News 11:00

BULLETIN 22 May 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Donald Trump says the G20 summit will be meaningless without the US
# Two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington are shot dead
# And rugby: The 20-minute red card law is approved for a global trial

# US president Donald Trump says the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg in November will be meaningless without the participation of America. Last month, he said he could not be expected to attend the summit while the South African government was expropriating white-owned land and persecuting the descendants of white settlers. Speaking during the meeting with president Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House yesterday, Trump stated he will consider attending:

Meanwhile Ramaphosa says he is optimistic that Trump will attend the G20 Summit where the US is due to take over the group’s presidency from next year. South Africa’s G20 presidency has committed to championing solidarity, equality and sustainability. Briefing the media on the engagements with the Trump administration, Ramaphosa stressed the importance of the US within the G20:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Public Works and Infrastructure has welcomed ongoing efforts to reform the Expanded Public Works Programme into a more viable and sustainable job creation initiative. This government programme focuses on skills development and providing work opportunities. The committee says it is, however, concerned that service providers delivering training appear to be the primary beneficiaries of the programme. It adds that many workers are receiving between 100-rand and 200-rand per day, without access to basic protections such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund or medical aid.

# Two Israeli embassy staff members were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in Washington last night. The young couple, who were about to be engaged, were killed while leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. Washington police chief, Pamela Smith, says the suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez. She adds while in custody, he chanted “Free, Free Palestine”:

# Rugby: The World Rugby Council has approved the global trial of the 20-minute red card, despite resistance from several international unions, including France and Ireland. This comes after it was tried out in several competitions in the northern hemisphere season. The law allows a player who has a committed an act of foul play to be replaced by another player after 20-minutes. The offending player cannot return to the field. A decision on the permanent adoption of the law will be made next year.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 110-thousand-651-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-324-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….