News 08:00

BULLETIN 4 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South African Jews for a Free Palestine welcomes the government’s proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice
# Prince Andrew, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are named in the Epstein court files
# And darts, Luke Littler loses to Luke Humphries in the World Darts Championship final

# South African Jews for a Free Palestine welcomed South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice, as part of the tactics to ensure a free Palestine and ending the genocide in Gaza. The organisation says it condemns the violent vandalisation of the Jewish faith and the way it is manipulated to support apartheid and genocide. It hopes to see an immediate ceasefire alongside the complete end to the genocide, and the dismantling of the apartheid settler colonial Zionist project in Palestine. The first hearing in The Hague is set for 11 and 12 January.

# The African Transformation Movement has vehemently condemned the pervasive and insidious protection fee phenomenon orchestrated by mafias and syndicates, which is mercilessly preying on businesses, private households, and vehicle owners across South Africa. The impact of these extortion rackets on industries, both big and small, is reaching epidemic proportions, posing an unprecedented threat to the South African economy. The ATM’s spokesperson, Zama Ntshona says the party mourns the heavy toll this criminality exacts on the livelihoods of ordinary citizens and the broader economic landscape:

# The CEO of the Road Freight Association, Gavin Kelly, says the Association is still concerned about the global factors that puts pressure on petroleum-based fuels, and at the moment seems to push fuel prices down. Kelly says the biggest challenge for South Africa is the need to change the value of the rand in relation to the dollar, the currency the country is currently using to purchase petroleum-based fuel products:

# Prince Andrew and former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are named in court documents detailing people connected to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A New York federal judge has ordered the release of the files as part of a lawsuit related to Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Some of those named are accused of wrongdoing, while others on the list are making allegations or are potential witnesses. Epstein died in jail in 2019. His death, as he awaited federal sex-trafficking charges, was ruled to be a suicide by the New York medical examiner.

# Darts: Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler was denied a fairytale victory at the World Darts Championship after losing to Luke Humphries in the final.  The 16-year-old produced more of the spectacular darts that inspired his run to the final, but world number one Humphries fought back to take the title, along with just more than 11.8-million-rand in prize money. Littler, knows as The Nuke, will still scoop 4.7-million-rand following his incredible campaign, where he was bidding to become the youngest world darts champion in history on Wednesday evening.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 43-thousand-149-dollars-11-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-42-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….