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While you were sleeping: 29 June 2017
Van Niekerk smashes 300m record, Australian priest charged in sex scandal, and Lebanon to build dam over troubled water.
Thursday, 29 June 2017
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”
John Lennon
STORY OF THE DAY
ANC conference: It’s not about policy, stupid – it’s about who wins
By STEPHEN GROOTES
On Friday delegates from the ANC’s branches all over the country meet for the first time this year. It will, importantly, not be the last time. Instead, the policy conference, which should be about, you know, policy, is going to be overshadowed by the leadership battle. It is obvious to all and sundry that many people in the party don’t really care about policy at all, and only about who wins. In the slightly unreal politics of the ANC at the moment, it won’t come as a surprise to anyone to read that the ANC Policy Conference is both crucially, vitally, fantastically important, and not important at all.
Wayde van Niekerk has sprinted to a world record in the 300m on Wednesday. The 24 year old South African has officially usurped Michael Johnson in the event, running 30.81s at the Golden Spike meet. Johnson’s previous record of 30.85 was, funnily enough, made in Pretoria 17 years ago.
Deep cuts to peacekeeping agreed by UN
The United Nations have conceded to cuts of nearly $600 million for its peacekeeping budget. The cuts came about from strong demands by the United States for cost reductions in its
Church sex abuse scandal clings to Australian cleric
Australia’s senior-most cleric George Pell has been charged today with historical child sex charge abuse. The third most senior Catholic cleric in the world, Pell has denied the allegations, claiming he had no knowledge of widespread paedophilia in Australia’s church.
Lebanon plans dam along fault line
Lebanon’s government has decided to build a dam. Such a damn good dam that it will be able to withstand tremors from a seismic fault line beneath it. The project is crucial for tackling water shortages in the country but raises one mammoth task for engineers. Either that or Lebanon will soon be half-submerged.
IN NUMBERS
1,300000
The number of homes that could be powered by the electricity used to power the Bitcoin network.
FACTS OF THE DAY
Today in 2007 Apple unveiled the iPhone.
An accountant named
FEATURED ARTICLES
OPINIONISTAS
Why President Zuma should not appoint a commission of inquiry into State Capture
A column by PIERRE DE VOS
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