News 12:00

BULLETIN 19 February 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# There are suspected multiple fatalities and injuries after a bus crash in Limpopo
# The GOOD Party is hopeful Joshlin Smith will be found one day
# And cricket: The remaining T20 World Cup group matches don’t have any bearing on the Super Eights

# Limpopo’s Department of Transport and Community Safety says there are suspected multiple fatalities and injuries after a bus crashed on the N1 outside Makhado. Passengers are still trapped inside. Spokesperson Tshifhiwa Dali says the driver lost control and the vehicle landed in a ditch. He says the bus was travelling from Gauteng to Zimbabwe, and it has not yet been established whether all passengers were bound for Zimbabwe:

# The GOOD Party in the Western Cape still hopes Joshlin Smith will someday be found. The girl was six when she disappeared from her home in Saldanha Bay in February 2024. Her mother and two men were convicted of human trafficking and kidnapping. Spokesperson Ricardo van der Merwe says they have done nothing to assist in locating her, and their continued silence adds to the family’s profound pain:

# Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, says government is doing everything possible to return the group of South Africans who were lured to Russia under false pretences. Four of the 17 men lured to fight in the Russian-Ukrainian war arrived at OR Tambo International Airport in Gauteng yesterday. Lamola told the SABC the process to locate and return all the men has been difficult:

# Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has pulled out of delivering a keynote address at the AI Impact Summit in India as he continues to face scrutiny over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. In the latest released Epstein files, the late convicted sex offender appears to claim he facilitated sexual encounters for Gates and helped him obtain medication to hide a sexually transmitted infection from his wife. Gates has denied the allegations. The Gates Foundation says it wants to ensure the focus remains on the summit’s key priorities.

# Cricket: The remaining group matches of the T20 World Cup won’t have any bearing on the Super Eights stage. The West Indies and Italy opened today’s action in Kolkata, with the Windies through to the next round. Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, who both qualified, play in Colombo later, followed by already eliminated Afghanistan and Canada in Chennai. Tomorrow’s final group match will feature Australia and Oman, with both teams also out. The Super Eights starts on Saturday, with South Africa playing co-hosts India on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-5-cents and the euro at 18-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-69-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-65-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and-11-dollars-23-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….