News 10:00

BULLETIN 29 December 10 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# FOSA calls for collaboration to combat crime during peak festive season periods
# Zelensky says the issue of Ukrainian territory remains a difficult factor in ending the war
# And, the beloved baboon Cindy has passed away at the age of 31

# The Forum of South Africa is calling on community policing forums and private security to work together to combat crime during peak festive periods. The festive season has historically been marked by a sharp increase in violent crime, including stabbings, shootings, assaults and murders. FOSA leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, says many of these violent crimes originate in or around taverns and nightclubs:

# Public Works and Infrastructure minister, Dean Macpherson, has directed the Council for the Built Environment to launch an immediate investigation into the structural collapse in Doornkop, Soweto. Three people died, two adult women and a one-year-old child, when a double-storey building gave way yesterday. Three others were rescued from the debris. Minister Macpherson says the Council for the Built Environment will determine the cause of the structural failure, identify responsible parties and recommend preventative actions to avert future disasters in the construction sector.

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says 90-percent of the terms of the 20-point peace plan have been agreed to. He met with US president Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Sunday. The main sticking points remain the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and the question of land concession. Zelensky reiterated his position that the people of Ukraine will ultimately have to answer the question on the fate of the Donbas region, which Russia currently controls about 75-percent of it:

# Soccer: Algeria has qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16, after defeating Burkina Faso 1-0 in Morocco. Captain Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal of the match as Algeria firmed up their place top of Group E. Defending champions Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon played to a 1–1 draw while Sudan secured a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea. Meanwhile, Gabon are facing an early exit after slipping to a 3-2 defeat to Mozambique, which ended a 40-year wait for a victory at AFCON for the southern African side.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-66-cents and the euro at 19-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-49-cents and Bitcoin trades at 89-thousand-878-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-516-dollars-2-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-94-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the beloved baboon Cindy was put to rest on Sunday at age 31. She suffered from severe heart failure, which led to repeated episodes of pulmonary oedema. Cindy, who lived on Simmenau Farm, just outside Windhoek, Namibia, with the Lambrechts family, was a viral social media star with over 1.2-million followers on Instagram. She also has a short film and a book about her life on the farm. Her human brother, Ruben Lambrechts, says Cindy was deeply loved and cared for every single day of her life.

Stay tuned for more news………….