News 08:00

BULLETIN 13 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa and China widen cooperation in artificial intelligence
# Trump pulls Vance away from Iranian negotiations to focus on domestic matters
# And cricket: Cummins says Khawaja’s sandpaper scandal claims are utter nonsense

# Deputy minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Nomalungelo Gina, says South Africa and China are pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence and energy. The two countries are planning to establish an Artificial Intelligence Talent Development and Innovation Centre in South Africa. Gina says the centre aims to bridge the country’s digital skills gap, build innovation capacity and grow collaboration with Chinese institutions. She adds that preparatory work is underway:

# Accounting firm KPMG says that where demand and market conditions are supportive, South African mining can still deliver strong production growth. Mining production decreased by six-percent in the third quarter of this year, compared to the second quarter, with a year-on-year decrease of 10.7-percent in September. The largest negative contributors in the third quarter are platinum group metals, iron ore and coal. KPMG says meaningful progress on constraints, including rail reliability and electricity costs, would give the sector a much stronger platform from which to return to sustainable production.

# Union federation COSATU in Gauteng says the ammonia gas leak at the Festive Chicken facility in Olifantsfontein, Ekurhuleni, is a reminder of the importance of workplace health and safety. Twenty-four workers were hospitalised on Wednesday after inhaling ammonia fumes at the chicken processing facility. COSATU provincial chairperson, Amos Monyela, says the Department of Employment and Labour must urgently investigate this incident, looking at whether the company followed the required health and safety regulations and whether workers were properly protected during maintenance work:

# US president Donald Trump says he has ordered vice president JD Vance, tasked with leading negotiations between Washington and Iran, to focus on domestic matters. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Vance must focus his “complete and total attention on the massive corruption and crime taking place in Democrat run cities and states”. He also downplayed the need to reach a deal with Tehran to end the war. Vance has had little success in leading the negotiations and publicly blamed the war for Republicans’ midterm election losses.

# Cricket: Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has dismissed former teammate Usman Khawaja’s claims about the ball-tampering that took place on their 2018 tour of South Africa. In his newly released autobiography Sabr, Khawaja alleged the whole team knew about the plan to rough the ball with sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town. Only captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and bowler Cameron Bancroft were sanctioned, with each receiving lengthy bans. During a media conference in Sydney, Cummins expressed frustration with Khawaja’s conduct:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-75-cents and the euro at 18-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-16-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-716-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-917-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 97-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….