News 15:00

BULLETIN 14 Mei 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The High Court rejects Zuma and Thales’ bid to stall the arms deal trial
# The Western Cape Social Development Department appeals for help for storm-hit communities
# And rugby: Gans can play his 100th match for the Bulls on Saturday

# The High Court in Pietermaritzburg has dismissed fresh attempts by former president Jacob Zuma and French arms company, Thales, to delay the long-running multi-billion-rand arms deal corruption trial. The trial has been delayed for over 20-years. Judge Nkosinathi Chili ruled the case must proceed, rejecting further appeal applications and what prosecutors describe as Stalingrad tactics. He also dismissed arguments that the deaths of key witnesses made a trial impossible:

# Hawks Lieutenant-Colonel Nkoana Sebola has told the Madlanga commission officers improperly handled suspected drug evidence during the Aeroton drug bust operation in Gauteng. Sebola says the bags should never have been removed from the container or loaded into the back of a bakkie, as this compromised the integrity of the investigation. He says there was no reasonable justification for the actions taken at the scene:

# The Western Cape Department of Social Development has called on the private sector and the general public, who are in a position to assist, to support relief non-profit organisations as they respond to the weather-related disaster. To date, three-thousand-628 people across the province have been displaced and are being housed in community halls. MEC Jaco Londt says in Cape Town alone, 85-thousand-512 people have been impacted by the recent storms:

Moving abroad:

# Chinese president Xi Jinping told his US counterpart, Donald Trump, at the start of a two-day summit that trade talks were making progress. However, he cautioned disagreement over Taiwan could harm relations and even ​lead to conflict. Xi’s remarks on the democratically governed island claimed by Beijing, came in a closed-door meeting of the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. They agreed to expand cooperation in trade and agriculture and exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula.

# Rugby: Backline player Stedman Gans hopes to play his 100th match for the Bulls in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship group encounter against Benetton at Loftus. The former Blitzbok star played 22 matches for the Blue Bulls and 45 for the Bulls since 2017. He describes his time in Pretoria as a blessing. The Bulls are currently fourth on the log and can secure a home quarterfinal if the beat the Italians this weekend. Benetton lies in 13th position and won’t survive the group phase.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-39-cents and the euro at 19-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-15-cents and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-432-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-694-dollars-58-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 102-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….