South Africa

South Africa

While you were sleeping: 25 January 2016

While you were sleeping: 25 January 2016

Bloomberg shocks all with elections announcement, Toshiba looks to sell parts of its company, and the Broncos defeat Patriots to enter Super Bowl 50.

“I think that if ever a mortal heard the word of God it would be in a garden at the cool of day.”

 F. Frankfort Moore

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
The Syrian opposition’s lead negotiator has noted that he is coming under pressure from US secretary of state, John Kerry. The group of rebel and opposition groups, the High Negotiation Committee, has refused to attend negotiations until all attacks and blockades cease, and all detainees released. Not disclosed were the whereabouts of the Low or Medium Negotiation Committees. 

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have remained cool and aloof at the possible entry of Michael Bloomberg into the election race. Bloomberg announced he might enter the race as an independent should Clinton fail the primaries. The social democrat in the pigeon loft, Bernie Sanders’ reponse has been to dismiss Bloomberg as “another billionaire” in the race. Regardless, having a coherent billionaire with a decent haircut may well siphon much-needed Democrat votes away from Sanders.

ISIL has published a video reportedly showing the identities of the November Paris attackers. In addition to their faces, their last statements prior to the terror attacks were released. The video also flashed footage of British Prime Minister David Cameron expressing solidarity while displaying the message “Whoever stands in the ranks of kafir (infidels) will be a target for our swords.”

Toshiba looks set to sell off parts of its chip business. This is a direct response to the EU courts upholding a $148 million fine against the tech giant and a $1.3 billion accounting scandal. According to Reuters, this would include the sale of NAND flash memory operations, among other divisions. Regardless, Toshiba should likely be thankful it is still in business following such massive scandals.

The Denver Broncos have dug deep to defeat the New England Patriots in the US NFL. The 20-18 loss, attributed by Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick to “small mistakes”, has allowed Payton Manning’s Bronco’s entry into Super Bowl 50. A missed extra-point kick by Stephen Gostkowski, his first such error in 10 years, sent shockwaves through the team and added to a list of errors in a game that allowed few, if any, to pass unpunished.

IN NUMBERS

29

The anticipated depth of snowfall, in inches, for Washington DC over the weekend and following days.

FACTS OF THE DAY

Today in 1945 saw the end of the Battle of the Bulge. The German defeat opened up the way for an Allied advance into Germany, hastening the ultimate surrender of the Axis.

Fact of the day: Delta Airlines explicitly allows each passenger from Hawaii a single baggage item of pineapples.

WEATHER

Bloemfontein: min: 18° max: 28°, sunny
Cape Town: min: 21° max: 25°, rainy
Durban: min: 23° max: 26°, rainy
East London: min: 21° max: 24°, rainy
Johannesburg: min: 16° max: 28°, sunny
Kimberley: min: 19° max: 30°, sunny
Nelspruit: min: 20° max: 33°, rainy
Pietermaritzburg: min: 15° max: 25°, rainy
Polokwane: min: 20° max: 30°, cloudy
Port Elizabeth: min: 19° max: 23°, rainy
Pretoria: min: 18° max: 30°, rainy
FINANCIAL DATA
Oil=$32.18 Gold=$1,097.95 Platinum=$832.50
R/$=16.46 R/€=17.78 R/£=23.49 $/€=1.07
JSE All Share=47,661.87 DJIA=16,093.51 FTSE 100=5,900.01: Source

The Daily Maverick Audio Show (now on iTunes)
NOW ON DAILY MAVERICK

SARS Wars, season two: How can we trust the KPMG report?
By MARIANNE THAMM.
Video: Evita’s Free Speech, Episode 18
By PIETER-DIRK UYS.
The police minister’s 2016 top resolutions: Transformation & Professionalism
 By GREG NICOLSON.
Health-e News: The power struggles behind the TAC split in Free State
HEALTH-E NEWS Sibongile Nkosi dissects the split.
Op-Ed: Let’s get the economy going
By DIRK DE VOS.
Analysis: The ANC Youth League’s tenuous grasp on reality
By STEPHEN GROOTES.
Another knock for Kenya’s once-mighty media: Top Editor fired for criticising president Kenyatta
By SIMON ALLISON.
President Michael Bloomberg: Is America ready for an independent in the White House?
J. BROOKS SPECTOR takes a look.
Cricket: Rabada’s diamond will shine, but SA must guard against stress fractures
 By ANTOINETTE MULLER.
Ismail Lagardien: SONA2016: Look into the broken mirror, Mr President, you will see the society you preside over
ROBYN WOLFSON VORSTER: A letter to aborted twins
Herman Mashaba: All our problems have a common thread: Government failure to make good on the promise of a non-racial economy

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Daily Maverick Elections Toolbox

Feeling powerless in politics?

Equip yourself with the tools you need for an informed decision this election. Get the Elections Toolbox with shareable party manifesto guide.