News 09:00

BULLETIN 10 May 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The death toll in the George building disaster rises to 9
# The DA criticises the SABC for banning its election advert
# And Trump’s second request for a mistrial in hush-money case is denied

# The George Municipality says a construction worker who has been in hospital after being rescued from Monday’s building collapse has died,  bringing the death toll to nine. The rescue operation has reached over 88 hours, with experts predicting that the survival rate for the 44 workers still trapped under the rubble has dropped to around 33-percent. The municipality’s spokesperson, Chantel Edwards-Klose, says the rescue operation is at a critical stage:

Meanwhile, the George Municipality has issued banking details for a Municipal Relief and Charitable Fund. This follows after requests from the public and organisations about financial donations for the families affected by the collapse on Monday. According to the Municipality other individuals and organisations have also issued bank account details for a similar purpose. However, the Municipality requests the public to assure themselves of the correct information for the official fund. Donations can be made to the Relief and Charitable Fund, ABSA BANK Cheque Account number 91-49-55-42-08.

# DA leader John Steenhuisen has criticised the SABC for banning its television election advertisement, saying the party’s lawyers have been instructed to challenge this. The public broadcaster has refused to air the DA’s controversial advert, which depicts a burning South African flag, in its current form. It believes the advert encourages damage to treasured national symbols. Steenhuisen says this blatant act of censorship is an unprecedented assault on democracy:

# The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush-money trial has denied the former US president’s lawyer’s second request for a mistrial. His lawyers continued their attack on the credibility of former adult film star Stormy Daniels yesterday, accusing her of making up the story of having a sexual encounter with Trump and being paid off to remain silent. Judge Juan Merchan indicated that Trump’s lawyers were to blame for allowing Daniels to describe lurid details about the 2006 incident. The former president has denied Daniels’ allegations.

# Cricket: The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have kept alive their slim hopes of making the Indian Premier League play-offs, after claiming a comprehensive 60-run win over the Punjab Kings. Virat Kohli produced a blockbuster batting performance scoring 92 as RCB posted 241 for seven in their 20 overs. In reply, Mohammed Siraj took three wickets as Punjab were bowled out for 181. RCB captain, Faf du Plessis, says the team’s performances in the past few games have been impressive:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-47-cents and the euro at 19-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-12-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-926-dollars-48-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-354-dollars-72-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….