News 15:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 1 August 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa condemns the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
# The ANC claims the MK Party trademark could mislead voters in future elections
# And, the Olympic Games: Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are still on course for the tennis gold medal match

# The South African government has condemned the targeted assassination of Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in an airstrike in Tehran, Iran, yesterday. South Africa calls for a thorough investigation and restraint from all parties to avoid escalating regional tensions. International Relations and Cooperation minister Ronald Lamola emphasises that such extrajudicial killings violate international law and hinder peace efforts in the Middle East. He expresses condolences to the Haniyeh family and the people of Palestine.

# The ANC argues that the MK Party’s continued use of its former armed wing’s name and logo could damage its reputation in future elections. The battle over MK’s trademark continues in the High Court in Durban today. In April, the court ruled the ANC’s argument about voter confusion does not hold. Appealing the judgment, the ANC’s lawyer, Gavin Marriot, claims the trademark infringement will cause ongoing harm to the ANC: 

Meanwhile, political analyst Levy Ndou says the ANC must go back to basics and focus on the party’s role in the government of national unity. This follows its loss of an outright majority in the May elections. The ANC’s national executive committee will hold a Lekgotla in Boksburg from Sunday to Tuesday. It is expected to outline policy programmes based on manifesto priorities. Ndou emphasised to the SABC the need for the ANC to restore public confidence through effective programmes:

# The arrival of La Niña weather conditions is expected to benefit West African cocoa producers after nearly a decade of higher temperatures caused by El Niño. La Niña will bring lower temperatures and increased rainfall, potentially improving cocoa crop yields. This weather pattern, predicted to begin between August and October, offers hope for better cocoa harvests in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. However, challenges remain, including access to fertiliser and disease control.

# Olympic Games: Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Spaniard Carlos Alcazaz are still on course to fight it out for tennis gold in Paris. Both are through to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles. Top-seeded Djokovic will face Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece next, while second-seeded Alcaraz plays American Tommy Paul. Norwegian Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Alliassime of Canada, Alexander Zverev of Germany and Italian Lorenzo Musetti are the other men in the quarterfinals. The gold medal match will be played on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-19-cents and the euro at 19-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-24-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-520-dollars-13-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-435-dollars-79-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-58-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….