News 13:00

BULLETIN 16 April 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Israel launches a diplomatic offensive against Iran 
# The Western Cape premier welcomes the plan to extend Agoa through 2041  
# And swimming: Five South Africans have secured a place at the Paris Olympics 

# Israel launched a diplomatic offensive against Iran, calling on countries to impose sanctions against the Revolutionary Guard. This follows Iran’s attack on Israel in retaliation for a deadly air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on the first of this month. Foreign minister Israel Katz says the diplomatic offensive will run alongside the military response to the attack. Katz sent letters to 32 countries and spoke with Foreign ministers, calling for sanctions to be imposed on the Iranian missile project, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be declared a terrorist organisation.

Meanwhile, stock markets fell and oil prices climbed on growing fears of a wider war in the Middle East, after Israel’s Army chief vowed a response to Iran’s unprecedented attack on his country at the weekend. The selling came after Wall Street’s three main indexes tanked in response to forecast-beating US retail sales data that reinforced the view that the world’s top economy remained in rude health. This further dented hopes for interest rate cuts this year.

# Western Cape premier Alan Winde welcomes the introduction of legislation by US lawmakers that will see the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The legislation will extend Agoa with about 40 sub-Saharan African nations including South Africa until 2041, helping them maintain duty-free access to the world’s biggest economy. Winde says Agoa has benefitted and boosted the province’s economy, particularly the job-creating agriculture sector:

# The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements says it is not sitting idle in the face of challenges posed by so-called construction mafias. Construction projects in the province, worth nearly two-billion-rand, are under threat as construction mafias, once centred in KwaZulu-Natal, proliferate throughout the country. The department’s spokesperson, Tahir Sema, says construction sites in various areas have been affected by these mafias demanding 30-percent of the project’s value:

# Swimming: Five South Africans have secured a place at the Olympic Games in Paris in July after the national championships concluded in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape. Olympic gold medallist Tatjana Smith, formerly Schoenmaker, booked her place in Paris, along with 19-year-old Pieter Coetzé, who won five gold medals at the championships. There were also Olympic qualifying times for Aimee Canny, Kaylene Corbett and Erin Gallagher.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-2-cents and the euro at 20-rand-21-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-67-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-472-dollars-21-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-370-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….