Transcript

Hello, everyone! Welcome to Just a Moment News. I’m Erika, and today is August 1st, 2024. Let’s dive into today’s news stories without any delay.

First up, a significant operation by the South African Police Service in Gauteng led to the rescue of a kidnapped businessman and the recovery of drugs valued at three hundred million Rand. The raid resulted in the arrest of eight kidnappers, including three Tanzanian nationals. The businessman was abducted outside a mosque in Helderkruin, Roodepoort, and later found in a house in Lenasia. Additional operations were conducted at a hotel in East Gate and two apartments in Fourways, where six more suspects were apprehended, and a substantial amount of crystal meth was seized.

Moving on to the corporate world, there’s a notable shift in the Discovery Vitality program. Starting September 1, 2024, Checkers will replace Pick n Pay as a partner. This change is designed to align with shifting shopping habits, allowing members to choose different partners for in-store and delivery shopping. Discovery’s research indicates a preference among 60% of Vitality members for different retailers for in-store versus online shopping. The program adjustments include changes in the cashback percentages and the introduction of Discovery Miles for payouts in the HealthyFood benefit.

In e-commerce news, Takealot has expanded its on-demand delivery service, TakealotNow, to Pretoria, offering deliveries within an hour. To promote this launch, they are offering a two hundred Rand discount on the first order to the first one hundred customers, with a minimum spend of six hundred and fifty Rand. The service is available in several Tshwane suburbs and follows the success of TakealotNow in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Switching to finance, the Medallion Fund, managed by Renaissance Technologies, continues to intrigue the financial world. Founded in 1988 by mathematician Jim Simons, the fund has consistently outperformed market benchmarks with sophisticated quantitative models and algorithms. It remains closed to outside investors, only accessible to current and former employees and their families.

In entertainment, Netflix’s “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” adapted by Poppy Cogan and directed by Dolly Wells and Tom Vaughan, follows 17-year-old Pippa Fitz-Amobi as she investigates a five-year-old missing person case. The series, which premiered on BBC Three and iPlayer, has been noted for its engaging suspense and potential for future adaptations of Holly Jackson’s novels.

Lastly, a fascinating study involving 17th-century sunspot drawings by Johannes Kepler has helped solve a modern mystery about solar cycles. A team of Japanese and Belgian astronomers used these historical observations to clarify the transition to the Maunder Minimum, a period noted for minimal sunspot activity. This study underscores the value of historical records in contemporary scientific research.

And in space exploration, NASA’s DART mission, a planetary defense test, provided crucial data on the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system. The mission revealed significant details about the asteroids’ composition and history, contributing to our understanding of potential defense strategies against hazardous space objects.

That wraps up today’s news on Just a Moment News. I’m Erika, and I hope you found these stories insightful. Join us again next time for more updates. Have a great day!

Keywords - moment, daily, news