News 14:00

BULLETIN 20 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mogotsi’s claims are questioned at the Madlanga commission
# Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes in the West Bank expulsions
# And tennis: Roger Federer will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame next year

# Madlanga commission co-commissioner, Sandile Khumalo, has challenged police covert contact agent, Brown Mogotsi, over contradictions in his February affidavit. Khumalo probed his Soweto address, inconsistent birth date, and claims of Umkhonto membership. Khumalo notes Mogotsi has no formal law enforcement or forensic training. He pressed Mogotsi for documented proof of alleged investigations, which Mogotsi said would not be available:

# Cosatu says it has presented key proposals to Parliament’s portfolio committee on Employment and Labour on measures to stem the current waves of retrenchments. The union federation says the economy has been battling to grow beyond one-percent per annum since 2008 with unemployment remaining dangerously high at 42.4-percent. Spokesperson Matthew Parks says key measures need to include tax rebates, industrial subsidies and incentives, and fixing the endless bureaucratic blockages at the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employee Relief Scheme:

Moving abroad:

# Human Rights Watch says Israel’s expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps early this year amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The group is calling for urgent international measures to hold Israeli officials accountable and stop further abuses. It says about 32-thousand residents of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces during operations in January and February. The displaced have been barred from returning, and hundreds of homes were demolished.

# Tennis: Twenty-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer, will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in August next year. The 44-year-old Swiss legend, who retired in 2022, won 103 tour-level titles. Federer was the only candidate to receive enough support in the player category for the hall’s class of 2026. Players can be considered after five years away from the tour and need to be selected by 75-percent of the voting group. Federer says to be recognised by the sport in this way is deeply humbling.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-20-cents and the euro at 19-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-50-cents and Bitcoin trades at 91-thousand-548-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-60-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-70-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Gauteng Health Department is urging the public to use antibiotics responsibly to curb antimicrobial resistance as they mark World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. Running under the theme Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future, the department says the misuse and overuse of antibiotics is a growing threat that makes infections harder to treat. Health officials are encouraging citizens to follow prescriptions, avoid sharing medicine, and practise good hygiene to help preserve lifesaving treatments for future generations.

Stay tuned for more news………….