News 14:00

BULLETIN 22 August 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cabinet reaffirms its commitment to crime prevention and economic stability
# Mpumalanga Education suspends a teacher filmed forcefully cutting a learner’s braids
# And, cricket: Lucknow wants Zaheer Khan to take on a mentorship role

# Cabinet has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening crime prevention and ensuring economic stability. Following a recent meeting,  minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says government is focusing on tackling high crime rates, particularly extortion in the Eastern Cape, and supporting law enforcement agencies in their efforts. Ntshavheni says cabinet also discussed measures to stabilise the economy, addressing concerns like inflation and unemployment: 

# The Mpumalanga Department of Education has condemned a teacher from LD Moetanalo High School filmed forcefully cutting a learner’s braids. The video has gone viral, prompting an immediate precautionary suspension of the teacher. An investigation is underway to understand the incident’s context. The department’s spokesperson, Gerald Sambo, emphasises that teachers must adhere to professional ethics and the Bill of Rights, saying affected learners will receive psycho-social counseling:

# Police say SAPS Tshwane Training Academy has resumed with its services and trainees are back in class today. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says more than two-thousand-500 police trainees were evacuated yesterday following a gas pipeline explosion at an adjacent business site:

# The Italian coast guard has identified the bodies of five people found in the wreckage of the luxury yacht that sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily on Monday. The Bayesian was carrying 22 people of whom 15 were rescued. British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the dead. Morgan Stanley International chairman, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith, lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda have also been identified. The body of the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered on Monday.  Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah remains unaccounted for.

# Cricket: Former Indian great Zaheer Khan is in talks with Indian Premier League team Lucknow Super Giants over a mentorship role. This follows Gautam Gambhir’s departure to become head coach of the national team. Forty-five-year-old Khan played 92 Tests and 200 one-day internationals for India, scoring over two-thousand runs and taking a total of 593 wickets. He was head of global development at Mumbai Indians until recently, and also director of cricket for the team for four years.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand. One British pound costs 23-rand-57-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-961-dollars-52-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-506-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….