News 14:00

BULLETIN 18 December 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A new health expert committee will address foodborne illnesses
# An education activist wants Sections 4 and 5 of the BELA Act referred back to Parliament
# And Keely Hodgkinson is named the BBC’s sport personality of the year ahead of Luke Littler and Joe Root

# The ministerial advisory committee on foodborne illnesses has appointed 15 experts to develop long-term strategies to prevent outbreaks and improve food safety. This follows the deaths of several children after eating snacks contaminated with the highly toxic chemical organophosphate Terbufos, prompting government to strengthen health regulations. Briefing the media, Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the committee’s work will focus on addressing gaps in the regulatory system and ensuring public health safety:

# Education activist Hendrick Makaneta is calling on president Cyril Ramaphosa to refer Sections Four and Five of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act back to the National Assembly for further discussions. The two controversial clauses address language and admission policies at public schools. Makaneta says the ongoing debates surrounding Afrikaans have culminated in a troubling outcome:

# The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has highlighted the importance of transforming agrifood systems to address interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. About 40-percent of the world’s population is highly vulnerable to the climate crisis. Extreme weather events are one of the main drivers of hunger, with more than 730-million people living in hunger, along with food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms. The organisation says sustainable agrifood systems are key solutions in addressing climate and hunger globally.

# On to sports news: British middle-distance runner Keely Hodgkinson has been named the BBC’s sports personality of the year after winning Olympic gold in the 800-metre in Paris. She won the public vote ahead of darts star Luke Littler and national cricket player Joe Root. The other nominees were para-cyclist Sarah Storey, world triathlon champion Alex Yee, and Real Madrid soccer star Jude Bellingham. Hodgkinson, who also won silver in the 800-meter at the previous Games in Tokyo, became the fourth woman in a row to clinch the prestigious award.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-6-cents and the euro at 18-rand-94-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-282-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-647-dollars-81-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Kenya is launching an in vitro fertilisation programme to rescue the critically endangered northern white rhino, now down to just two females globally. The Kenya Wildlife Service and BioRescue teams will use lab-developed embryos and advanced stem-cell techniques to revive the species. It says this effort is urgent as no males are left for natural breeding and the females are ageing. In addition, poaching and horn trade continue to decimate populations.

Stay tuned for more news………….