News 09:00

BULLETIN 16 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The GOOD Party says Roelf Meyer’s appointment is an act of appeasement to the bullying Trump regime
# China’s economy is growing faster than expected amid the Middle Eastern conflict
# And soccer: Bayern Munich and Arsenal are through to the Champions League semifinals

# The GOOD Party says sending an Afrikaner male with apartheid-era government credentials to Washington is a rather clever act of appeasement to the regime of bullying president Donald Trump. The party was responding to the appointment of veteran political negotiator Roelf Meyer as South Africa’s next ambassador to the US. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says Meyer’s record as a negotiator of the country’s political settlement and new Constitution provides him with a very solid platform from which to counter the lies about white genocide:

Union federation Cosatu meanwhile says given the vacancy of South Africa’s ambassador to the US and the strains in bilateral relations, the need to fill this key position was long overdue, with the notable exception of the Afrikaner right. Meyer’s appointment has been widely welcomed. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says they are dismayed by the juvenile temper tantrums by AfriForum, the Freedom Front Plus and other far-right-wing cranks:

# ActionSA has welcomed the City of Tshwane’s decision to place embattled chief financial official Gareth Mnisi on precautionary suspension with immediate effect. He was implicated at the Madlanga commission of colluding with other senior officials in the metro to manipulate the awarding of tenders. ActionSA’s Henriëtte Frohlich says placing Mnisi on suspension is a necessary step to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct and tender collusion:

Moving abroad:

# China’s economy expanded by five-percent in the first three months of the year, exceeding expectations amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. The rebound from a weaker expansion of 4.5-percent in the previous quarter was driven by manufacturing, cars, and other exports. China is the world’s second-largest economy and the world’s largest oil importer. The National Statistics Bureau says the external environment is becoming more complex and volatile, warning of an acute imbalance between strong supply and weak demand.

# Soccer: Bayern Munich defeated 15-time champions Real Madrid 4-3 in the Champions League quarterfinal second leg in Munich to progress to the semifinals. Madrid took the lead three times to level the tie, but Bayern responded each time, with late goals from Luis Díaz and Michael Olise proving to be the difference, giving Bayern a 6-4 victory on aggregate. Meanwhile, Arsenal is through to the semifinals after a second-leg goalless draw handed them a 1-0 aggregate victory over Sporting.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-32 and the euro at 19-rand-28. One British pound costs 22-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-967-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-827-dollars-60-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-95-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….