NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 6 January 3 pm

Good afternoon,

In this bulletin:

# The ANC NEC is sitting today in a special session to finalise arrangements for delivery of the January 8 statement
# Amnesty International says prosecution of those who tried to capture the state should commence immediately
# And, tennis: Medvedev keeps Russia on track for another ATP Cup title

# ANC head of organising, Nomvula Mokonyane, says the ANC’s National Executive Committee is sitting today in a special session to finalise arrangements for the delivery of its January 8 statement. Mokonyane says the NEC will adopt the statement that will be presented to them by president Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of a rally on Saturday at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Limpopo:

Play sound: ENGNomvulaMokonyane

# Amnesty International South Africa says it is time for action and less talk. Reacting to part one of the state capture report, executive director Shenila Mohamed says Ramaphosa should take stern action against people named in the report for justice to prevail:

Play sound: ENG Amnesty International

# Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted last week of aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuses, deserves a new trial, says her lawyer, after a juror told media, including Reuters, that he had been a victim of sexual abuse. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, who presided over Maxwell’s trial, the lawyer, Christian Everdell, says there are incontrovertible grounds for Maxwell to get a new trial, to serve the interests of justice. Everdell filed the letter shortly after asking Nathan to open an inquiry into the statements of the juror.

# Tennis: World number two Daniil Medvedev battled past seventh-ranked Matteo Berrettini and returned to court to win the deciding doubles to keep defending champions Russia on track for another ATP Cup title as they swept into the semi-finals earlier today. Medvedev, who is set to be the top seed at this month’s Australian Open with Novak Djokovic facing deportation over a visa issue, was dominant in the first set. But the big-serving Italian battled back to win a second set tie-break before the Russian got a crucial break to win 6-2, 6-7, 6-4.

# Financial indicators: The dollar is trading at 15-rand-73-cents and the euro at 17-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-805-dollar-70-cents. Gold is selling at one thousand-797-dollars-64-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-72-cents a barrel.

# And, finally: The largest farm equipment manufacturer in the world unveiled a fully autonomous tractor. The announcement of the self-driving tractor was made by Deere and Co at the world’s largest annual consumer technology trade show CES 2022 and on their social media. Their chief technology officer, Jahmy Hindman, says the company introduced the technology on its iconic 8 series tractor. It can be controlled from farmers’ cellphones. The autonomous tractor will be available for purchase later this year. He believes soon some of the most advanced robotic machines will be used on farms.

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