News 09:00

BULLETIN 27 May 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Another 27 election-related cases are being investigated
# At least 18 people including children were killed following tornadoes and storms in the central US
# And tennis: Alcaraz, Osaka, and Wawrinka are through to the second round of the French Open

# The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure say it has fast-tracked a collective response to any threat, and lawlessness in different parts of the country ahead of election day on Wednesday. Twenty-seven more election-related cases have been registered and are under investigation. Deputy National Police Commissioner, Tebello Mosikili, says these cases included a 25-year-old man and nine-year-old girl being shot and wounded in Seshego, Limpopo during election campaigning:

# COPE has condemned reports of alleged vote rigging made by members of the MK party. MK party circulated videos on social media of activities at the Electoral Commission storage sites in Chesterville, KwaZulu-Natal and Hammarsdale, Mpumalanga. The IEC says the videos depict its planned logistical arrangements and storage of election materials and ballots in preparation for the first day of special voting today. COPE’s, Pakes Dikgetsi, says any form of political interference in the election process must be condemned:

# At least 18 people including four children have been killed as tornadoes and storms tore across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kentucky in the US. The extreme weather has left almost 500-thousand people without electricity and houses and vehicles damaged. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says more than a third of all counties in his state were now subject to a disaster declaration. President Joe Biden says federal emergency management officials are conducting damage assessments, and they stand ready to provide support as needed.

# Tennis: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland are through to the second round of the French Open. Alcaraz, who has not competed for more than three weeks due to injury, defeated American lucky loser J.J. Wolf, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1. 2015 champion Wawrinka knocked out Britain’s Andy Murray, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. In the women’s draw, four-time major winner Naomi Osaka of Japan beat Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, meanwhile, Swiss Viktorija Golubic knocked out former champion Czech’s Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-41-cents and the euro at 19-rand-98-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-47-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-783-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-342-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

# And finally, doctors at the Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital’s newly renovated cardiothoracic theatre are set to perform the first-ever open heart surgery at the facility. A 39-year-old woman from Jouberton near Klerksdorp in the North West, who has a leaking heart valve and congenital aneurysm, is the beneficiary of this collaborative effort between the North West and Gauteng Health Departments. Gauteng Health Department’s spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, says MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko and Madoda Sambatha will brief the media today:

Stay tuned for more news………….