News 15:00

BULLETIN 18 September 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mkhwanazi says the political killings task team continued with fewer members after it was ordered to disband
# French protesters stage nationwide disruption over Macron’s budget policies
# And tennis legend Björn Borg reveals his battle against aggressive prostate cancer

# KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says the political killings task team continued operating even after Police minister Senzo Mchunu ordered it disbanded. Mkhwanazi told the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria that, although the team never stopped working, it operated with fewer members. He confirmed he did not personally disband the unit, which carried on investigating political killings, although with limited capacity:

# FNB senior economist, Siphamandla Mkhwanazi says stronger balance sheets and purchasing power should support retail sales in the near term. He says retail sales showed a strong performance in July, registering 5.6-percent growth year-on-year, up from 1.7-percent in June. Mkhwanazi says this marks the 17th consecutive month of positive year-on-year growth and significantly exceeds market expectations of 2.7-percent growth:

Moving abroad:

# French protesters are staging a day of nationwide disruption over president Emmanuel Macron’s budget policies, with mass protests, transport chaos and clashes between police and demonstrators expected. Prime minister Sebastien Lecornu, Macron’s seventh head of government, took office last week, vowing a break from the past against the background of an ongoing political crisis. Unions and the left remain incensed about the draft cost-saving budget of his predecessor, despite Lecornu’s pledges to abolish both the life-long privileges of prime ministers and a plan to scrap two public holidays.

# Cricket: Australia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, believes captain Pat Cummins will be fit to play a major role in the Ashes series against England. The fast bowler is still recovering from a lower back injury, but McDonald says he should be ready to play in at least some of the five Tests. He says there’s still enough time before the start of the first encounter in Perth on the 21st of November. Cummins will not play in next month’s white-ball series against New Zealand and India.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-34-cents and the euro at 20-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-62-cents and Bitcoin trades at 117-thousand-299-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-667-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Swedish tennis legend Björn Borg promised to fight his health scare like it’s a Wimbledon final. He won five Wimbledon and six French Open titles before abruptly retiring in 1983 at the age of 27. Borg reveals in his autobiography, Heartbeats, that he was battling extremely aggressive prostate cancer. Although it is in remission after an operation last year, it could return in devastating fashion at almost any time. The book, written together with his wife, Patricia, is being published today. Sixty-nine-year-old Borg also revealed his earlier addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Stay tuned for more news………….