“Kies jou vyande met groot oorleg. ‘n Toegewyde vyand is ‘n onuitputlike inspirasiebron.”

“Choose your enemies with great consideration. A dedicated enemy is a inexhaustible inspiration.”

– Hennie Aucamp

Sarah Palin has officially endorsed Donald Trump. This unholy alliance between the world’s two single worst examples of democracy took place overnight as the reality star and former governor of Alaska trumpeted, “Can I get a hallelujah?”. In what could be seen as the single most obvious brown nosing move towards being named Trump’s running mate, should he seal the pact and become the Republican presidential candidate, the endorsement is, at least for Trump, a sound victory.

The United Nations has estimated there are around 3,500 slaves are in Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) grasp. The majority of these captives were seized in predominantly Sunni areas during ISIL’s major offensives in 2014. Mainly women and children, the UN noted that ISIL uses these slaves to carry out suicide attacks, support local fighters through involuntary blood donations and child soldiers, and through general tyranny.

An Iranian-backed militia kidnapped three Americans abducted in Iraq last week. The Shi’ite group, as yet unnamed, allegedly kidnapped the General Dynamics employees in a move to embarrass the Iraqi government. For John Kerry, this means winding back the clock and repacking his negotiations bag with Tehran. That said, the fact that the kidnappers are a local militia ostensibly controlled by Iran and not linked to ISIL could be a good thing for the hostages’ well being.

Netflix’s expansion into global markets, including South Africa, has paid off. Shares in Netflix rose 7% after it announced it had over 74.8 million subscribers worldwide. The entertainment streaming service recently expanded into virtually all countries worldwide, with the exception of China. Although it launched with limited bouquets of available programmes, this is the beginning of a possibly meteoric rise for Netflix.

Rafael Nadal has made a premature exit from the Australian Open. Defeated in round one, Nadal lost 7-6(6) 4-6 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 to Spain’s Fernando Verdasco. Nadal appeared in shock following the blown 2-0 lead over Verdasco. With the 5th seed failing to win a grand slam last year, it appears Nadal is in dire need of the mother of all pep talks, also known as a psychological kick in the bum.

121

The length, in feet, of hair you grow every day. This may be a bit less for the bald and barelegged.

Bloemfontein: min: 18° max: 30°, rainy
Cape Town: min: 21° max: 32°, sunny
Durban: min: 21° max: 28°, cloudy
East London: min: 22° max: 28°, cloudy
Johannesburg: min: 17° max: 26°, rainy
Kimberley: min: 23° max: 31°, rainy
Nelspruit: min: 18° max: 26°, cloudy
Pietermaritzburg: min: 13° max: 28°, rainy
Polokwane: min: 20° max: 27°, cloudy
Port Elizabeth: min: 20° max: 29°, cloudy
Pretoria: min: 17° max: 27°, rainy

FINANCIAL DATA

Oil=$29.43 Gold=$1,086.34 Platinum=$830.93
R/$=16.74 R/€=18.26 R/£=23.68 $/€=1.09
JSE All Share=47,627.76 DJIA=16,071.42 FTSE 100=5,878.05: Source

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