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While you were sleeping: 24 March 2016

While you were sleeping: 24 March 2016
By John Stupart
24 Mar 2016
0

Congo re-elects its president, technically. Japan returns from annual whale slaughter, and minnows shock Cup of Nations contenders.

“Reading TNA or watching ANN7 for even a day has the same effect as subsisting on rice crackers and lemon water: the head spins, runes appear on the back of eyelids, bowels liquefy, God communicates in upbeat infographics.”

– Richard Poplak

Story of the Day
State Capture: MK veterans open a new front against Zuma
We live, we might say, in shifting times. The old certainties of our politics, that President Jacob Zuma is its MacDaddy, that he can think, say and do what he wants, and that the slide of the state is unstoppable, appear to be seriously challenged. The people who have previously remained silent are now raising their voices and getting their worries off their chests. One of those groups is a collection of people featuring bemedalled chests: former Umkhonto we Sizwe generals. They are worried, very worried indeed. Worried enough that they are calling for a Special National Conference of the ANC. President Zuma, if you’re listening, the pressure is building. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

While you were sleeping
Nguesso leads Congo’s polls
In a result surprising no one, Congo’s president Denis Sassou Nguesso was elected president. Again. This effectively extends the ruler’s reign beyond his current 32 years. All hail democracy.
Read More
Japan’s whaling fleet returns
The annual, prized Japanese tradition of swanning about the Antarctic Ocean slaughtering whales nobody wants to eat has ended its season. The fleet arrived today at Shimonoseki port, to the joy of only the tiniest of demographic.
Read More

New Zealand decides on its flag today
At 08h00 South African time, results will begin trickling in determining New Zealand’s fate. A multi-million dollar campaign to ditch the Union Jack in favour of the silver fern appears unlikely to succeed. The Kiwis, it seems, are content to recognise their historical overlords.
Read More

Minnows kick off Cup of Nations campaign right
São Tome e Príncipé and Guinea-Bissau have come from nowhere to score victories in their opening matches. The latter defeated Kenya 1-0 and the former beat Libya 2-1. With these wins in tow, the tiny nations appear well positioned to threaten the big boys (Egypt and Nigeria) this year.
Read More

In Numbers
1.6
The distance in kilometres which Veronica Seider could correctly identify a person from. Her vision was 20 times better than the ordinary human’s.

Facts of the Day
Today in 1944 saw the beginning of 76 allied soldiers’ breakout from a German prison. This was later immortalised in the hit film ‘The Great Escape’.

Fact of the day: The Japanese school year is 240 days long. This is almost two months longer per year than the South African school year.

Weather & Financial Data
BFN: min: 14° max: 28°, rainy
CPT: min: 16° max: 28°, cloudy
DBN: min: 22° max: 32°, rainy
EL: min: 18° max: 28°, cloudy
JHB: min: 14° max: 28°, cloudy
KIM: min: 15° max: 32°, sunny
NLP: min: 13° max: 25°, cloudy
PMB: min: 11° max 31°, rainy
PKN: min: 13° max: 29°, cloudy
PE: min: 16° max: 29°, cloudy
PTA: min: 15° max: 26°, cloudy
Oil=$40.47 Gold=$1,224.72 Platinum=$959.50
R/$=15.36 R/€=17.18 R/£=21.69 $/€=1.11
JSE All Share=52,569.55 DJIA=17,498.85 FTSE 100=6,199.11 : Source

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FEATURES
 

Photo: Former South Africa National Defence Force chief Siphiwe Nyanda looks on, before being sworn in as communications minister by President Jacob Zuma, at the presidential guest house in Pretoria, May 11, 2009. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko State Capture: MK veterans open a new front against Zuma
By Stephen Grootes
Photo: The Hawks head Lieutenant-General Mthandazo Berning Ntlemeza. Photo: eNCA Suzman Foundation vs Ntlemeza: The rocky road to a court showdown
By Glynnis Underhill
sa-great-again.jpg Cartoon: Make South Africa Great Again
By JERM
Photo: Sikhosiphi ‘Bazooka’ Rhadebe (John Clarke) Goodbye Bazooka: Wild Coast anti-mining activist killed
By Greg Nicolson
Anthony-egan-Marikana-GM-book-Review-rgb.jpg Murder at Small Koppie: J’Accuse, Greg Marinovich’s way
By ANTHONY EGAN
Photo: South Africans participate in the Joburg Gay Pride parade in Johannesburg, South Africa, 01 October 2011 EPA/JON HRUSA Status of Women: SA delegation to UN sides with conservative group
By Marianne Thamm
Photo: Men hold placards offering temporal employment services in Glenvista, south of Johannesburg, October 7, 2010. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko SA Unemployment and the Community Survey: It’s complicated
By Marianne Merten
Photo: Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin speaks at a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, USA, 14 March 2016. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO Op-Ed: When terrorism takes over a presidential campaign
By J Brooks Spector
Photo: Moroccan protesters wave the national flags during a rally against the United National Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Rabat, Morocco, 13 March 2016. EPA/ABDELHAK SENNA Western Sahara: Ban Ki-moon’s diplomatic mask slips, with dangerous consequences
By Simon Allison
Tinder-Andrea-Teagle.jpg Love Me Tinder: It’s everything the second swipe around
By ANDREA TEAGLE
Photo courtesy of Lesbians, Gays And Bisexuals Of Botswana. Op-Ed: A moment of optimism for LGBT activists in Botswana
By CAROLINE JAMES
A migrant holds up a sign in support for the victims of the terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium – after three deadly explosions earlier in the day – at the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border, in Idomeni, Greece, 22 March 2016. Migration restrictions along the so-called Balkan route, the main path for migrants and refugees from the Middle East to the EU, have left thousands of migrants trapped in Greece. EPA/ARMANDO BABANI While you were sleeping: 23 March 2016
By John Stupart

OPINIONS
floyd shivambu.jpgState Capture: It’s criminal, and it is nothing new
By Floyd ShivambuBantu-Holomisa-for-column.jpgA conflicted ANC cannot probe itself
By BANTU HOLOMISAMmusi-Maimane.jpgCaptured, compromised and corrupt: The ANC is rotten to the core
By Mmusi MaimaneSiya-Khumalo.jpgFor South Africa’s sake, please don’t say these words
By Siya Khumalo  

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