News 16:00

BULLETIN 25 October 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A suspect in the murder and rape of a six-year-old girl from Soweto appears in court
# Three suspects are arrested in the Bishop Lavis mass shooting in Cape Town
# And Cyclone Dana causes havoc in India

# Alleged rapist and killer Pethe Sara Simiao has appeared in the Protea Magistrate’s Court in Soweto in connection with the death of six-year-old Amantle Semane. Community members searching for the child found her lifeless body in a shack in Orlando East. Simiao was arrested in Zola on Wednesday and faces four counts, including murder and kidnapping. The case was postponed to 1 November for a bail application.

# Western Cape police have arrested three suspects, aged 17, 24, and 29, in connection with a shooting in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town. They were found with a nine-millimetre firearm, now undergoing ballistic testing. Provincial police commissioner, Thembisile Patekile, says the three face charges of murder, attempted murder, and illegal possession of firearms. He confirmed that investigations continue in the Atlantis and Mamre gang shootings, also in Cape Town:

# Political parties in the National Assembly are urging the regulation of spaza shops following a rise in food poisoning cases. This includes the death of six children in Naledi, Soweto. During the debate, speakers emphasised that the request isn’t xenophobic or Afrophobic, but targets non-compliant businesses. The DA’s Eleanore Rochelle Spies stressed the need for thorough investigations to address the issue:

# Cyclone Dana tore the roofs off homes and flattened trees and power lines after making landfall on India’s east coast, but did not appear to have caused significant casualties. Cyclones, the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific, are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean. At least 1.1-million people in the states of Odisha and West Bengal were relocated to storm shelters before the eye of the cyclone reached the coast just after midnight.

# Motorsport: Marc Marquez topped the timesheets in practice today for the Thailand MotoGP with a lap record, as championship rivals Jorge Martin came second and Francesco Bagnaia fourth. Third was Enea Bastianini. Spain’s Martin is just 20 points clear of Bagnaia in the world championship title race with three rounds left in the season. Marquez is third in the title battle and still mathematically in with a chance, but is 79 points behind Martin.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-60-cents and the euro at 19-rand-6-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-73-dollars-21-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-724-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-5-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….