News 15:00

BULLETIN 7 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The South African Jewish community marks one year since the Hamas attacks on Israel
# The TERS budget is expanded to 2.4-billion-rand to support companies in distress
# And tennis: Aryna Sabalenka targets the world number one and a Wuhan hat-trick

# The Jewish community in South Africa is commemorating the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel, which claimed one-thousand-200 lives. Israel retaliated, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians dead. Speaking to the SABC at the Hostage Square in Houghton, Johannesburg, South African Jewish Board of Deputies’ director, Wendy Khan, called the conflict a needless war:

# The Department of Employment and Labour has raised the budget for the temporary employer-employee relief scheme from 400-million-to 2.4-billion-rand. This funding aims to prevent layoffs and support struggling companies. Minister Nomakhosazana Meth encouraged businesses facing financial difficulties to apply for TERS, which offers salary support for up to 12-months. The increase responds to significant job losses in sectors like mining, manufacturing, and telecommunications.  

# Two Chinese nationals were killed and at least ten people wounded in a suspected suicide attack near Karachi airport in Pakistan. According to the BBC a third unidentified body is thought to be that of the attacker. The Chinese embassy in Pakistan says the explosion was a terrorist attack targeting a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a power project in Sindh province. The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the attack. The BLA along with other ethnic groups has fought a long-running insurgency for a separate homeland.

# Tennis: Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus has set her sights on reclaiming the world number one spot and can close the gap on Iga Swiatek of Poland with a good run at the Wuhan Open, which is returning after a five-year absence. Sabalenka is the top seed in the Chinese city in the absence of Swiatek, who withdrew from the tournament after announcing her split with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. Sabalenka, who claimed a third career Grand Slam title at the US Open last month, is just over one-thousand points behind Swiatek in the rankings.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-37-cents and the euro at 19-rand-6-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-71-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-835-dollars-77-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-657-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 79-dollars-79-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to American scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for discovering microRNA and its role in regulating gene activity. Their research shows how different cell types can perform specific functions even with the same genetic information. This important finding was based on studies of the roundworm C. elegans. The Nobel Assembly’s Olle Kämpe says this discovery has important implications for understanding diseases like cancer and diabetes:  

Stay tuned for more news………….