News 14:00

BULLETIN 19 August 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Future Forex calls for hefty fines in the rand manipulation case
# Macron calls Putin ‘an ogre at the gates’
# And motorsport: Oscar Piastri will be honoured in his hometown of Melbourne in March

# Future Forex has called for substantial fines on banks found guilty in the rand manipulation saga to prevent future currency rigging. The Competition Commission is appealing in the Constitutional Court against the Competition Appeal Court’s ruling against 13 banks accused of manipulating the US dollar to the South African rand exchange rate between 2007 and 2013. CEO Harry Scherzer told Newzroom Afrika hefty penalties will deter future rand manipulation:

# The Freedom Front Plus says it has long warned about government deploying Cuban doctors in South Africa, especially given the country’s large number of unemployed qualified medical professionals. South Africa has hosted Cuban doctors since the 1996 Mandela-Castro health cooperation agreement. The US government plans to revoke the visas of Brazilian, African and Caribbean government officials, who allow the Cuban government to send doctors to their countries. FF Plus’ Philip van Staden says government must hire more local doctors:

# French president Emmanuel Macron has warned European allies not to trust his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, whom he called “an ogre at our gates”. Macron’s remarks came as Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky looked set for a peace summit after yesterday’s fast-moving talks between US president Donald Trump and European leaders that focused on the key issue of long-term security guarantees for Kyiv. Macron says Putin has rarely honoured his commitments, has constantly been a force for destabilisation and has sought to redraw borders to increase his power.

# Motorsport: McLaren’s Australian Formula One driver, Oscar Piastri, will be honoured at next year’s opening race in his fatherland when a stand will be named after him in his birthtown of Melbourne. Piastri is leading the championship and may just return home as world champion in March. He already won six races this year – more in a single season than any other Australian driver since the start of the world championship in 1950. Piastri says he can’t wait to see it all come together early next year.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-59-cents and the euro at 20-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 115-thousand-579-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-344-dollars-89-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-51-cents a barrel. 

# And finally: The Ministry in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities has confirmed that minister Sindisiwe Chikunga is well and recovering after a health scare during yesterday’s Y20 meeting in Ekurhuleni. The department’s spokesperson, Cassius Selala, says Chikunga has been advised to take time off her official schedule to rest and recuperate:

Stay tuned for more news………….