News 18:00
BULLETIN 2 April 6 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# The speaker of the National Assembly says she’s ready to hand herself over to police
# Consumers are to feel the pinch as the petrol prices rise
# And tennis: The new world number two Jannik Sinner wants to improve his clay-court form
# The speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, says she is ready to hand herself over to police from tomorrow. This follows after the High Court in Pretoria dismissed her urgent application against her arrest. She is accused of corruption relating to millions of rand she allegedly received from a company with Defence Force contracts when she was minister of Defence and Military Veterans. Judge Sulet Potterill said Mapisa-Nqakula had been given ample time to present herself to police, but failed to do so for two weeks.
Meanwhile, the DA has called for an immediate debate and vote on a motion of no confidence against Mapisa-Nqakula. The party feels Parliament must hold the speaker accountable given the severity of the allegations against her, including charges of corruption and money laundering. The DA’s Siviwe Gwarube insists the integrity and credibility of the National Assembly are at stake:
# Consumers are set to pay more for fuel from midnight as 93 and 95-octane petrol will rise by 65- and 67-cents per litre respectively. Diesel prices will increase by three-cents per litre inland and decreased by four-cents per litre in coastal areas. Illuminating paraffin prices will decrease between 26- and 29-cents per litre across the board. The adjustments are attributed to fluctuations in the international price of petroleum products, including the rand and dollar exchange rate.
# A 12-year-old opened fire at a school north of the Finnish capital of Helsinki, killing a fellow learner and seriously injuring two others before being taken into custody. The Viertola school in Finland’s fourth-largest city, Vantaa, has around 800 learners and 90 staff. Children in grades one to nine, aged seven to 15, attend the school. Police had earlier said both the suspect and the injured are 12-years old. They have opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder.
# Tennis: The clay-court season is up next, with the qualification rounds for the Monte Carlo Masters getting underway this weekend. Italian Jannik Sinner is the in-form player at the moment. He won the Miami Open this past weekend to move up to a career-best world number two, behind Novak Djokovic of Serbia. The 22-year-old has struggled on clay in the past, but wants to improve this season:
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-76-cents and the euro at 20-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-59-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-141-dollars-72-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-273-dollars-76-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 88-dollars-3-cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….