Breakfast Edition: 18 September 2015
WATCH & LISTEN: Here's a recap of this morning's top news stories.
UN CONDEMNS BURKINA FASO COUP: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Thursday for Burkina Faso's military to "exercise restraint," after at least one person died and scores more were injured in protests following a coup. Ban condemned "in the strongest terms" the coup led by a close ally of toppled ex-leader Blaise Compaore and warned that those responsible for any bloodshed would face justice. The UN chief called on the country's "defence and security forces to exercise restraint and ensure respect for the human rights and security of all Burkinabe citizens." "Those responsible for the coup d'état and its consequences must be held accountable," he said. It was the second strongly worded statement from the UN chief in two days and came after the Security Council condemned the actions in the Sahel nation and also demanded the release of the arrested leaders. His spokesman, Stefan Dujaric, read out his statement.
FRESH FIFA SCANDAL: The World Soccer body, FIFA is reeling again this morning after a fresh scandal that saw its Secretary General, Jerome Valcke dramatically suspended over allegations of involvement in a ticketing scam. The allegations against Valcke come on top of probes by the US Department of Justice and the Swiss Attorney General's Office into corruption at Fifa, after the indictment of 14 senior soccer officials and sports marketing executives in May. Yesterday, former Israeli soccer player, Benny Alon said at a news conference in Zurich that he agreed in 2013 to pay cash to Valcke to secure plum World Cup tickets in Brazil. He said the plan was to then sell the tickets to fans at a mark-up and split the proceeds with Valcke. Valcke has again denied the allegations - as he did before - in response to the US investigation.
OSCAR COULD BE RELEASED: The parole review board is expected to meet today to decide if- and when- Oscar Pistorius could be released on parole to serve the rest of his five year sentence under house arrest. Two days before Pistorius was to have been released on the 21st of last month, Justice Minister, Michael Masutha ordered the board to review the earlier parole decision. Oscar Pistorius's "financialy ability" to pay for a new trial is "non-existent", his lawyers argued in court papers just two days before the parole board was expected to make a decision on his release.
BIG DAY FOR SABC CHIEF: It's a big day for the controversial SABC chief operating officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng. His legal team will be in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein to fight a Western Cape High Court order for his suspension. This comes after the Democratic Alliance went to the High Court earlier this year, to enforce findings and remedial action against the SABC and Mtsoeneng following a report released last year by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela. Maryke Vermaak reports.
JUDGEMENT EXPECTED IN AURORA CASE: Judgement will be delivered today in the application brought by the directors of Aurora Empowerment Systems for leave to appeal a high court ruling which found them liable for damages worth R1, 5-billion after a failed mining deal. Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann in June found them personally liable for losses at former Pamodzi mines which Aurora had tried to buy in 2009. The court had found that Aurora traded fraudulently and recklessly. Karabo Ngoepe reports.
WAITING FOR YOUR FOOD: There's nothing worse than waiting for your dinner when you're very hungry. To help pass the time, the techno-nerds at a restaurant designed a special computer animation that plays out while guests wait for their meal. The short film is about a tiny chef who creates a digital meal on your plate. This video has gone viral with over 1.9 million views!
