News 08:00

BULLETIN 9 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Human Rights Commission is monitoring the adherence to human rights during electioneering
# The secretary to Parliament gives an update on the reconstruction project
# And Biden warns the US will halt arms shipments to Israel if the Rafah offensive happens

# The South African Human Rights Commission says it is monitoring human rights adherence as the country gears up for the 29 May general election. The commission’s spokesperson, Wisani Baloyi, says they have noted with concern certain utterances and actions by political parties, their members and segments of the public in the course of electioneering. He says some parties and their members are using utterances that border on human rights violations to stir interest in their electioneering process:

# The Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George, will host a media briefing today, to provide updates on Parliament’s reconstruction project following the devastating fire on January 2, 2022. The fire damaged parts of the National Assembly and Old Assembly buildings. The briefing will outline project timelines and unveil designs for new buildings. This is expected to prioritise democratic needs, integrate modern technology, and enhance public access. In addition, a guided tour of the affected sites will follow.

# Union federation Saftu is calling for a thorough investigation into the George building collapse in the Western Cape. Eight construction workers have died while 38 are still unaccounted for. Saftu’s, Xantilomzi Mapukata, says should it be found that precautionary measures and warnings were ignored on site because of a rush to complete the job, then people must be held accountable:

# US president Joe Biden has warned that America would stop supplying Israel with weapons if its forces make a major invasion of Rafah in Gaza. The president has come under extraordinary pressure, including from members of his party, to limit shipments of arms amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Last week, the US stopped a shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel. Biden has acknowledged that weapons supplied by America have been used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza.

# Soccer: Fourteen-time champions Real Madrid produced a semifinal second-leg comeback to beat Bayern Munich two-one, and reach the Champions League final via a four-three aggregate victory. Alphonso Davies gave Bayern a lead that they held until 88 minutes. Striker Joselu scored two late goals in three minutes to take Madrid to the final where they will face Borussia Dortmund in London on the first of next month. Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, was happy with the performance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-56-cents and the euro at 19-rand-96-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-472-dollars-10-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-312-dollars-89-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-94-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….