News 17:00

BULLETIN 22 May 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The sixth Parliament has officially closed 
# AfriForum criticises Angie Motshekga’s statement on mother-language education as an election ruse
# And tennis: Novak Djokovic starts at the Geneva Open with the French Open just four days away 

# The sixth Parliament has officially closed,  five years since its members were sworn in. Parliament will remain in charge until the eve of next week’s elections. Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo says members will be called for urgent meetings if needed. The term was marked by significant events, including the Covid-19 pandemic, a destructive fire, and impeachments. Former speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula resigned just before her expected retirement to face corruption charges totalling over two-million-rand. Impeachment processes also saw the removal of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

# AfriForum has dismissed Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga’s recent endorsement of mother-language education and Afrikaans schools as an election tactic. This comes amid opposition to the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill. AfriForum’s Alana Bailey claims the ANC aims to undermine Afrikaans schools through poor administration and political manoeuvres. She says AfriForum is preparing for legal action, should president Cyril Ramaphosa sign the BELA Bill to law:

# Russia has returned six children displaced by the conflict in Ukraine to their families in a deal brokered by Qatar. Ukraine believes Russia has illegally taken more than 19-thousand of its children since the start of its 2022 offensive, of which fewer than 400 have been returned. Russia’s state-run news agency reports the children, a group of boys aged six to 17 that include two brothers, were reunited with their families at an event in the Qatari embassy in Moscow.

# Tennis: The Geneva Open in Switzerland is the last clay-court warm-up tournament before the French Open gets underway on Sunday. Second-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway is in action against unseeded Austrian Sebastian Ofner today. Top seed Novak Djokovic will also start his campaign against German Yannick Hanfmann today. Djokovic is yet to win a tournament this year, but Ruud says the Serbian will be favourite to win in Geneva:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-20-cents and the euro at 19-rand-72-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-837-dollars-12-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-410-dollars-28-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-21-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A single feather of the now extinct New Zealand huia bird has set a world record when it was sold for just more than half-a-million-rand at an auction. The feather, initially expected to fetch up to 55-thousand-rand, broke the previous record, which was for a feather of the same species, by 450-percent. The huia bird was sacred to the Māori people and considered a status symbol. The feathers were often worn as headpieces by chiefs and their families. The last confirmed sighting of the huia was in 1907.

Stay tuned for more news………….