News 13:00

BULLETIN 30 June 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Fifteen suspects, including City Power security personnel, nabbed for cable theft and vandalism
# Deadly blasts in Nigeria kill at least 18 people
# And, motorsport: There’s just no stopping Verstappen

# Fifteen suspects, including nine security officers, have been arrested for alleged cable theft and vandalism in Johannesburg during a City Power led intelligence operation. Security Risk Management general manager Sergeant Thela says the officers are among some of the internal collaborators they have been tracking. He says City Power is fighting back against destructive acts of tampering with essential infrastructure:

# The Department of Health says a total of 885 eligible health professionals, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists has been placed, as required by law, to undergo medical internship and community service. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says the allocation process has been concluded and successful applicants have been informed of their allocated provinces and health facilities for duty from 17 July:

# Nigeria’s military has imposed a curfew in parts of the country after a series of deadly blasts in northeastern Borno state killed at least 18 people and injured 30 others. Officials say the victims include children and pregnant women. In one of the attacks six people were reportedly killed yesterday at a wedding ceremony. Suspected suicide bombers also targeted a funeral and a hospital in the town of Gwoza. A 15-year insurgency by Boko Haram Islamist militants centred on Borno state has displaced more than two-million people and killed more than 40-thousand.

# Motorsport: Max Verstappen claimed his 40th Formula 1 pole position for Red Bull by beating McLaren’s Lando Norris in qualifying for today’s Austrian Grand Prix. Verstappen took pole by four tenths of a second from Norris on the shortest track on the calendar in terms of lap time. Mercedes’ George Russell qualified third after another McLaren driver, Oscar Piastri, was penalised for exceeding track limits. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start fourth ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

# And finally, Olympics news: The river Seine is still failing water quality tests one month before the Paris Games, when it is scheduled to host the open-water swimming competition and the swimming leg of the triathlon.  The latest tests, released by the Paris mayor’s office, showed levels of the E.Coli bacteria – an indicator of faecal matter – are far above the upper limits imposed by sports federations.

Stay tuned for more news………….