News 14:00

BULLETIN 17 September 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Correctional Services commissioner reveals Thabo Bester tried to contact him multiple times
# Ambassador Meyer says South Africa wants to pursue negotiations with America amid visa restrictions
# And soccer: Italy bans 16 Roma fans over a fascist salute

# National commissioner of Correctional Services, Makgothi Thobakgale, says attempts to influence officials can happen at different levels of correctional institutions. Testifying at the Madlanga commission, Thobakgale revealed that convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester had repeatedly tried to get his attention. He says Bester’s requests were referred to formal complaints and representation processes. Thobakgale says direct meetings with inmates are only held when they provide information that could implicate officials:

# The High Court in Limpopo, Polokwane, has suspended 33-year-old attorney Charlotte Tibana from practising law with immediate effect. The Legal Practice Council brought the urgent application amid allegations of trust account fraud. Tibana and her husband, Tshwane Metro Police official Peter Nonyane, face 43 charges including fraud, theft and money laundering. They are accused of misappropriating more than four-million-rand from deceased estate accounts. Tibana’s firm is also being audited. The couple was since been denied bail.

# South Africa’s ambassador to the US, Roelf Meyer, says government wants to continue pursuing a dialogue with Washington, even on difficult diplomatic terrain. The US has imposed new restrictions on those it deems responsible or complicit in policies promoting race-based discrimination, inciting imminent violence against racial or ethnic minorities, or enabling expropriation without compensation in South Africa. Meyer told the SABC strengthening diplomatic ties with the US is important:

# Ukrainian officials say at least 26 people, including four children, were injured in overnight Russian strikes on Kyiv, Odesa and other regions. In Kyiv, 16 people were wounded, including two children, while seven people, among them two children, were injured in Odesa after a missile struck an apartment building. A 64-year-old man was killed in a strike in the Sumy region. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region.

# Soccer: Italy has banned 16 fans of AS Roma from stadiums across the country after they made fascist salutes during a Serie A home game against Atalanta. The bans, ranging from one to five years, also apply to Roma’s overseas matches and games of the national team. Reuters reports the fascist salute isn’t explicitly banned in Italy and courts assess the gesture on a case-by-case basis, but it can be prosecuted under laws banning the revival of the Fascist Party and the incitement of racial hatred.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-27-cents and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-294-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-315-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 104-dollars-52-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….