News 12:00

BULLETIN 13 January 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Two suspects arrested in connection with the murder of a former magistrate in the Free State
# RISE Mzansi is concerned about the high number of arrested suspects with previous convictions
# And Tennis: Sinner, Swiatek and Gauff are safely through to the second round of the Australian Open

# Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of former magistrate and Cheetahs and Griquas rugby player, Piet Bester, in the Glen district in the Free State. The 63-year-old’s body was discovered by a worker at his residence with multiple wounds on Sunday morning. Police spokesperson, Loraine Earle, says the arrests were made possible through the close cooperation and swift action of the local farming community and police:

# RISE Mzansi has called for more action in keeping communities safe after Police minister Senzo Mchunu revealed that 20-percent of suspects arrested under Operation Shanela have previous convictions. According to Mchunu, of the over one-million arrests, 21-thousand-104 were released due to insufficient evidence, while 386-thousand-198 cases are before courts. RISE Mzansi’s Makashule Gana has applauded Operation Shanela’s impact and conviction rates:

# Scientists have pointed to undeniable links between climate change and the destructive wildfires currently ranging on in Los Angeles. Twenty-four people have so far died from the fires with 16 reported missing. Stellenbosch University professor, Guy Midgley, told the Daily Maverick that the wildfires have been exacerbated by a combination of prolonged drought, powerful Santa Ana winds, and dry vegetation, which are a result of the world coming off the hottest year on record and less winter rainfall in the Mediterranean regions.

# Tennis: Jannik Sinner launched his Australian Open title defence with a battling straight-sets win as Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff also powered into round two. Italian world number one Sinner is playing under a cloud after twice testing positive for traces of a steroid in March. He denies wrongdoing and was cleared by tennis authorities, but the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed and is seeking to ban him for up to two years. Sinner was warmly welcomed on Rod Laver Arena before defeating Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 7-6 , 7-6 and 6-1.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-14-cents and the euro at 19-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-299-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-686-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India bathed in sacred waters today as the12-yearly Kumbh Mela festival opened, with organisers expecting 400 million people over the next six weeks. This is the largest gathering of humanity. The millennia-old Kumbh Mela, a show of religious piety and ritual bathing and a logistical challenge of staggering proportions, is held at the site where the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers meet. In the cool pre-dawn gloom, pilgrims surged forward to begin bathing in the icy waters.

Stay tuned for more news………….