News Bulletin of 14 December 2025, 7am

Members of the Wanderers Chess Club went head-to-head blindfolded with players from the South African Braille Chess Association. This event aimed at promoting inclusion and raising funds for visually impaired chess players. The match put Braille chess and barriers facing disabled athletes  firmly in the spotlight. Founded in 1992, the association sent its first team to the Braille Chess Olympiad. SA Braille vice-chair Francios Metthling said initiatives like this are critical to raising awareness and proving that blind and partially sighted players can compete at the highest level of the game.

Ten women entrepreneurs from across Africa competed in the Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge finale. The event took place at the JSE in Sandton with five founders awarded equity-free grants totalling more than 1.7 million rand. Led by Naspers and Prosus to mark Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and align with South Africa’s G20 and B20 priorities, the challenge drew 1,163 applications from tech founders around the world, highlighting the depth of underfunded female talent. Business Analyst Pelontle Buthelezi who attended the conference had this to say

Astronomers have spotted a supermassive black hole whipping up cosmic winds at record speeds. The black hole, located 135 million light-years from Earth in the center of the NGC 3783 spiral galaxy, caught researchers' attention after emitting a huge X-ray flare. As the burst died down, it left winds of more than 37,000 miles per second— one-fifth the speed of light. Astronomer Liyi Gu at Space Research Organisation Netherlands who led the research said they have not watched a black hole create winds this speedily before.