News 15:00

BULLETIN 12 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC seeks no special treatment amid the Constitutional Court arguments on disqualified candidates
# A BBC investigation into Roman Abramovich’s tax evasion implicates Deloitte
# And two American economists are awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences

# ANC legal representative Daniel Berger has argued at the Constitutional Court the party complied with all statutory and regulatory requirements for candidate nominations before the Electoral Commission’s deadline. The ANC is asking the court to allow 181 disqualified candidates to contest the local elections in six municipalities. Berger says the party simply asks that its compliance be assessed in accordance with the law:

Meanwhile, the DA is leading the ANC in knife-edge metro races ahead of the elections. A new eNCA Mark Data poll shows the parties virtually neck-and-neck in Nelson Mandela Bay, with the DA on 37.7-percent and the ANC on 37.4-percent. In Ekurhuleni, the DA leads with 31.2-percent against the ANC’s 29.4-percent. DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis says the findings track closely with its own internal polling:

Moving abroad:

# A BBC investigation has found accounting firm Deloitte helped falsify documents to conceal Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s wealth and evade tax in Britain. Luxury assets worth about 11.1-billion-rand, including superyachts, mansions and private jets, disappeared from company accounts after financial records were backdated. The findings emerged from a joint investigation by BBC Panorama and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism into offshore companies managed from Cyprus. Abramovich denies evading tax or knowing about the falsification. Deloitte Cyprus says it complies with the law.

# Tennis: Following her historic China Open title, Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from the Wuhan Open, citing fatigue and a right shoulder injury. She defeated Russian Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 in the final, becoming the first Chinese player to clinch the title in Beijing. The former world number four underwent elbow surgery last year and missed nearly eight months of action. Zheng says since returning from injury, she has played a demanding stretch of tennis, and her body is feeling very fatigued after the intense run of matches.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-53-cents and the euro at 18-rand-48-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-88-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-307-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-171-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 108-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

# And finally: American economists Robert Hall and Michael Woodford have been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on economic stabilisation. Their research has helped develop models used by governments and central banks to manage economic ups and downs through interest rates, government spending and other policy measures. The Nobel Committee’s John Hassler says the models help policymakers respond to recessions, inflation and sudden economic shocks, including energy crises:

Stay tuned for more news………….