News 12:00

NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 17 November 12 pm

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In this bulletin:

# Hundreds of South African Jews urge a ceasefire in Gaza 
# The Basic Education Department says there are no leaked matric exam papers 
# And Rugby: The Bulls and Edinburgh start weekend’s URC action in the Scottish capital 

# The total of South African Jews signing a letter urging a ceasefire in Gaza is nearing 600 – including some prominent figures of the community. They include Nedlac’s executive director, Lisa Seftel, celebrated artist William Kentridge, academic Anton Harber and lawyer Jonathan Berger. The signatories, describing themselves as a diverse group of South African Jews, say they are dismayed by the situation unfolding in Israel and Palestine. TimesLIVE reports them saying one of the core beliefs or Judaism is the santity of human life and the duty to preserve it.

# The Department of Basic Education has condemned fake social media posts that suggest some matric examination question papers have been leaked. A total of 136 of the 231 question papers have already been written, without any incidents. The department’s spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, says the fake social media posts are misleading and seek to cause unnecessary confusion and panic:

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# Chemicals and energy group Sasol has appointed Simon Baloyi as its new CEO who will take over in April next year. He succeeds Fleetwood Grobler, who will continue with the company as an executive advisor until December 31st next year, to ensure a seamless handover. Sasol says it believes that his strategic outlook, excellent leadership skills, technical and business acumen and deep experience in operations will stand Baloyi in excellent stead to take over the helm. Sasol is valued at 146.8-billion-rand on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

# Rugby: The Bulls and Edinburgh start the weekend’s United Rugby Championship action in the Scottish capital tonight. At the same time, the Lions will face Irish side Ulster. Tomorrow, the Sharks welcome another Irish team, Connacht, to Durban, while the Stormers are away to Munster in Ireland. The Bulls are currently on top of the log with three wins in four games. The Stormers are in eighth place after winning two and losing two. The Lions are 12th and the Sharks in the 16th and last place.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-36-cents and the euro at 19-rand-93-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 36-thousand-377-dollars-6-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-986-dollars-84-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Weather Service says the increased probability of severe weather events is most likely to be the result of climate change.  But according to Disaster Risk Reduction manager Tshepho Ngobeni, this week’s isolated incidents cannot be directly attributed to climate change. Ngobeni says its sad to see people counting their losses after a thunderstorm ran riot, unleashing a hailstorm in Gauteng and a tornado in the Lekwa Local Municipality in Mpumalanga:

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Stay tuned for more news………….