--- title: "While you were sleeping: 1 September 2017" description: "Pound nears euro parity, Kenyan Supreme Court to rule on election fraud, and Trump's wall prototypes to be assembled." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "South Africa" author: "John Stupart" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/johnstupart/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-09-01-while-you-were-sleeping-1-september-2017/" published: "2017-09-01T05:56:31" updated: "2017-09-01T05:56:32" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 648 --- # While you were sleeping: 1 September 2017 > Pound nears euro parity, Kenyan Supreme Court to rule on election fraud, and Trump's wall prototypes to be assembled. By John Stupart · Published 1 September 2017, 07:56 SAST · Updated 1 September 2017, 07:56 SAST ## Content **TGIF, 1 September 2017** *“September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.”* **Alexander Theroux** ![Image](https://i2.createsend1.com/ei/d/70/74D/527/csimport/849x493q70merten-Zumaquestions1.050601.jpg) STORY OF THE DAY [Question time with Zuma: A box-ticking exercise masquerading as oversight](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-08-31-question-time-with-zuma-a-box-ticking-exercise-masquerading-as-oversight/#.WajOcbKg9hE) Presidential question time in the National Assembly on Thursday turned into yet another box-ticking exercise. President Jacob Zuma in the House? Tick. President at the podium? Tick. President reading prepared replies on his administration’s achievements in response to ANC sweetheart questions? Tick. President side-stepping questions on accountability? Tick. All dressed up as being part of Parliament’s constitutional oversight mandate? Tick. By MARIANNE MERTEN. [Pound nears parity with Euro](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-09-01-thanks-brexit-pound-nears-euro-parity) The British pound has crept closer to reaching parity with the euro. This week has slammed the British currency, with a 17% overall decrease since the Brexit referendum. With nobody else to blame for the currency's deplorable reflection of a deplorable political situation, expect massive deflection from the Brexit-advocates in 3. 2. 1... [Supreme court to rule on Kenya's election](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-09-01-kenya-on-edge-as-supreme-court-prepares-election-ruling) The Kenyan Supreme Court is set to rule today on the legitimacy of the country's elections. While they are covered in irregularity and contestation by the opposition, fears of resurgent violence if the court rules all was fair have re-emerged. Opposition candidate Raila Odinga is at the front of such fears, which could materialise should he finally be out in the electoral cold. [Nigerian flooding affects thousands](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-09-01-nigeria-floods-displace-more-than-100000) Over 100,000 Nigerians have been displaced after heavy rains and flooding affected the south-eastern Benue state. President Muhammadu Buhari made a late-Thursday statement indicating his concern for the crisis, calling the National Emergency Management Agency to intervene and provide critical assistance. [Mexico's wall prototypes ordered](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-09-01-us-orders-prototypes-for-mexico-border-wall) US Customs and Border Protection officials have put in an order for some walls. That is 30ft prototypes of a proposed Trump-satisfying wall. The fight is on, however, in Congress, where massive party rifts within Donald Trump's organisation could threaten the wall's funding. 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