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While you were sleeping: 15 March 2017
Trump tax files leaked, Yahoo hackers face indictments, and spiders help the world dispose of a lot of insects.
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
“Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.”
Helen Gurley Brown
STORY OF THE DAY
SassaGate: CPS contract fiasco just one Sassa worm in a can of many
By MARIANNE THAMM
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday spoke of the “higher good” and reassured Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts that government had money to pay social grants from April 1 and that the last hurdle would be who would be legally appointed to do so. But MPs struck another vein in the SassaGate saga which explains, in part, how the crisis came about. Treasury on Tuesday confirmed that it had not approved R45-million ultimately spent on “work streams” headed up by some members of an earlier advisory committee, hand-picked by Minister Bathabile Dlamini to recommend a future payment system. These work streams ran a parallel process to work done by Sassa officials in preparation to take grant payments “in-house” and appear to have been key in negotiating with CPS for a new contract.
Two pages of Trump taxes leaked
This week appeared to be Donald Trump’s turn to face a leak. This time, the much-guarded tax returns, or rather two pages of them, were leaked and published by MSNBC. The leaked files showed Trump paid $38-million on $150-million worth of income. This then begs the question of, if all of Trump’s tax files look so normal, why is there so much hesitance to publish them?
Legal hammer for Yahoo hack suspects
US officials have prepared four indictments and one massive legal headache for four suspects in the 2014 Yahoo hack. Involving three Russians, the indictments may well not see all of the suspects in an American court, particularly given the “state-sponsored” nature of the attack which targeted hundreds of millions of Yahoo user account details.
Spiders consume gigantic portions of insects
Ever asking the tough questions, science has discovered just how many insects spiders eat a year: 400-800 tonnes to be exact. The Science of Nature journal article indicated that the roughly 25 tonnes of spiders worldwide are critical in eating harmful insects. Some food for thought for sparing the shoe the next time your resident spider-bro comes out to help you eat your household pests.
New Zealand to make do without Boult
The Proteas are to be bolstered following the news that Trent Boult has been ruled out for Thursday’s second Test. A seam-friendly pitch should see plenty of action for both sides, but South African captain Faf du Plessis noted that: “If you lose two key players like that you definitely feel you’re a little bit light.”
IN NUMBERS
8/10
The number of the top 10 most dangerous cities for American pedestrians that are in Florida.
FACTS OF THE DAY
Today in 1961 South African announced its intention to withdraw from the Commonwealth.
By law, Pluto remains a planet in New Mexico.
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