News 13:00

BULLETIN 21 November 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# GunFree South Africa pushes for more stringent firearm control measures
# Organising farmers into groups improves water security and livelihoods
# And Rugby: Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper switches to Sevens

# GunFree South Africa is pushing for more stringent firearm control measures amid a disturbing surge in crime. Despite a decrease in overall murders, nearly seven-thousand were still reported between July and September, with over three-thousand involving firearms. The organisation’s director, Adéle Kirsten, told eNCA there is a critical need for heightened controls to address the alarming proliferation of firearms in the country:

Play sound: ENG-KirstenOnGuns

# Rhodes University says a study by a Rhodes University Economics and Economic History graduate, doctor Sandile Phakathi, has found that organising farmers into groups could help improve water security and farmers’ livelihoods. The study investigated smallholder irrigation schemes in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Irrigation schemes are key to managing water resources and in rural development, where poverty alleviation and food security can be achieved through farming. Although the government has invested in these schemes, they are not always of great benefit to their intended beneficiaries because they do not take farmers’ inputs into account.

# The United Nations annual Emissions Gap Report contains a stark warning that the world is on course for a three-degree-Celsius global heating by the end of this century. The assessment precedes the Cop-28 climate summit taking place in Dubai next week. The report underscores that current carbon-cutting policies are insufficient, potentially resulting in further global warming beyond pre-industrial levels unless governments intensify climate action. UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres emphasises the looming risk of reaching critical points of no return, such as the melting of ice sheets.

# Rugby: Australia’s most-capped captain, Michael Hooper has signed on with Rugby Australia’s Sevens squad for next year and will embark upon the upcoming global Sevens Series, with his sights on the Olympics in Paris. The 32-year-old switches to the Sevens having made his Super Rugby debut in 2010 for the Waratahs and with 125 Test caps to his name. Hooper says he is looking forward to this new challenge:

Play sound: ENG Michael Hooper

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-39-cents and the euro at 20-rand-13-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-5-cents and Bitcoin trades at 37-thousand-385-dollars-46-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-986-dollars-15-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-78-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The City of Tshwane and the University of Pretoria are aiming to bridge the gap between academia and public policy to help address some of the city’s most pressing challenges. Mayor Cilliers Brink says they want to work with the university to leverage their intellectual resources to solve burning issues. These include getting the streets cleaned, coping without landfills, improving transport mobility, and simplifying the process of finding and providing dwellings for people in the metro.

Stay tuned for more news………….