News 13:00

BULLETIN 21 January 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Lesotho’s government is ready to assist with the repatriation of the Stilfontein mine victims
# Tennis: Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek are named as the ITF’s world champions for 2024
# And a Cape Town high school has become a cellphone-free school

# Lesotho’s government has pledged support to South Africa in repatriating the bodies of Basotho nationals who were retrieved from the Stilfontein mine in North West. Lesotho’s Home Affairs minister, Lebona Lephema, told SABC News their embassy is awaiting official communication as many of the bodies remain unidentified due to lack of documentation. He calls for Lesotho Exemption papers to be fast-tracked to avoid illegal immigration:

Meanwhile, City Power in Johannesburg is appealing to law enforcement agencies to assist with the removal of illegal miners, who have been living in tunnels under the inner city and stealing electricity copper cables. This comes after a shootout between City Power security and the zama-zamas in tunnels over the weekend, resulting in two alleged thieves being killed and a security official injured. City Power’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, says immediate action needs to be taken:

# A fire engulfed a hotel at the popular Kartalkaya ski resort in northwestern Turkey, killing 10 people and injuring 32 others. Private broadcaster NTV said three people died after jumping from the hotel’s windows. The resort is located on top of a mountain range about 170 kilometres northwest of the capital of Ankara. The fire, which is believed to have started in the restaurant around midnight, spread quickly. Part of it backed onto a cliff, which made it harder for firefighters to tackle the blaze.

# Tennis: Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek is the International Tennis Federation’s world champions for 2024. Sinner, from Italy, is currently the men’s world number one while Swiatek from Poland was overtaken by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women’s rankings. Sinner won his first Grand Slam title at last year’s Australian Open and followed that up by winning the US Open. Swiatek last year added another French Open title to take her Grand Slam tally to five. She also clinched Olympic bronze.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-65-cents and the euro at 19-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-321-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-719-dollars-79-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-78-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town is from this year a cellphone-free school. At the start of the school day learners place their cell phones in their lockers and can only use them when school is out. Principal Pieter Rademeyer told Die Burger the goal is to manage discipline and anxiety among learners. He added that staff and the governing body unanimously agreed to the policy and only two out of the around 500 learners complained.

Stay tuned for more news………….