News 17:00

BULLETIN 9 September 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Ministry of Public Works confirms the investigations into the collapsed building in George are still underway
# Tennis: Positive moves for Zverev and Fritz in the latest world rankings
# And, the British prime minister and actor Idris Elba launch an anti-knife crime campaign

# Public Works deputy minister Sihle Zikalala has confirmed that investigations into the collapse of a building in George in the Western Cape are ongoing. The tragedy in May this year claimed 34 lives, with 62 workers on-site. Zikalala told Newzroom Afrika his department is reviewing the Construction Industry Development Board Amendment Bill, while the Engineering Council of South Africa continues to probe the incident:

Meanwhile, Education activist Hendrick Makaneta says the collapse of a mud school in the Eastern Cape highlights the dire state of South Africa’s aging school infrastructure. He says the incident could have been prevented, referring to the urgent need for government intervention to refurbish and maintain schools nationwide. Makaneta has called for a comprehensive audit and long-term plans to modernise schools:

# The European Union says its allies had shared intelligence that Iran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, and warned of new sanctions on Tehran if the deliveries were confirmed. EU spokesperson Peter Stano says it is looking further into it with member states and if confirmed, this delivery would represent a substantive material escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. Wall Street Journal reported that the United States had briefed European allies that Iran has delivered short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.

# Tennis: Alexander Zverev of Germany has replaced Novak Djokovic in second position in the latest world ranking following the conclusion of the American Open. Champion Jannik Sinner of Italy remains in top spot, and Carlos Alcazaz of Spain is still third, followed by Djokovic. Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are still fifth and sixth, while losing finalist Taylor Fritz of America improved five spots to seventh. Hubert Hurkacz of Poland is eighth, Casper Ruud of Norway is ninth and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria tenth.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-76-cents and the euro at 19-rand-88-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-41-cents and Bitcoin trades at 55-thousand-327-dollars-54-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-504-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-16-cents a barrel.

# And finally, British prime minister Keir Starmer convened a coalition to stop young people from falling into knife crime today, joined by actor and anti-knife crime campaigner Idris Elba. Starmer launched the coalition, including families and young people affected by knife crime, the most common method of homicide in England and Wales. The annual knife crime meeting aims to increase understanding of the causes behind youth involvement in knife crime. The government is also looking to strengthen laws around the online sale of knives and younger people’s access to them.

Stay tuned for more news………….