News 08:00

NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 16 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The  IFP is calling for stronger regulatory measures following the rand manipulation scandal
# The Independent Electoral Commission addresses software glitches encountered during a dry run for the voter registration weekend
# And, the United Nations Security Council passes a resolution calling for an extended humanitarian pause in Gaza

# The IFP says it strongly condemns the irregular practices by Standard Chartered in collusion with other banks to manipulate the rand. The British multi-national bank was one of 28 local and international banks accused of being part of an overarching foreign exchange rigging conspiracy. It has agreed to pay an administrative penalty of 42.7-million-rand for its role in helping to manipulate the rand. The IFP’s national spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, says the action by these banks has compromised the integrity of financial markets:

Play sound: ENG MkhulekoonManipulation

# The Independent Electoral Commission has addressed software glitches during a dry run for the upcoming voter registration weekend. The simulation in late October revealed issues with transaction transfers to the database and connectivity problems with Telkom, requiring router replacements. Chief electoral official Sy Mamabolo says the dry run was a strategic investment, enabling the identification and resolution of potential issues ahead of the registration weekend. He says the IEC is gearing up for a successful voter registration process with the lessons learned from the simulation.

# Two Airports Company South Africa employees were among five people arrested at OR Tambo International Airport yesterday on allegations of drug trafficking. The arrests are related to a consignment of drugs that was seized in Australia recently. Hawks spokesperson, Katlego Mogale, says the suspects face charges of drug trafficking, contravention of the Civil Aviation Act, and contravention of the Customs and Excise Act:

Play sound: ENG KatlegoonArrestAport

# The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution calling for an urgent extended humanitarian pause to allow aid access into Gaza, and the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas. The US and the UK abstained from the resolution on the grounds that although they supported the emphasis on humanitarian relief, they could not give their full support because it contained no explicit criticism of Hamas. Russia also abstained on the grounds that the resolution made no mention of an immediate ceasefire.

# Tennis: Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has booked his place in the semifinals of the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. The former champion defeated two-time champion Alexander Zverev of Germany, 7-6, 6-4. Meanwhile, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz kept alive his semifinal hopes when he moved past Russian Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-2, to earn his first win at the season-ending tournament. He lost his opening match in the Red Group against Zverev. Alcaraz admits every match at the ATP Finals is difficult:

Play sound: ENG AlcarazOnFormat

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-26-cents and the euro at 19-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-62-cents and Bitcoin trades at 37-thousand-460-dollars-4-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-961-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….