News 17:00

BULLETIN 12 December 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum hails the legal victory over matric result publication
# Cricket: New Zealand beats the Windies within three days in the second Test in Wellington
# And: Cape Town’s Safe Zone drowning prevention campaign is in full swing

# The High Court in Pretoria has ruled that matric results can be published on public platforms, using exam numbers to protect learners’ privacy. The court rejected the Information Regulator’s claim that learners could misuse exam numbers to study each other’s results. AfriForum’s Alana Bailey welcomed the decision, calling it a victory for public interest and learners’ rights:

# A Pretoria mother of two who was struck by a taxi during the Soweto Marathon on 29 November has died from her injuries. Forty-five-year-old Dezirée du Plessis underwent emergency surgery for an intracranial haemorrhage and remained in critical condition until her death in hospital this morning. In the weeks following the crash, supporters rallied behind Du Plessis and her family. A Back-a-Buddy fundraising campaign raised more than 330-thousand-rand toward her medical costs. The taxi driver who hit Du Plessis faces several charges.

# Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov says Moscow has not seen the revised US proposals made after the most recent talks with Ukraine, but it may not like parts of it. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday Kyiv had agreed on key points of a post-war reconstruction plan in talks with US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and other top officials. Ushakov says the Kremlin also needs to see the outcome of this weekend’s expected meeting between European and Ukrainian officials.

# Cricket: New Zealand wrapped up the second Test against the West Indies within three days when they beat the visitors by nine wickets in Wellington. Jacob Duffy destroyed the Windies in their second innings when he took five wickets to help bowl them out for 128 after a first-innings deficit of 73 runs. The hosts reached the winning target of 56 off just ten overs. The first Test in Christchurch ended in a draw, and the third and final one starts in Mount Maunganui on Thursday.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-86-cents and the euro at 19-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-55-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-291-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-342-dollars-68-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 61-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The City of Cape Town says that with the school holidays officially underway, the ‘Safe Zone’ drowning prevention campaign is in full swing. Designated swimming beaches and swimming pools are manned by lifeguards daily, between 10:00 and 18:00. Mayoral committee member for Community Services and Health, Francine Higham, says child safety is a shared responsibility; therefore, parents should always know their whereabouts, what they’re wearing, who their friends are and where they live:

Stay tuned for more news………….