News 16:00

BULLETIN 17 December 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA urges the Tourism Equity Fund to prioritise the supporting of SMMEs
# China wants to work with India to stabilise bilateral relations
# And soccer: The defending champions, England are in a tough group for the Women’s Euro 2025

# The DA welcomes Tourism minister Patricia de Lille’s criticism of the Tourism Equity Fund’s slow pace in supporting small, medium, and micro-enterprises in the tourism sector. Since November last year, only 20 applications from businesses have been approved under the fund, amounting to 301-million-rand. The DA’s, Haseena Ismail, says the fund must prioritise supporting SMMEs with the potential to create and sustain jobs:

Meanwhile, the eThekwini municipality’s mayor Cyril Xaba has assured local and international visitors that Durban is indeed ready to deliver a safe and memorable festive season. People are encouraged to come to Durban in large numbers to explore the wide range of tourism products on offer. Xaba says the metro is confident that it will attract over 1.3-million visitors during this festive season:

# China says it is willing to work with India to stabilise bilateral relations ahead of rare high-level talks this week on a decades-long border dispute. The world’s two most populous nations are intense geopolitical rivals and have accused each other of trying to seize territory along their unofficial divide, known as the Line of Actual Control. Their shared three-thousand-500-kilometre frontier has been a perennial source of tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours. This week’s talks on the issue would be the first in five years, signalling a possible thaw in ties.

# Soccer: England will begin their 2025 European Women’s Championship title defence against France on the fifth of July in Switzerland. In Group D the Lionesses will also face Wales and the Netherlands, which current England manager Sarina Wiegman led to European glory in 2017. Hosts Switzerland are in Group A with Norway, Iceland and Finland, while Group B consists of Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy. Germany, Poland, Denmark and Sweden are in Group C.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-8-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 106-thousand-634-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-641-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Scientists can now predict how climate change impacts plant growth cycles more accurately. Using historical data from the 19th-century Smithsonian report and modern observations, researchers found US plants flower up to four weeks earlier than 150 years ago. Rapid warming areas, like those near water, can reverse bloom patterns, with late-flowering species blooming earlier. This improved model helps conservationists plan for climate-driven ecosystem changes.

Stay tuned for more news………….