News 15:00
BULLETIN 24 November 3 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# Oscar Pistorius is granted parole but will spend Christmas behind bars
# The DA says the ANC is placing provinces in an impossible financial position
# And Cricket: Laura Wolvaardt is appointed as the fulltime coach of the Proteas Women
# Oscar Pistorius has been granted parole but will be spending another Christmas behind bars. The decision follows a Correctional Supervision and Parole Board assessment after his 2014 culpable homicide sentence was extended to 13-years and five months in 2017. Classified as a first-time offender with solid support, Pistorius’ release is in line with Section 73 of the Correctional Services Act. His parole is effective January 5, 2024, and he will complete the remainder of his sentence under community corrections. The timing means he will remain incarcerated during the upcoming festive season.
# The DA in the Western Cape says it’s vehemently opposing the proposed cuts to the province’s budget by the National Treasury, as revealed in the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill. The effects of the public sector wage increase, which was centrally agreed to National Treasury, means an increase in the province’s wage bill of 2.9-billion-rand. The DA’s Deidré Baartman says they only allocated an additional 1.7-billion-rand to the province through the provincial equitable share, meaning the province will need to find 1.2-billion-rand within its current budget:
# Countries need to apply lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic response for urgent cross-sectoral efforts to protect people from escalating climate threats. This is the call from the World Health Organisation, World Intellectual Property Organisation, and the World Trade Organisation. The organisations held the tenth Joint Technical Symposium titled, Facing the Future: Human Health and Climate Change, yesterday. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu says it is urgent that member states honour and accelerate their commitments to reduce emissions and transition to clean energy.
# Cricket: Laura Wolvaardt has been confirmed as fulltime captain of the Proteas Women’s team in all three formats. The 24-year-old batter took over the reins in an interim capacity after Suné Luus relinquished the role earlier this year, and led the team to series victories over Pakistan and New Zealand. Cricket South Africa also named a squad of 15 players for a T20 series against Bangladesh in South Africa early next month. SA Emerging stars Ayanda Hlubi and Eliz-Mari Marx will make their debuts for the Proteas in the series.
# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-87-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-72-cents and Bitcoin trades at 37-thousand-907-dollars-49-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-995-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-57-cents a barrel.
# And finally: Researchers at the Desmond Tutu TB Center at Stellenbosch University have achieved a breakthrough in the treatment of tuberculosis in children. The center’s Annake Hesseling told eNCA that the TB Jump campaign revealed that Moxifloxacin antibiotic reduces the risk of Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis by 56-percent. Hesseling explains that this medical breakthrough will streamline treatment for children, allowing them to take one pill every six months instead of the current regimen of five pills per day to control TB. Moreover, she highlighted the cost-effectiveness associated with this:
Stay tuned for more news………….