September 22, 2023.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines:

Early Kusile restart uncertain as Creecy adjudicates emissions appeal

Quantum Foods says about 2-million chickens killed by bird flu

And, DRC Congo to move its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv

The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment has confirmed that Minister Barbara Creecy is still adjudicating an appeal of the National Air Quality Officer’s decision to postpone a requirement for the Kusile power station to meet Minimum Emission Standards.

The decision opened the way for Eskom to begin operating three units that have been out of service since October last year using temporary stacks that bypass the flue gas desulphurisation plant.

On July 6, the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action and groundWork, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights, confirmed that they were appealing the decision.

During the appeal, Eskom is disallowed from returning the three 720 MW apiece units, the absence of which has contributed to 2023 being South Africa’s worst-ever year for loadshedding.

South African poultry producer Quantum Foods says nearly 2-million chickens worth R106-million have been killed by a bird flu outbreak, increasing fears of a table egg and meat shortage.

A leading poultry producer on the continent, South Africa is currently grappling with an outbreak of a high-pathogenic avian influenza, a bird flu which spreads rapidly in an infected flock causing a high death rate.

Quantum said in a trading update it had lost nearly 1.5-million of its laying and breeding birds during the current bird flu outbreak, to add to 420 000 laying chickens lost during an earlier wave of infections in April.

The company expects to report an economic loss in the year to September 30 as the viral disease compounds operational problems caused by South Africa's frequent power cuts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Democratic Republic of Congo will move its Israel embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu, who met Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi during the United Nations General Assembly, announced in a statement that Israel would also be opening an embassy in Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Only a handful of countries have their embassies in Jerusalem, with most others maintaining their diplomatic representation in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel's main economic hub.

While Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there, most of the world does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, believing its status should be resolved in negotiations with Palestine.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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