News 18:00

BULLETIN 12 February 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Dean Macpherson highlights the DA’s commitment to fighting corruption and mismanagement
# The Human Rights Commission urges the immediate ban of harmful pesticides, especially Terbufos
# And cricket: Sri lanka pulls off a stunning ODI victory against Australia

# Public Works and Infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson says his party, the DA, is committed to fighting corruption and mismanagement within the government of national unity. He was participating in the state of the nation address debate. Macpherson highlighted the significant progress made in his department, which was previously hindered by inefficiency, neglect and corruption. He says a key decision was to release state-owned properties for redevelopment, attracting both public and private sector input:

# The South African Human Rights Commission is calling for an immediate ban on harmful pesticides, particularly Terbufos, after reports of food contamination and serious health risks. This follows the deaths of more than 20 children last year, linked to Terbufos. The commission’s Wisani Baloyi says Parliament’s portfolio committee on Agriculture has agreed to take action and proposed forming a task team to explore alternatives to Terbufos within six months:

# The 38th African Union Summit began in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Leaders from 55 member states will tackle issues of conflicts across Africa and reducing reliance on external aid. This follows US funding cuts and its exit from the World Health Organisation. In addition, a new AU chairperson will also be elected, with Kenya’s Raila Odinga, Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, and Madagascar’s Richard Randriamandrato as frontrunners.

# Cricket: Sri Lanka pulled off a stunning comeback against world champions Australia to clinch a 49-run victory in the first one-day international after a century by captain Charith Asalanka. Defending a modest target of 215, Sri Lanka bowled out the visitors for 165 inside 34 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Asalanka smashed a career-best 127 before chipping in with the crucial wicket of Alex Carey, while Maheesh Theekshana took four wickets for 40 runs to help scuttle Australia’s chase.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-53-cents and the euro at 19-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-900-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-894-dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A truck cabin that was swallowed by a sinkhole near Tokyo in Japan two weeks ago has been located in a nearby sewer pipe. Authorities say it is unclear whether the body inside is that of the missing driver. The sinkhole is believed to be caused by a sewer rupture. Rescuers are unable to enter the pipe due to continuous water flow and high levels of sewer gas. Sinkholes are increasingly common in Japanese cities, as many have ageing sewage pipeline infrastructure.

Stay tuned for more news………….