RADIO BULLETIN NO: 02 FOR 08H00

HERE IS TODAY’S BULLETIN FOR 08H00
TUESDAY, 02 JUNE 2026
NAMIBIA PRESS AGENCY

1 (VICTORIA FALLS, 02 JUN, NEW ZIANA) - The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has called for urgent and coordinated regional action to strengthen food security, climate resilience and agricultural systems in the face of growing threats posed by global supply chain disruptions, climate change and livestock diseases.

SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration, Angèle Makombo N'Tumba made the call while addressing the joint meeting of SADC Ministers responsible for agriculture, food security, fisheries and aquaculture in Victoria Falls late last week.

She warned that worsening climate shocks and geopolitical conflicts were placing millions of people at risk of hunger and economic hardship.

N'tumba said disruptions in global supply chains and extreme weather patterns were threatening food and energy security across the region.

She said the conflict in the Middle East had disrupted the movement of key agricultural inputs and petroleum products through the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in rising food and fuel prices and increasing pressure on regional economies.

N'Tumba noted that while some SADC member states had recorded bumper harvests, others were battling crop losses, damaged infrastructure and livestock deaths caused by excessive rainfall and climate-related disasters.

She warned that climate experts were predicting a 77 per cent likelihood of a moderate-to-very-strong El Niño event developing towards the end of 2026 and into early 2027, which could trigger below-average rainfall and severe harvest failures across central and southern parts of the region.

N'Tumba said agriculture remained the backbone of the SADC region, sustaining more than 70 per cent of the population through food production, trade and related value chains.
NEW ZIANA

2 (TEHRAN, 02 JUN, AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Iran talks were moving at a "rapid pace" despite the negotiations to end the Mideast war appearing in deep trouble yesterday, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards warning of new fronts.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Tehran had suspended dialogue with mediators in protest at Israel's expanding offensive in Lebanon, with Israel saying it would once again target Beirut's southern suburbs.

"Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Trump said in a social media post made shortly after another post in which he said he had persuaded Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah to de-escalate.

Weeks of indirect talks between the US and Iran marked by threats and several waves of air strikes have so far failed to bring about an end to the war or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas.

The latest US-Iran exchange of fire overnight coincided with Israel expanding its ground offensive in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to push deeper into the country and instructing his military to strike "terror targets" in Beirut's southern suburbs.
AFP

3 (BEIRUT, 02 JUN, AFP) - The UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting on the war in Lebanon, as Israel pounded the country and pressed its deepest offensive into Lebanese territory in two decades yesterday.

Ahead of the meeting, US President Donald Trump posted on social media that he had persuaded Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate, hours after Israel threatened to again target Beirut's densely populated southern suburbs.

It comes a day before Lebanon and Israel are to begin a fourth round of US-hosted direct negotiations on Tuesday. Military delegations held security talks last week.

"There will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back," Trump said on his Truth Social network after a "very productive" call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop - That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel," he added.
AFP

4 (KYIV, 02 JUN, AFP) - A barrage of Russian missile and drone strikes killed nine people and wounded dozens across Ukraine, authorities said today, just days after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow was preparing a "massive new strike".

Moscow has bombarded Ukraine almost daily since launching an offensive in 2022, often provoking retaliation from Kyiv, as talks to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II remain stalled.

AFP journalists heard several explosions in the Ukrainian capital, where local authorities said Russia struck with ballistic missiles, setting off fires and cutting power in several districts.

The city's mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people were killed and at least 58, including two children, wounded in the "mass enemy attack".
AFP