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While you were sleeping: 26 April 2017

While you were sleeping: 26 April 2017

Trump walks back wall talk, China launches a new aircraft carrier, and baby whales whisper to their mums.

Wednesday, 26 April 2017

“Joyfully to the breeze royal Odysseus spread his sail, and with his rudder skillfully he steered.”
Homer

 
 

President Jacob Zuma is perturbed that so many people are competing for his job as ANC leader. “Where have you ever seen a situation where all of us want to become president?”, Zuma asked at an ANC event at Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend. He claimed this was due to foreign forces trying to take control of the ANC. There is a rather crowded field at present, though this is probably due to the multiple factions at play. It could also be a sign of healthy competition in the ANC. So who are the players and how do they line up?

 
 
 

Trump walks back from the wall

President Donald Trump has toned down his demands for funding to pay for the wall which Mexico was meant to pay for. Hoping to avoid a spending shut-down by Friday, Trump has agreed to remove the request for funding to build the wall, instead focusing on anti-tunnelling and drone technology to aid in border security.

 

New protests planned for Venezuela

Venezuelan protesters will once again take to the streets on Wednesday. Despite over a score of protesters being killed in ongoing anti-Maduro demonstrations, opposition leaders have encouraged a move in Caracas, the bastion of the president’s support. The public dissatisfaction with an idiotic leader, it seems, is heating up just as much in South America.

 

China launches first home-made carrier

China has launched its first domestically designed and built aircraft carrier today. The Type 001A carrier is a significant leap forward for a Chinese navy seeking to expand its influence at sea, but poses virtually no threat to its biggest rival America, which possesess far more advanced, and numerous, carriers of its own.

 

Baby whales whisper to their mothers

Newborn humpback whales will whisper to their moms in order to avoid predators. Researchers publishing in Functional Ecology today revealed that the whispering was a clear difference in communication from the usual high-volume whale song we all know. Unwanted listeners in waters full of sharks and Orcas seem to be priority number one for baby humpbacks.

 
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IN NUMBERS

30,000

The number of policemen fired by the Georgian government in 2004 due to corruption.

 

FACTS OF THE DAY

Today is Hug a Friend Day.

Peru is the world’s largest cocaine producer. Colombia, it seems, has been dethroned.

 

FEATURED ARTICLES

OPINIONISTAS

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