News 15:00

BULLETIN 12 April 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Kaizer Chiefs defender Luke Fleurs’s murder case has been postponed
# Soccer: The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology

# And a new approach is needed to combat South Africa’s surge in kidnappings           

# The Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng has postponed the murder case of six accused linked to Kaizer Chiefs defender Luke Fleurs’s fatal shooting during a botched hijacking in Johannesburg. The six face charges of murder, robbery, possession of unlicensed firearms and defeating the ends of justice. The postponement aims to facilitate Legal Aid applications. In her ruling, magistrate Annaline Africa ordered the media to refrain from showing her face and that of court officials:

# Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy has extended the nearshore West Coast rock lobster fishing season until next Friday due to recent adverse weather in the Western Cape. The department’s spokesperson, Peter Mbelengwa, says heavily affected small-scale fishing cooperatives requested the extension. Mbelengwa says a public notice will be issued today:

# China has urged the United States to play a constructive role in the Middle East after its top diplomat, Wang Yi, spoke with his US counterpart Antony Blinken over the phone. China says it will continue to play a constructive role in the resolution of the Middle East issue and contribute to cooling down the situation. A Foreign ministry spokesperson told the Chinese media the United States in particular should play a constructive role.

# Soccer: The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology next season in the hope of reducing the time it takes to make video assistant referee decisions. At a shareholders’ meeting, top-flight clubs unanimously agreed to introduce the system, which is expected to cut the average length of a VAR check for offside by about 30 seconds. World governing body FIFA used semi-automated offside technology at the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar after running a series of trials, including at the Club World Cup.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-77-cents and the euro at 19-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-40-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-881-dollars-48-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-395-dollars-31-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-62-cents a barrel.

# And, the Institute for Security Studies has stressed the need for a new approach to combat South Africa’s surge in kidnappings, especially targeting women and children. Statistics reveal over 16-thousand kidnapping cases annually, with an 11-percent increase in recent months. The institute’s Johan Burger highlights weaknesses in law enforcement and intelligence units. He calls for enhanced measures to protect vulnerable citizens and to address the complex web of criminal activities.

Stay tuned for more news………….