News 17:00

BULLETIN 22 January 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The minister of Home Affairs reiterates the importance of e-passports for security purposes
# The National Council of SPCAs says cruelty continues to plague South Africa’s abattoirs
# And tennis: An easy victory for Jannik Sinner over Alex de Minaur to reach the Australian Open semifinal

# South Africa’s Home Affairs Department has reaffirmed the importance of biometric e-passports to combat identity fraud, following a ten-percent improvement in the passport’s Henley Index ranking. Now 48th globally, the green mamba passport reached the top-50 for the first time in a decade. Speaking to eNCA, minister Leon Schreiber highlighted ongoing digital reforms, including streamlined visa processes, to boost document integrity and global mobility further:

# The National Council of SPCAs says the red meat industry and the Department of Agriculture remain ambivalent to the welfare concerns about pigs in South African abattoirs. Spokesperson Bryce Marock says several international governmental expert committees have condemned the use of carbon dioxide gas as a stunning method, citing severe welfare concerns, including prolonged loss of consciousness, asphyxia, and extreme respiratory distress. He says they are demanding immediate action to address the systemic failures in abattoirs:

# British prime minister Keir Starmer has pledged tougher measures to stop under-18s buying knives online. Starmer described the process as shockingly easy after it was revealed that the teenager who murdered three young girls in a stabbing spree last July purchased the knife he used from Amazon online. Axel Rudakubana was 17 at the time of the attack. Starmer says the technology is there to set up age verification checks, even for kitchen knives ordered online.

# Tennis: Defending champion Jannik Sinner barely broke a sweat before dumping local favourite Alex de Minaur out of the Australian Open. The world number one Italian beat the eighth-seeded De Minaur in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 – to set up a semifinal clash with Ben Shelton on Friday. The American beat Italian Lorenzo Sonego in an enteraining quarterfinal earlier. The other semifinal will be contested between ten-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia and second-seeded German, Alexander Zverev.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-47-cents and the euro at 19-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-963-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-757-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Three-time Oscar nominee, Ryan Gosling, is reportedly in talks to star in an untitled Star Wars movie, set to be written and directed by Deadpool and Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy. The movie is said to be a standalone project that is not connected with the Skywalker Saga, which concluded with 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Gosling’s recent project is the sci-fi thriller Project Hail Mary based on the bestseller by Andy Weir. It is set to be released in March next year.

Stay tuned for more news………….