News 12:00

BULLETIN 9 October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa formally adopts the Children20 under the G20 Presidency
# The Huguenot Tunnel in the Boland is reopened following emergency repair work
# And the World Trade Organisation slashes the 2026 global trade forecast to 0.5-percent amid the US tariff fallout

# Government, under its presidency of the G20, has officially endorsed the Children20 as one of the formal engagement groups of the G20 social summit. Children20 is a dedicated platform for children and adolescents to co-shape policy recommendations that address interconnected challenges, including inequality, poverty, safety, and social protection. Sherpa and policy lead, Anzio Jacobs, says by creating a formal G20 track for children, South Africa affirms that children are not only beneficiaries of global policies but also active participants in shaping them.

# COPE says it strongly supports the revelations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on how the South African Police Services’ Crime Intelligence was abused for political ends. He testified before Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of criminal infiltration and political interference within the SAPS. COPE’s acting national chairperson, Pakes Dikgetsi, says Mkhwanazi’s revelations prove that the ANC misused state resources to undermine political opponents:

# The South African National Roads Agency has confirmed that the Huguenot Tunnel on the N1 in the Western Cape has reopened. This follows critical repairs and extensive safety assessments, after a bus caught fire inside the tunnel on Friday night. The Western Cape Mobility Department’s Antoinette Fennie says while the tunnel is now operational, further permanent repair work will continue in the coming months. She says most of the work will be done at night to ensure minimal disruption to motorists:

Moving abroad:

# The World Trade Organisation has sharply cut its 2026 global merchandise trade growth forecast to 0.5-percent, down from 1.8-percent. The organisation cites delayed effects of US president Donald Trump’s tariffs. WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned of a bleak outlook but says the global trading system remains resilient. For 2025, the WTO raised its forecast to 2.4-percent, driven by import surges ahead of the tariff hikes and booming artificial intelligence-related trade.

# Cricket: Joe Root insists England can end their 10-year long Ashes drought as they bid to finally “bring the urn home” from their tour to Australia later this year. England have not won the Ashes since 2015 and their last Test series triumph in Australia goes back to 2010/11. England were held to a 2-all draw by Australia on home turf in the most recent series in 2023, while their last three trips Down Under have ended in 4-0, 4-0 and 5-0 thrashings.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-18-cents and the euro at 19-rand-96-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 121-thousand-413-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-35-dollars-73-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….