News 14:00

BULLETIN 6 June 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC says coalition negotiations will prioritise the interests of the people
# Saftu criticises the salary hike for public office bearers
#  And cricket: India’s batting coach says the New York pitch was difficult to play on 

# ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula says coalition negotiations will prioritise the people’s interests. The party’s National Executive Committee is meeting in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, today to deliberate on outcomes from the National Working Committee and decide on forming the government. Meanwhile, concerned ANC members are protesting outside the venue, worried about a potential coalition with the DA. Mbalula refuted claims of an existing agreement with the DA, emphasising ongoing discussions with various parties:

# Union federation Saftu says the 2.5-percent increase in the salaries of public office bearers is equivalent to financing extravagance. The public office bearers include members of national and provincial executives, judges, and parliamentary leaders. Saftu’s spokesperson, Trevor Shaku, says the salary increases for some public office bearers are tantamount to rewarding people for bungling the state through their incompetence, mismanagement and corruption:

# Cosatu in the Eastern Cape has pledged its support and solidarity to the victims of the recent floods that devastated different parts of the province. The floods have caused extensive damage to infrastructure. Cosatu’s Mkhawuleli Maleki says the federation is urging government to investigate and start rolling out initiatives to mitigate climate change. Cosatu says more of these inclement weather episodes are bound to happen if nothing is done about climate change.

# The World Health Organisation confirmed Mexico’s first fatal human case of H5N2 bird flu. The 59-year-old patient, with chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension, had no known animal exposure. The virus’s source remains unclear, despite recent outbreaks among poultry in Michoacan and the state of Mexico. The Mexican Health Ministry reported all samples from identified contacts tested negative.

# Cricket: India’s batting coach, Vikram Rathour, has refused to criticise the Nassau County Cricket Stadium’s pitch in New York, saying it is the batters’ responsibility to adapt to difficult conditions. India defeated Ireland by eight wickets in their T20 World Cup opener yesterday. The pitch has been criticised for having excessive seam movement and bounce. Rathour says they cannot change the pitch and therefore their focus is on winning games:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-94-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-22-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-930-dollars-83-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-360-dollars-35-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-65-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….