News 11:00

BULLETIN 29 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa has an obligation to stand up for justice and human rights
# The GOOD Party accuses the DA leader of distorting the crime rates in the Western Cape
# And tennis, Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek retain their world number 1 rankings following the Australian Open

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says as a nation that fought and defeated apartheid, South Africa has a particular obligation to stand up for justice and fundamental human rights. In his weekly newsletter, the president looks back at South Africa’s unprecedented victory at the International Court of Justice, where Israel was ordered to prevent the killing and harming of people in Gaza. Ramaphosa is calling on South Africans to rally behind the government’s call for justice for the Palestinian people, and for a negotiated settlement that will bring about a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

# RISE Mzansi says it will not bend to intimidation as it is an alternative to the political establishment that has failed to build a safe, prosperous, equal, and united South Africa. This comes as the party’s organisers and volunteers are being threatened and election posters destroyed across the country. RISE Mzansi’s Makashule Gana says the party has shaken the political establishment, and as a result, they have resorted to dirty tactics to suppress this growing movement:

# The GOOD Party says DA leader John Steenhuisen wants people to believe that, due to his party’s brilliance, murder in the DA-led Western Cape province is down 40-percent. The national crime statistics, released at the end of November last year, recorded a near eleven-percent spike in the provincial murder rate. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says Steenhuisen is shamelessly exploiting peoples’ suffering under distorted rates of crime to claim a false advantage for his party at the elections:

# The UK government is set to ban disposable vapes, as part of a drive to tackle the rising number of children vaping. Figures from the Action on Smoking and Health charity suggest 7.6-percent of eleven- to 17-year-olds now vape regularly or occasionally, up from 4.1-percent in 2020. Last year, the government announced a ban on the sale of cigarettes to anyone born on or after the first of January 2009. Prime minister, Rishi Sunak, says they are taking bold action to ban disposable vape:

# Tennis: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has retained the number one ranking despite a rare defeat in the Australian Open semifinals. Russia’s Daniil Medvedev missed the opportunity to move past world number two Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz after his defeat in the final in Melbourne and remains third. He is followed by Australian Open champion, Italy’s Jannik Sinner, and Russia’s Andrey Rublev. In the women’s rankings, despite her third-round exit at Melbourne Park, Poland’s Iga Swiatek holds on to the number one spot, ahead of champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, and American Coco Gauff.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-79-cents and the euro at 20-rand-38-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-220-dollars-40-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-31-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….