News 07:00

BULLETIN 28 March 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The US is not required to consult South Africa on ambassadorial appointments
# The EFF welcomes the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of AfriForum’s  application
# And European countries say now is not the time to lift sanctions on Russia

# Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has confirmed that South Africa will review the credentials of newly appointed US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell and was not consulted on his selection. This follows president Donald Trump’s announcement of Bozell’s nomination, a right-wing media critic, amid growing tensions. Ntshavheni also rejected US concerns over the government’s land reform policies, saying they are based on false narratives:

# The EFF has welcomed the ruling by the Constitutional Court dismissing AfriForum’s leave to appeal application on Kill the Boer chant. AfriForum’s application appealed previous court rulings which found that EFF president Julius Malema’s Kill the Boer chant did not constitute hate speech. The EFF says it has always maintained that the chant was not a call to incite violence, but a chant of resistance against colonial and apartheid oppression. It adds that AfriForum’s consistent fearmongering about so-called white genocide is nothing more than racist paranoia.

# The DA in Gauteng has urged MEC Lebogang Maile to ensure only qualified and corruption-free candidates are appointed to the Gauteng Liquor Board Commission of Inquiry. Today marks the deadline for applications. The DA’s Mike Moriarty says the commission, investigating alleged corruption, is long overdue, with complaints from business owners about delays in liquor licence approvals. The DA insists on transparency in the selection process and vows to monitor the inquiry closely to ensure accountability and prevent wasted funds.

# UK prime minister Keir Starmer says there needs to be increasing economic pressure on Russia, with new and tougher sanctions, including on energy revenue. More than 30 European countries met in Paris on Thursday. Britain and France have agreed to send a military delegation to Ukraine to work with Kyiv’s armed forces to help them plan for the future. Starmer says there is absolute clarity that Russia is playing games by not agreeing to the 30-day temporary ceasefire:

# Golf: South Africa’s JC Ritchie opened with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to lead the first round of the DNi Tour Championship in Pretoria. The in-form Daniel van Tonder, who has already won four titles this season, is one shot behind him. George Coetzee, the winner of last week’s Serengeti Playoffs, and Jacques Blaauw came through the opening day in joint third place on five under par. Ritchie says he has been hitting the golf ball very well the last couple of weeks:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-61-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-205-dollar-10-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-65-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-10-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Artificial intelligence can help detect foetal abnormalities from pregnancy scans nearly twice as quickly but with the same accuracy. This is according to the results of a UK trial which included 78 pregnant women and 58 sonographers. They focused on looking for heart problems in the 20-week scans, but researchers said the AI could look for any abnormality. It was also more reliable and 42-percent quicker than humans when it came to taking foetal measurements, with sonographers no longer needing to pause, measure and save images during the scan.

Stay tuned for more news………….