News 11:00

BULLETIN 6 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The US secretary of State won’t attend the G20 Summit in South Africa in protest over the Land Expropriation Act
# French arms company Thales is seeking an acquittal on its arms deal charges
# And motorsport: The MotoGP world champion is in a race against time after breaking his hand and his foot in a crash

# US secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says he will not attend the G20 Summit in South Africa later this month, in protest over the country’s Land Expropriation Act. In a post on social media platform X, Rubio says South Africa is doing very bad things, expropriating private property while using the G20 to promote solidarity, equality, and sustainability. He says his job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.

Meanwhile the minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, has reiterated that there is no arbitrary dispossession of land or private property in South Africa. Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, says government remains open to engaging the US:

# French arms company Thales has applied to the High Court in Pietermaritzburg to have the arms deal charges against it stopped and it be acquitted. The company is the co-accused in former president Jacob Zuma’s corruption and racketeering case. In court papers, Thales attorney Cameron Dunstan-Smith, says with the case being postponed 16 times, Thales has suffered an irremediable infringement of its constitutional right to a fair trial. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga says they have received Thales’ application:

# The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure says it is confident that all necessary security deployments and plans are in place to guarantee a peaceful, safe, and secure state of the nation address. President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to deliver the address in Cape Town this evening. National police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, says no disruptions will be allowed and tolerated by law enforcement:

# Motorsport: MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin has been ruled out of the remaining pre-season testing in Malaysia and will undergo surgery in Europe after crashing badly on the opening day at the Sepang track. The Spaniard broke his hand and foot after being thrown off his Aprilia motorbike at the Sepang circuit. He had emerged unscathed from a crash earlier in the day. Martin now faces a race against time to be fit for the start of his title defence in the season-opening Thai Grand Prix on 2 March.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-60-cents and the euro at 19-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 98-thousand-152-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-860-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-66-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….