News 14:00

BULLETIN 3 June 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Jacob Zuma and Thales fail in a bid to halt the arms deal corruption case
# A court rules that Moroadi Cholota’s extradition in the Ace Magashule corruption case was unlawful
# And Golf: SA’s Erik van Rooyen has sealed his spot at next week’s US Open

# The High Court in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal has dismissed applications by former president Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales to have their arms deal corruption trial thrown out. Zuma and Thales face charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering, and money laundering linked to the 1999 multi-billion-rand arms deal. Delivering his ruling, Judge Nkosinathi Chili found the delays in the case were not unreasonable, meaning the trial will proceed as planned:

# The Free State High Court in Bloemfontein has ruled that the extradition of Ace Magashule’s former PA, Moroadi Cholota, was unlawful and that the court has no jurisdiction to try her in the asbestos corruption case. Judge Philip Loubser found that the State misled US authorities, falsely portraying Cholota as a fugitive. The judge emphasised that only a Justice minister, not the National Prosecuting Authority, can legally request extraditions:

# Portuguese police started a new investigation near the place where British toddler Madeleine McCann disappeared while on holiday with her family in 2007. The then three-year-old Madeleine went missing from an apartment at the coastal resort of Praia da Luz in southern Portugal, sparking an international campaign to find her and unprecedented media coverage. Several police vehicles were today seen driving down a dirt road guarded by officers. The new searches are being conducted at the request of German authorities investigating Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist who is suspected of having killed Madeleine.

# Golf: South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen has secured his spot at the 125th US Open at the Oakmont Country Club next week. The 35-year-old fired rounds of 64 and 67 to finish first on 13-under 131 at a qualifying event at the Kinsale Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio. Van Rooyen, a two-time PGA winner, missed the cut in his last three US Open starts over the past four years. Meanwhile, Americans Rickie Fowler and Max Homa have failed to qualify for the major.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-89-cents and the euro at 20-rand-39-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-355-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-357-dollars-33-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Netflix’s Adolescence won three of the four categories it was nominated for at the second annual Gotham Television Awards in New York. The four-episode series about a teenage boy accused of murder won breakthrough limited series, lead performance in a limited series for Stephen Graham, and tied for best-supporting performance in a limited series for Owen Cooper. Fantasmas‘ Julio Torres won best lead performance in a comedy series. The breakthrough comedy series went to The Studio, while The Pitt won the breakthrough drama series.

Stay tuned for more news………….