News 14:00

BULLETIN 19 February 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Thirteen fallen SANDF soldiers to be laid to rest with full military honours as from Saturday
# FNB welcomes the labour market data but calls for more improvement
# And tennis: Wada denies special treatment for Jannik Sinner in his doping case

# The South African Defence Force has confirmed that the funerals of 13 soldiers killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo will take place with full military honours from Saturday until the first of March. Another soldier was already laid to rest in Limpopo after the members’ remains were handed to the families last week. The 14 soldiers lost their lives in clashes with M23 rebels in the east of the DRC last month.

# First National Bank has welcomed the Quarterly Labour Force Survey results showing an increase in the rate of employment. Unemployment decreased by 19-thousand-573, marking a 0.2 percentage point drop in the official unemployment rate to 31.9-percent. Despite this positive trend in the market, the bank’s senior economist, Thanda Sithole, says more still needs to be done to sustain job growth:

# Former International Relations and Cooperation minister, Naledi Pandor has urged AfriForum to clarify to US president Donald Trump that their statements on the Expropriation Act were exaggerated. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, she warned that South Africa’s trade with the US could be affected. Pandor called for AfriForum to be held accountable and urged impacted parties to protest against their damaging claims:

Meanwhile, EU countries has agreed a new round of sanctions on Russia, as the bloc looks to keep up pressure in the face of US talks with Moscow. The wide-ranging package, which includes a ban on imports of Russian aluminium, will be formally adopted by EU Foreign ministers on Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU’s 16th round of sanctions on Russia comes as Trump has undercut Kiev and its European backers by launching efforts with Moscow to end the war.

# Tennis: The World Anti-Doping Agency says world number one Jannik Sinner’s case was a million miles away from doping. The Italian accepted a three-month ban in exchange for Wada dropping its appeal against the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s decision not to suspend him over two positive drug tests last year. Wada says it received scientific feedback that this could not be a case of intentional doping, and denies any suggestion of special treatment. Sinner will be allowed to return to the tour on the fourth of May.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-43-cents and the euro at 19-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-22-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-316-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-944-dollars-3-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-15-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….