News 16:00

BULLETIN 20 March 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# SAFA praises Amajita Under-20 for an incredible performance at AFCON
# The EU formally adopts a new round of sanctions against Russia
# And: A British athlete sets a new record for running across Australia

# We start off with some good news and first up is Soccer: South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan says Amajita’s 1-0 win over Morocco in Cairo, Egypt, to lift their first Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title, was an incredible performance. He praised coach Raymond Mdaka for his long-term work with the team, saying coaching stability played a big role in their success. Jordaan told the media this shows that South African soccer is in a strong position across all age levels:

And in more good news, South Africa has struck gold once again at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London. The award-winning display, led by renowned horticulturist Leon Kluge and his team, showcased the influence of the Indian and Atlantic oceans on South Africa’s flora. Inspired by the country’s rich coastal biodiversity, the exhibit featured 25-thousand stems of locally grown flowers and fynbos. This victory marks South Africa’s 39th medal over four decades at the world-famous flower show.

# The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Operations Centre has received reports of localised flooding this morning, mainly affecting roadways as stormwater systems struggle with the volume of water. Spokesperson Charlotte Powell says response teams are attending to reported incidents. She says that no major impacts have been recorded so far and that rain is expected to ease by this evening:

# The European Union formally adopted a new round of sanctions on Russia targeting its “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, and threatened more punishment for Moscow for not agreeing a Ukraine truce. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X that more sanctions on Russia are in the works and the longer Russia wages war, the tougher their response will be. The latest sanctions against the Kremlin have been in the pipeline for weeks and were already approved by EU countries last week.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-1-cent and the euro at 20-rand-21-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-985-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-236-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-73-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A British athlete says he has set a new world record for running across Australia, notching up the equivalent of 90 marathons in 35 days. William Goodge started his three-thousand-860 kilometre effort in Western Australia on 15 April, trekking through desert, farmland and forest before finishing at Sydney’s famed Bondi beach yesterday. Averaging about two-and-a-half marathons each day, the English-born endurance runner smashed the previous record of 39 days set in 2023.

Stay tuned for more news………….