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Weekly wrap-up: 23 April

Weekly wrap-up: 23 April
By Andrea Teagle
23 Apr 2016
0

Arms Deal report angers, anti-rape protests rage at Rhodes, and Prince is remembered.

“Movies are real! Music is real! It affects people, it’s real. … The other night I went to a club and I watched a DJ control an entire room.
Even politicians can’t do that.”
~ Prince
Arms deal report released
The Seriti Commission of Inquiry findings have been released almost two decades after arms deal suspicion first began to arise: a(nother) report exonerating the president from wrong-doing. Dropped in the midst of the Gupta scandal and the aftermath of Nkandla, the report reflects accurately the depths to which one government can sink to protect one man, but little else. Over R10 million in taxpayers’ money later, here’s a refresher on what we know, what we don’t and what we suspect. 

#RUReference List 

This week, young women at Rhodes University released a list of names of alleged serial rapists and abusers in a campaign against rape culture in South Africa. The University has demanded that the list be taken down, and says it plans to reopen on Monday. Students, however, are determined to continue protesting until the alleged perpetrators have been suspended.
Nhleko does a Zuma
Police Minister Nathi Nhleko is standing by his discredited report that that Zuma had not benefited unduly from the upgrades to his home. Nhleko insists he has nothing to apologise for. Arguably, being potentially branded as just ‘really stupid’ is better than ‘corrupt.’

Lives interrupted
The UK has agreed to take in 3,000 young refugees by 2020. The pledge is aimed at helping unaccompanied children considered vulnerable to exploitation and child-marriage. Meanwhile, activists have criticised the Scandinavian Asylum system for tolerating child brides.  And the widely criticised EU/Turkey deal pushes forward, even though Turkey, at one-seventh the size of the veritable EU, has already absorbed 3.1 million refugees.
Prince remembered
An outpouring of tributes followed the passing of the one of the world’s greatest. Here are some of Prince’s best videos on YouTube.

Video of the Week

Wrapped 
Roman Kaelin, Falko Paeper and Florian Wittmann.

Fact of the Week
A 2013 study found that the kilogram has gained weight.
The international standard is an actual chunk of metal, kept in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris. The study found that despite being fashioned as a cylinder to minimise surface area, the kilogram had picked up tens of micrograms of surface matter. Scientists want to redefine mass by universal constants, such that it can’t change. (Today’s definition of a meter, for example, is the distance that light travels in 1/299 792 458 of a second.)

Sporting Weekend

Super rugby
Saturday: Sunwolves v Jaguars, 6.45am; Hurricanes v Chiefs, 9.25am; Force v Waratahs, 11.35am. Stormers v Reds, 2.30pm; Southern Kings v Lions, 5pm.

Sunday: Brumbies v Crusaders, 7.30am.

Soccer: Nedbank Cup (quarter-finals): Saturday: Free State Stars v Wits, 2.30pm; Mamelodi sundowns v Orlando Pirates, 7.30pm. Sunday: Polokwane City v Baroka FC, 2.30pm.

Tennis: Barcelona Open, Saturday: quarter-finals, 12.25pm Sunday: finals, 6.50pm.
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