News 13:00

BULLETIN 7 October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The South African government confirms the arrival of the flotilla activists in Jordan
# Nathi Mthethwa’s family hopes to bury the late ambassador this weekend
# And the World Health Organisation says millions of children are hooked on vaping

# International Relations and Cooperation minister Ronald Lamola has confirmed the safe arrival of the Global Sumud Flotilla activists in Jordan. He says South African ambassador Tselane Mokuena was present to receive the delegation on behalf of the country. Lamola reiterates government’s profound gratitude to all stakeholders who contributed to this successful outcome through their cooperation and support. He says the delegation is scheduled to arrive at OR Tambo International Airport in Gauteng tomorrow morning:

# The family of South Africa’s late ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, says they hope to bury him on Sunday after the French authorities concluded the postmortem. Mthethwa died last week after reportedly falling from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Paris. His phone was recovered in a nearby park. Family spokesperson Sfiso Buthelezi told Newzroom Afrika Mthethwa’s body will leave France on Thursday and arrive on Friday:

# The Department of Transport has confirmed it issued a flight permit to a Russian aircraft operator, Abakan Air, last month. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Abakan Air for sanctions in June last year, citing the company’s role in transporting Russian military equipment. The Russian IIyushin IL-76 cargo aircraft landed in Upington in the Northern Cape last Thursday with a full load of cargo. The department’s spokesperson, Collen Msibi, says the plane was carrying a civilian helicopter and an acrobatic aircraft:

# Soccer: Seven more World Cup finalists should be confirmed in this week’s Africa qualifiers. Among the favourites are Bafana Bafana, who is now second behind Benin in Group C after being penalised for fielding a defaulter, but has two home games while Benin are playing away twice. Egypt is expected to book its place when taking on Djibouti in Group A tomorrow. Algeria needs only one point in Group G against Somalia, while Cape Verde Islands lead Cameroon by four points in Group D.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-20-cents and the euro at 20-rand-6-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 124-thousand-171-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-961-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-1-cent a barrel.

# And finally: The World Health Organisation says e-cigarettes are fuelling an alarming new wave of nicotine addiction, with millions of children now hooked on vaping. In countries that have the data, children are on average nine times more likely than adults to vape. The UN health agency says the industry was promoting vapes as supposedly less harmful products than cigarettes, but in fact was aggressively targeting young people and getting children addicted. More than 100-million people are vaping, according to the WHO’s first global estimate of e-cigarette use.

Stay tuned for more news………….