against Israel’s attacks on Palestinians following the United States’ controversial plan for Gaza. They accuse president Donald Trump’s administration of supporting a genocidal agenda, which includes the forced displacement of Palestinians and turning Gaza into a luxury resort under US control. The campaign’s Martin Jansen urges international leaders to reject such rhetoric and pursue a peaceful, just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

# All South Korean airports will need to install bird detection cameras and thermal imaging radars after an air crash in December killed 179 people. Investigators say they had found evidence of a bird strike on the Boeing 737-800 plane, with feathers and blood stains found on both the plane’s engines. The Ministry of Land says bird detection radars will be installed at all airports with at least one thermal imaging camera required per airport. Sites that attract birds, like rubbish dumps, must also be moved away from airports.

# Rugby: Italy’s coach, Gonzalo Quesada, made one change to his team for tomorrow’s Six Nations clash with Wales in Rome which may well decide who ends up with the wooden spoon. Dino Lamb replaces fellow lock Niccolo Cannone. The rest of the starting team is unchanged after last weekend’s 31-19 loss to Scotland. Lamb’s demotion to the bench may be in response to the failure of the Italian pack to get the better of the Scots at the breakdown, which prevented their sparkling backs to test their opponents’ defence.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-42-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-907-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-865-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-72-cents a barrel.

# And finally: University of Johannesburg alumna and newly crowned Mrs World, Tshego Gaelae, says she remains focused on her core purpose, advocating for education, social impact, and breaking barriers for women and young people. She is a practising attorney, advocate for education, and founder of the non-profit organisation, We Are Our Children’s Keeper. Gaelae says the organisation is dedicated to providing school shoes and uniforms to underprivileged children. The university says her dedication to uplifting communities is a reflection of UJ’s values, impact, transformation, and leadership.

Stay tuned for more news………….