News 08:00

BULLETIN 18 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BOSA calls for strict oversight of the township economy fund
# Cosatu proposes changes in the approach to illegal mining
# And Biden authorises the first use of American long-range missiles by Ukraine

# Build One South Africa says it welcomes any initiative to empower township economies, which are vital hubs of innovation, entrepreneurship, and community livelihoods. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a 500-million-rand fund to support township economies. This initiative is part of the government’s response to the deadly food-borne illness outbreaks linked to certain spaza shops and street vendors. BOSA’s spokesperson, Roger Solomons, says this cannot be another slush fund for politically connected individuals or a vehicle for corruption:

# Nelson Mandela University political analyst, Ntsikelelo Breakfast, says EFF leader Julius Malema could see Mbuyiseni Ndlozi as a threat to his ambition of holding on to power. According to reports, Ndlozi has been barred from attending the party’s National People’s Assembly elective conference in December. Breakfast told The Citizen that there was no reason for Ndlozi to stay in the party. He adds that some of the problems in the EFF could be blamed on Malema’s leadership style, saying the party is imploding at this point.

# Cosatu in North West is calling on government to relook at the country’s mining policies because products produced by the so-called illegal miners find their way into the market even though it is procured from them cheaply. Cosatu’s Kopano Konopi says government should explore issuing artisanal mining licences to small-scale miners and cooperatives. He says this will provide opportunities to former mineworkers and residents of mining communities, and curb exploitation by those who buy from them:

# US president Joe Biden has reportedly authorised the first use of American-supplied long-range missiles known as Army Tactical Missile Systems by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia. The missiles will be limited for use in the Kursk region, where Moscow has deployed nearly 50-thousand troops. At the weekend, Russia launched its biggest coordinated assault in Ukraine in months, killing at least ten people. Russian president Vladimir Putin in September warned the West that his country could use nuclear weapons if it were struck with conventional missiles.

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner capped off an amazing season by becoming the first Italian to win the ATP Finals title. The 23-year-old defeated American Taylor Fritz, 6-4, 6-4 in Turin. After notching his Tour-leading 70th win of the season, Sinner has joined Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win the Australian Open, US Open, and ATP Finals in the same season. Sinner says he surprised himself with the consistency of his performances this season:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 90-thousand-385-dollars-89-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-589-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-42-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….