News 13:00

BULLETIN 17 February 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The US embassy in Pretoria will send an Afrikaner petition to Donald Trump
# Saftu expects yet another anti-poor budget from minister Enoch Godongwana
# And tennis: Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban still elicits various reactions from other players

# The US embassy in Pretoria has confirmed that it will forward a petition from a group of Afrikaners to US president Donald Trump. Approximately one-thousand people gathered outside the embassy on Saturday, calling for US intervention in South Africa’s Expropriation Act. The government insists on no land grabs, and no group is targeted, but activist Willem Petzer claims the law impacts the Afrikaner community:

# Union federation Saftu expects yet another anti-worker and anti-poor budget when minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana tables the budget in Parliament on Wednesday. Government is under pressure to find ways to reduce debt, create pro-growth policies, and support struggling state-owned enterprises. Saftu’s spokesperson, Newton Masuku, says the budget will entrench the neoliberal economic agenda that has left millions of South Africans in poverty and unemployment:

# Nine people have died in Kentucky and one in Georgia as torrential downpours drenched parts of the south-eastern US. Video footage captured in multiple states shows toppled trees, vehicles submerged in floodwaters, and inundated houses. President Trump has approved Kentucky’s request for a disaster declaration, authorising the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts throughout the state. Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear, says emergency responders have performed over one-thousand rescues in under 24 hours:

# Tennis: The announcement of world number one Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban is still attracting various opinions in the tennis world. The Italian accepted the ban after twice testing positive for minute traces of a banned substance in March last year. Women’s world number one, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, says the system scares players too much. Number three, Coco Gauff of America, hopes the measure is more for the protection of the sport and not to catch players. Another American, Jessica Pegula, feels the process is completely broken.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-42-cents and the euro at 19-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-22-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-266-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-904-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-73-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The 35th entry in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Brave New World, topped North America’s box office in its opening weekend. Anthony Mackie takes up the mantle as Cap from Chris Evans, who played the star-spangled Avenger in Marvel movies for nearly a decade. Paddington in Peru, the third instalment in StudioCanal’s franchise, came in second, followed by Sony’s Heart Eyes. Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man came in fourth with Ne Zha 2, a Chinese-language animated film rounding out the top five.

Stay tuned for more news………….