News 12:00

BULLETIN 27 March 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA criticises Eskom over a decision to appeal a court ruling on coal and diesel contracts
# The Department of Social Development plans to assist children on the move at border posts during Easter
# And the Junior Boks are to kick off their Under 20 Rugby Championship against New Zealand 

# The DA says Eskom’s decision to appeal the ruling by the Gauteng High Court over its existing coal and diesel contracts is frivolous litigation and a waste of money. Last week the court ordered the power utility to hand over copies of the contracts to AfriForum within ten days. The DA’s Kevin Mileham says the party is opposed to Eskom’s transparent attempt to hide the rotting underbelly of its procurement processes and the associated contracts:

# The Department of Social Development says it is working closely with the Border Management Agency to ensure the safe movement of children at the border posts between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. This is in preparation for the Easter long weekend. The department’s spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant, says officials will be on-site at the Beitbridge and Groblersbridge border posts over Easter, to make sure the processing of children is in accordance with the law:

# A United Nations human rights expert says there are reasonable grounds to determine that Israel has committed several acts of genocide in Gaza. Francesca Albanese presented her report titled, Anatomy of a Genocide, to the UN Human Rights Council. Israel has dismissed the report, describing it as an outrageous distortion of the Genocide Convention. Albanese says the overwhelming nature and scale of Israel’s assault on Gaza, and the destructive conditions of life it has inflicted, reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians:

# Rugby: The Junior Springboks will kick off the inaugural Under 20 Rugby Championship against New Zealand on the second of May. The competition will also feature hosts Australia and Argentina, with three rounds seeing the teams playing each other once. The Junior Boks will face Australia on the seventh of May and finish the tournament against Argentina on the 12th. SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris says the championship will allow for a more defined pathway for younger players into senior and international rugby.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-94-cents and the euro at 20-rand-50-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-855-dollars-13-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-180-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Award-winning actor Jeremy Allen White is in talks to play Bruce Springsteen in an upcoming narrative feature film about the making of his 1982 album Nebraska. The film titled Deliver Me From Nowhere, will be written and directed by Scott Cooper. According to Variety, the film will follow Springsteen and the journey of making his sixth studio album, a dark, stripped-down collection of songs that marked a new artistic direction for the rocker. White recently won an Emmy for his role in The Bear.

Stay tuned for more news………….