News 08:00

NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 17 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Action Society says president Cyril Ramaphosa is missing the war crimes in his own backyard
# Sonke Gender Justice says more effort is needed to deal with Gender-based Violence in Higher Education
# And, the World Food Programme warns that Gaza is facing widespread hunger

# Action Society says president Cyril Ramaphosa should look closer to home if he is looking to charge someone with war crimes. The president announced earlier this week that South Africa has filed a referral to the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. Action Society’s, Juanita du Preez, says the person that should face the charges is Police minister Bheki Cele, as he has failed to decrease crime in the country:

Play sound: ENG JuanitaonWarCrimes

# Sonke Gender Justice says it is evident that more efforts are required from the Higher Education sector to establish mechanisms to deal effectively with gender-based violence and femicide. This comes after a Cape Peninsula University of Technology student was stabbed by her partner at a private student residence in Belhar. The organisation’s Bafana Khumalo says they are calling for more targeted action in setting up appropriate systems to ensure that all students are safe in campuses and residences attached to these institutions.

# The Mopani District Municipality in Limpopo has instituted legal action to recover the money allegedly stolen during the refurbishment of the Giyani Water Treatment plant. A report by the Special Investigating Unit found that government officials irregularly awarded tenders without due process. The SIU revealed how the initial amount of 90-million-rand for the project ballooned to 2.2-billion-rand and then later to 4.4-billion-rand. Mopani mayor Pule Shayi says they have a justifiable case to begin to recover and recoup the money.

# The United Nations World Food Programme has warned that the Gaza Strip now faces a massive food gap and widespread hunger, as nearly the entire population desperately needs food assistance. Fuel shortages have triggered a crippling halt in bread production across all 130 bakeries in Gaza. WFP’s regional director for the Middle East, Corinne Fleischer, says of the one-thousand-129 trucks that have entered Gaza since the opening of the Rafah border crossing on the 21st of last month, only 447 were carrying food supplies:

Play sound: ENG FleischerOnLackOfFood

# Tennis: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Italy’s Jannik Sinner are through to the semifinals of the ATP Finals in Turin. World number one Djokovic, who beat alternate Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-6, 4-6, 6-1, needed a Sinner victory to advance to the last four. Sinner defeated Denmark’s Holger Rune, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, topping the Green Group with three wins from three. Meanwhile, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has already qualified for the semifinals, while Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev can both still qualify from the Red Group.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-37-cents and the euro at 19-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 36-thousand-443-dollars-3-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-986-dollars-26-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-67-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….