News 16:00

BULLETIN 25 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa signs a key pre-deal with the US days before the 30-percent tariff deadline
# Doctors without Borders says a quarter of all children in Gaza are malnourished
# And rugby: Former Lions captain Martin Johnson fires up the squad before the second Test against Australia

# South Africa has signed a key agreement with the US trade representative, days before new import tariffs are set to take effect. From 1 August, the US plans to raise tariffs on most South African exports from 10- to 30-percent, excluding key minerals like platinum and chrome. Trade, Industry and Competition minister Parks Tau confirmed the agreement during the department’s budget vote in the National Council of Provinces, calling it a key step toward a final trade deal:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for an end to parachuted development where national projects are planned without input from local communities. During talks with the Northern Cape government in Kimberley, Ramaphosa said such top-down approaches have wasted resources and deepened mistrust between communities and the government. He urged better coordination to improve services and support the province’s growth as a clean energy and industrial hub:

Moving abroad:

# Doctors Without Borders says a quarter of all young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its clinics in Gaza last week were malnourished. The medical aid group says Israeli authorities’ deliberate use of starvation as a weapon in Gaza has reached unprecedented levels, with patients and healthcare workers themselves now fighting to survive. It says its staff in the besieged and war-torn Palestinian territory were receiving growing numbers of malnourished patients.

# Rugby: The British and Irish Lions were fired up by a pep talk from former English great Martin Johnson. The World Cup-winning captain of 2003, who also led the Lions to a series victory over the Springboks in 1997, spoke to the touring squad before tomorrow’s second Test against Australia in Melbourne. Johnson stressed the importance of staying calm in big games and sticking to the fundamentals. The match will be played in front of 95-thousand spectators. The Lions won the first of three Tests.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-74-cents and the euro at 20-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 116-thousand-435-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-342-dollars-1-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-69-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the National Sea Rescue Institute says drowning remains one of the leading causes of death among children worldwide, with over 236-thousand lives lost annually. Marking World Drowning Prevention Day, the institute calls for greater awareness and action to prevent these tragedies. NSRI spokesperson Andrew Ingram says the institute has already reached over five-million people with water safety training and deployed more than one-thousand-800 pink rescue buoys, saving at least 221 lives:

Stay tuned for more news………….