News 12:00

BULLETIN 27 May 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The GOOD Party is seeking clarity about a 500-thousand-rand donation
# Calls for an immediate ceasefire is being reiterated following the deadly Israeli strike in Rafah
# And tennis: Rafael Nadal expected to face a tough opponent in the French Open’s first round

# The GOOD Party says it has asked the organisation, We Are The People, for clarity about its donation of 500-thousand-rand to the party last month. GOOD accepted, and declared the donation to the Electoral Commission, but recent media reports have raised concerns about the integrity of the transaction. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says nearly 94-percent of funds the organisation donated to political parties went to just one party, which suggests it may be an undeclared funding vehicle for that party:

Meanwhile, Northern Cape police commissioner Koliswa Otola says the Provincial Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, the Defence Force and the State Security Agency are confident the province is ready to police Wednesday’s elections. Police spokesperson Mashay Gamieldien says communities have been warned to refrain from vandalising, defacing and removing political posters, as this constitutes an offence:

# Doctors Without Borders has reiterated its call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza. This comes after at least 35 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah yesterday. The Israel Defence Forces claims it struck a Hamas compound in the area, killing two senior officials of the militant group. It says it would review reports the strike killed civilians. Doctors Without Borders says this attack once again shows that nowhere is safe in Gaza.

# Tennis: Fourteen-time champion Rafael Nadal says he relishes facing Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the first round of the French Open today. The Spaniard has only played four tournaments since January last year after suffering a hip injury and then a muscle tear. This has left him unseeded for the second Grand Slam of the year. Nadal says he expected to get a tough opponent in the opening round:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-45-cents and the euro at 20-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-52-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-753-dollars-11-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-341-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-21-cents a barrel.

# And finally: South Africa’s premier comedy variety show, the Cape Town Funny Festival, returns to the Baxter theatre for its 25th-anniversary edition next month. The likes of Canada’s super puppeteers, Cabaret Decadanse, Britain’s Got Talent finalist, Graeme Mathews, and local comics including Cape Town’s own Carl Weber, and Ismail Moses, will be part of the festival. One of the unique selling points of the festival is its use of an extraordinarily different variety of acts, and this year, three such acts are on the bill.

Stay tuned for more news………….