News 11:00

BULLETIN 25 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Justice minister is reportedly set to appear before the ANC’s Integrity Committee today
# The Israeli military has intercepted a missile from Lebanon
# And tennis: Aryna Sabalenka is chasing the year-end number-one ranking

# Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Thembi Simelane, is reportedly set to appear before the ANC’s Integrity Committee today, over the VBS allegations. She will provide a full account of a loan of more than half-a-million-rand she received from a VBS broker when she was the mayor of Polokwane. Simelane has denied any wrongdoing. She told Parliament earlier this month the loan was legitimate and had been repaid in full. The committee will recommend to the national executive council if any action should be taken against the minister.

# The EFF is demanding the immediate reversal of the appointment of advocates Paul Pretorius and Matthew Chaskalson as consultants within the National Prosecuting Authority. The two have been tasked with prosecuting cases related to the state capture commission, in which they were both evidence leaders. The EFF’s spokesperson, Leigh-Ann Mathys, says the irregularity lies in the conflict of interest, wherein the pair will be prosecuting aspects of evidence they developed and led at the commission:

# The residents of Broadwalk Urban Village complex in Midrand, Johannesburg, have been left homeless after a massive fire destroyed 130 apartments last night. Evacuated residents spent the night at several hotels in Midrand that the building owners organised. Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson, Xolile Khumalo, urges residents to scrutinise accommodation facilities before taking residency, and to ensure that all electrical appliances are switched off after use:

# The Israeli military says it was able to intercept a missile fired from Lebanon near Tel Aviv today. Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have been trading waves of strikes for several months. This intercept comes days after Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah killed more than 500 people across Lebanon. The United Nations’ Human Rights spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, has expressed alarm at the number of casualties in the strikes:

# Tennis: Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus wants to cap off a stellar year by returning to the top of the world rankings. The number two is the top seed at the China Open this week following the withdrawal of world number one and defending champion, Iga Swiatek of Poland, because of undisclosed personal matters. Fresh from winning the US Open, Sabalenka can take a large step towards overhauling Swiatek with victory in Beijing. She will play for the first time since beating Jessica Pegula in New York.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-27-cents and the euro at 19-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-15-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-815-dollars-76-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-652-dollars-48-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-86-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….