News 14:00

BULLETIN 24 July 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA criticises the court ruling halting Ramaphosa’s impeachment process
# Standard Bank says steady interest rates have eased the pressure on the agricultural sector
# And scientists find the secret of birdsong diversity

# ActionSA has expressed concern over the Western Cape High Court’s split decision to temporarily halt Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment proceedings against president Cyril Ramaphosa. The party says the ruling prevents Parliament from exercising its constitutional oversight role while legal challenges continue. Spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni argues accountability should not be delayed through prolonged litigation, and warns repeated court applications could weaken Parliament’s powers:

# Standard Bank says the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged has provided welcome relief for the agricultural sector. This is despite inflation ticking higher to five-percent last month. Standard Bank’s Brendan Jacobs has cautioned the agricultural sector continues to face significant external risks, particularly from ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. He says despite these challenges, there are encouraging developments on the food inflation front:

Moving abroad:

# The Philippine Coast Guard has accused its Chinese counterpart of firing water cannon at government vessels today, the third confrontation between the two countries ‌in the South China Sea this week. It says a Chinese vessel at the Scarborough Shoal in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone came within seven metres of a Philippine fisheries boat, with a serious risk of collision. A similar incident took place yesterday. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire waterway, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

# Motorsport: Mercedes’ George Russell describes his season as an emotional rollercoaster after starting it as clear favourite for the world championship title. A battery deployment failure and a collision with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix resulted in his second Did Not Finish. The Briton sits 50 points behind teammate and title rival Kimi Antonelli before this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, but says the championship fight isn’t over:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-86-cents and the euro at 19-rand-20-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-47-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-970-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-60-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 91-dollars-91-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Scientists in France have discovered the building blocks of the incredible diversity of birdsong, regarded as one of the natural world’s most sophisticated forms of sound-based communication. A team analysed over 100-thousand songs from three-thousand bird species and revealed they are all composed of eight fundamental types of sound that the researchers call motifs. A key finding was that the environment the birds evolved in, from tropical forests to temperate landscape, shaped how they compose their songs. If their environment is destroyed, the song may disappear too.

Stay tuned for more news………….