News 13:00

BULLETIN 13 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Media organisations welcome the arrest of three more suspects in the murder case of a journalist and his partner
# Nearly 250-million-rand is needed to fix 63 sinkholes across Tshwane
# And tennis: Jasmine Paolini becomes the first local player in 11 years to survive the Italian Open fourth round

# The African Media and Communicators Forum and the National Press Club have commended police for their continued hard work in solving the murder case of journalist Aserie Ndlovu and his partner, Zodwa Mdhluli. National Press Club chairperson Antoinette Slabbert reacted after three more suspects were arrested at their hideout in Nokaneng near Rust de Winter in Limpopo this morning, which brings the total to eight. She says some of the suspects have already appeared in court:

# RISE Mzansi says the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development has revealed that since the start of the 2024/25 financial year, it has paid over 217-million-rand in 287 claims. Of these, 14 farms were productive at the time of settlement. Between 2014 and 2024, the department did not expropriate a single portion of land. RISE Mzansi’s Makashule Gana says this information once again pours water over the misinformation and disinformation around the Expropriation Act:

# The City of Tshwane says nearly 250-million-rand is needed to fix 63 sinkholes across the metro. This comes as another sinkhole has formed at the corner of Burger Avenue and Langebrink Road, cutting off some households and disrupting essential services. Mayoral committee member for Corporate and Shared Services, Kholofelo Morodi, says they are pushing for sinkholes to be classified as a national disaster to access emergency funding:

# Tennis: World number five Jasmine Paolini will play for a place in the penultimate round of the Italian Open after becoming the first local player in eleven years to survive the fourth round. She beat 17th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in straight sets to set up a quarterfinal clash with 13th-seeded Diana Shnaider. The Russian defeated Elise Mertens of Belgium in the round of 16. Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka crashed out to American Peyton Stearns in three sets.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-31-cents and the euro at 20-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-210-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-253-dollars-1-cent a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Police on a Japanese holiday island have arrested three Chinese nationals after thousands of live hermit crabs were found stuffed into multiple suitcases. Police say a hotel worker on the island of Amami Oshima alerted environmental authorities after hearing rustling sounds coming from the suitcases the three men had asked staff to watch. Officials later found the spiral-shelled hermit crabs stuffed into six suitcases. Police told CNN the crabs are national natural monuments in Japan because of their cultural and scientific value, and protected under Japanese law.

Stay tuned for more news………….