Good News

BULLETIN 2 September 

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# The University of Pretoria will confer two-thousand-162 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees during the spring graduation ceremonies this week. At least 26.3-percent of the graduates received funding through the university’s donor-funded initiatives. Vice-chancellor Themba Mosia says this underscores the crucial role that donors play in enabling access to higher education for talented people who might otherwise be unable to pursue their academic goals. Honorary doctorates will be conferred on one of South Africa’s most prolific writers and academics, Antjie Krog, and renowned higher education expert professor Jane Knight.

# Student Cassandra Jardim has raised nearly 12-thousand-rand to transform the Our Lady of Fatima Old Age Home in Benoni, Gauteng. Inspired by the lack of outdoor space, Jardim, who has personal ties to the home, has created a serene area filled with flowers and seating for residents to enjoy. Her grandmother volunteers at the home. Jardim says this was a chance to give back to the community that nurtured her love for the Portuguese culture and to honour her grandmother’s selflessness.

# The City of Cape Town’s Recreation and Parks Department says its fitness programme provides activities such as group aerobics, walking groups and dance, catering to different interests and fitness levels. In the past year, participation rates reached nearly 37-thousand in fitness programmes, with step aerobics and high-energy dance sessions among the most popular activities. Mayoral committee member for Community Services and Health, Patricia van der Ross, says the programme goes beyond improving physical fitness:

# Hollywood blockbuster stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney received a four-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival where their latest film Wolfs was screened. Written and directed by Jon Watts, the film sees Pitt and Clooney as two professional fixers who prefer to work alone but must come together after being hired for the same job. Wolfs marks Pitt and Clooney’s first time co-headlining a film since the Coen (Cohen) brother’s 2008 black comedy Burn After Reading. Pitt’s ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, also debuted her latest movie Maria at the festival.

# And finally, the Oasis comeback tour has sold out for all the dates the band announced it would play across the UK and Ireland next summer. The band wrote on X tickets for all 17 gigs had been scooped up, but many fans criticised the sales process and prices. Hundreds of thousands of fans sat in online queues in the hope of being able to buy a first-hand view of a tour 15 years after the group disbanded. However, dynamic pricing on Ticketmaster set some remaining tickets at more than eight-thousand-rand each, compared to three-thousand-rand when the sale began.

Stay tuned for more news………….