News 18:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 13 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa seeks to align its foreign policy with economic interests
# An economist calls for urgent economic reforms to address rising unemployment
# And, soccer: Erling Haaland is in the hunt to win his second successive Player of the Year award

# Government plans to align foreign policy with economic interests, signaling a shift under what it deems to be a new business-friendly coalition government. International relations minister Ronald Lamola stressed the integration of efforts across trade, finance, and foreign policy to boost foreign direct investment and support domestic industrialisation. This realignment aims to repair strained relationships with key Western trading partners. Lamola says despite the focus on economic growth, South Africa maintains its firm stance against Israel’s actions in Gaza, exploring United Nations Security Council enforcement options.

# Economic expert Raymond Parsons urges immediate economic reforms to address the rising unemployment rate, which has climbed to 33.5-percent according to the latest quarterly labour force survey. Parsons says weak economic growth and disappointing gross domestic product figures highlight the need for urgent structural changes. He calls for accelerated reforms to stimulate job-rich growth and improve business confidence, aiming to reduce unemployment, particularly among the youth, and create a more sustainable economic future: 

# The ANC’s Dada Morero is now poised to be elected the next mayor of the City of Johannesburg. The mayoral committee member for Finance has emerged as the ANC’s top choice for the role, following the resignation of Kabelo Gwamanda under intense pressure from opposition parties and civil society. Briefing the media, ANC regional secretary, Sasabona Manganye says Morero, who served briefly as mayor in 2022, will lead the city and tackle ongoing service delivery issues: 

# Iran has rejected Western calls to stand down its threat to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month. The Islamic Republic and its allies have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s killing during a visit to the Iranian capital for the swearing-in of president Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not commented. Iran has vowed to avenge the death, which came hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.

# Soccer: Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is in the hunt to win a second successive Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award after being nominated alongside team-mates Phil Foden and Rodri. Haaland scored 38 goals in all competitions as City lifted an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title. Rodri was a key figure in City’s midfield during their latest Premier League triumph and also helped Spain win Euro 2024. England playmaker Foden scored 27 goals for Pep Guardiola’s men last season.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-16-cents and the euro at 19-rand-89-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-587-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-472-dollars-15-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-30-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….