News 07:00

BULLETIN 12 January 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# DIRCO says diplomatic relations with Israel are currently strained
# Cricket: Heinrich Klaasen leads the Durban’s Super Giants to a victory
# And, Taylor Swift and the film Barbie are nominated for the People’s Choice Awards

# Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s director general, Zane Dangor, says diplomatic relations between South Africa and Israel remain strained. Yesterday, South Africa presented its case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands. South Africa’s legal team argued that Israel’s air and ground assaults on Gaza were intended to bring about the destruction of its Palestinian population, signalling genocidal intent. Dangor says the two countries will engage better after this court case:

Meanwhile the Good Party believes achieving a symbolic victory for South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice alone will not alleviate the suffering of the Palestine people. It says should the court rules for immediate relief, nations, including superpowers, must ensure implementation. Good’s Brett Herron says if the United Nations fails in its cooperative efforts to enforce the court’s judgements or negotiate justice, it demands structural reforms. He says while a court order would pressure Israel morally and legally, any breach should prompt action.

# The Competition Commission has threatened to prosecute schools that do not comply with the new guidelines for the procurement of school uniforms. This comes as more parents have raised concerns about the escalating cost of school uniforms, which is forcing them to dig deeper into their pockets. The commission’s Siya Makunga says they have received up to 220 school uniform-related complaints since the start of 2022:

# A Gauteng man accused of murdering his parents and sister remains behind bars after withdrawing his bail application in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court. Eugene Botha was arrested shortly after the bodies of Johan, Soné and Rikki Botha were found near their home in Rondebult on New Year’s Eve. Neighbours heard an altercation earlier in the day, followed by three gunshots later that evening. The court will decide on the media’s application to photograph Botha in the dock when he returns to court next week.

# Cricket: Heinrich Klaasen led Durban’s Super Giants to an eleven-run Duckworth-Lewis victory against MI Cape Town in their opening SA20 second-season match at Kingsmead in Durban. Ryan Rickelton plundered 87 in just 51 balls to lead MI Cape Town to 207 for five in their 20 overs. In reply, Klaasen was even more brutal smashing 85 off just 35 balls as the Super Giants reached 177 for six after 16.3 overs when the rain ended the match, with the home side ahead by eleven runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-59-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 46-thousand-106-dollars-3-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-33-dollars-99-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

And finally,  Barbie leads the film nominations for the People’s Choice Awards with nine including Movie of the Year. Oppenheimer has six nominations. In the TV categories, Only Murders in the Building leads with seven nods, followed by Ted Lasso, The Morning Show and The Last of Us with six. In the music categories, Taylor Swift, Luke Combs, Nicki Minaj, and Morgan Wallen have received five nominations. Actor Simu Liu will host the award show at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on the 18th of next month.

Stay tuned for more news………….