--- title: "While you were sleeping: 11th January 2017" description: "Obama gives final \"yes we did\" speech, China sends aircraft carrier to Taiwan Strait, and rhinos use poo like Facebook." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "Newsdeck" author: "John Stupart" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/johnstupart/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-01-11-while-you-were-sleeping-11th-january-2017/" published: "2017-01-11T05:50:30" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 676 --- # While you were sleeping: 11th January 2017 > Obama gives final "yes we did" speech, China sends aircraft carrier to Taiwan Strait, and rhinos use poo like Facebook. By John Stupart · Published 11 January 2017, 07:50 SAST ## Content **Wednesday, 11th January 2017** *"Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practised for a good many years."* **Prince Philip** ![Op-Ed: Independence of Western Sahara is an inalienable right](https://i1.createsend1.com/ei/d/14/DBF/58A/csimport/849x493q70Ranjeni-ANC-stalwarts1.050656.jpg) STORY OF THE DAY [Mission Improbable? Stalwarts aim to change ANC’s leadership selection process](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-h/) By RANJENI MUNUSAMY By their own admission, the ANC veterans’ intervention to confront the crisis in their organisation has set them on a “parallel process”. Their societal-wide consultation process and push for a national consultative conference is outside the normal course of party business. Now they want to go even further to try to change the ANC’s process of electing leaders. Considering the vested and factional interests in the leadership contest, and hostility towards the veterans in some quarters, they will face an uphill battle. But if the process is not changed, the ANC will continue powering towards its own destruction. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [Obama's farewell speech caps presidency](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-k/) President Barack Obama delivered his farewell speech last night, emphasising that America was improved in virtually "every measurable way" following his presidency. Speaking in Chicago, Obama's speech highlighted the ongoing divisiveness of racism while also stressing the importance of national unity going forward. [Charleston Church shooter sentenced to death](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-u/) Dylann Roof, the 22-year-old who shot and killed nine black South Carolina churchgoers, has been sentenced to death. Roof was found guilty of 33 charges by a jury and will be formally sentenced by a federal judge on Wednesday. Roof remained unrepentant throughout the verdict, reiterating that he still felt like he "had to do it". [China's aircraft carrier enters Taiwan Strait](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-o/) China's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has entered the Taiwan Strait in a clear show of force by Beijing. This move comes straight off the back of Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the United States. Taiwanese F-16 fighter jets are monitoring the vessel. [Rhinos use poo like social media: study](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-b/) A new research report by South African and German scientists has shown that rhinos use their dung to signal gender, age, and sexual availability. Using synthesised equivalent scents throughout Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, the researchers were able to "attract territorial males using female heat-signalled scent". At the very least, rhino poo is possibly less full of shit than half of your daily feed on Facebook. — IN NUMBERS 157 The number of awards Meryl Streep has won as an actor. FACT OF THE DAY Today in 1879 the **Anglo-Zulu War** began. The programming language Python is named after **Monty Python**. FEATURED ARTICLES ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Ranjeni-ANC-stalwarts.jpg) [Mission Improbable? Stalwarts aim to change ANC’s leadership selection process](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-p/) BY RANJENI MUNUSAMY ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70The-Rogue-Unit.jpg) [Video – State Capture, Part I: The Rogue Unit](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-z/) BY DAILY MAVERICK CHRONICLE ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70DougalChronicle-tikbabies.jpg) [Addicts at birth: Ocean View’s ‘tik babies’](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-e/) BY LEILA DEE DOUGAN ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Herman-Mashaba-by-Greg-Nicolson-twitter.jpg) [Herman Mashaba claims anti-corruption victory in Johannesburg](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-g/) BY GREG NICOLSON ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Simon-Abuja-Airport.jpg) [Under African Skies: Abuja’s airport fiasco](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-yd/) BY SIMON ALLISON ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Marelise-Diepsloot-maths-MAIN-PHOTO.jpg) [Greater than the sum of its parts: Diepsloot’s maths success story](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-yk/) BY MARELISE VAN DER MERWE ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70mills-ivorycoast-MAIN-PHOTO.jpg) [Côte d’Ivoire: Catching up from Conflict](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-jl/) BY GREG MILLS ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Davis-Monster.jpg) [‘Nessie’ resurfaces, 78 years later: Have you seen this monster?](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-jy/) BY REBECCA DAVIS ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70cruise-wildlife-MAIN-PHOTO.jpg) [Wildlife Trafficking: The Sordid Connection](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-jt/) BY ADAM CRUISE ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70groundup-housing.jpg) [GroundUp: Presidential housing project bogged down in corruption and fraud](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-jd/) BY GROUNDUP ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70ISS-stephanie-congo.jpg) [ISS Today: Buying time in the DRC?](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-jk/) BY ISS TODAY ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70S-RM-reid-eastafrica\(1\).jpg) [Militants Rising: Islamic State’s East African Ambitions](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-tl/) BY GABRIELLE REID ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70ICG-South-Sudan.jpg) [ICG: South Sudan – Rearranging the Chessboard](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-ty/) BY INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP OPINIONISTAS ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/190x170q70e41a4dfa4a643c00376ac2cc63396bfb.jpg) [Nkola Motata: The hanging-in judge](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-tt/) A column by PIERRE DE VOS ![Image](https://images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/190x170q70rhulani-siweya-for-columnist-profile.jpg) [ANCYL President Collen Maine, your conduct is alien](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hlilbt-l-td/) A column by RHULANI THEMBI SIWEYA — **Weather** BFN: min: 19° max: 29°, AM rain CPT: min: 18° max: 31°, sunny DBN: min: 21° max: 31°, cloudy EL: min: 22° max: 31°, AM rain JHB: min: 15° max: 26°, PM rain KIM: min: 21° max: 29°, PM rain NLP: min: 15° max: 28°, cloudy PMB: min: 13° max: 31°, cloudy PKN: min: 14° max: 28°, cloudy PE: min: 20° max: 34°, cloudy PTA: min: 17° max: 28°, cloudy **Financial Data** Oil=$53.93 Gold=$1,187.20 Platinum=$977.70 R/$=13.73 R/€=14.50 R/£=16.70 $/€=1.05 JSE All Share=51,740.17 DJIA=19,859.62 FTSE 100=7,237.77