World

South Africa, World

While you were sleeping: 26 September 2017

While you were sleeping: 26 September 2017

North Korea and USA "War" of words, Puerto Rico slams slow response, and Nobel prize money gets a boost.

Tuesday, 26 September 2017

“We all want things we can’t have. Being a decent human being is accepting that.” 
John Fowles

 
 
 

Welcome to the ninth instalment of “Declassified: Apartheid Profits”. While researching the recently published book Apartheid Guns and Money: A Tale of Profit, OPEN SECRETS collected approximately 40,000 archival documents from 25 archives in seven countries. This treasure trove contains damning details of the individuals and corporations that propped up apartheid and profited in return. Many of these documents were kept secret until now. This week we take a look behind the Iron Curtain and discover that during the Cold War, all was not as it seemed. Apartheid’s alliances did not fit neatly into the narrative of the “Communist threat”.

 
 
 

USA ‘declared war’ on North Korea

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho has accused the United States of “declaring war” against North Korea. Donald Trump’s comments over the country “not being around much longer” clearly touched a raw nerve. North Korea has since threatened to shoot down American bombers, even if they are not inside Korean airspace.

 

Puerto Rico criticises slow response to disaster

Devastated by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico has not yet received more than a “trickle” of government aid. Governor Ricardo Rossello cautioned that the American territory required urgent aid to prevent a humanitarian crisis. Trump had been criticised for spending more time tweeting about NFL boycotts and declaring war on Korea than Puerto Rico’s creeping disaster.

 

China clamps down on WhatsApp ahead of congress

Chinese authorities appeared to have disrupted WhatsApp services ahead of an October Communist Party congress. Text messaging, voice calls and video calls were all down or intermittently working today. Forget missiles and angry Tweets, if you want to strike fear into a Communist regime, it seems, just develop encrypted chat.

 

Nobel Foundation increases prize money

A week before the prestigious Nobel Prizes will begin being awarded, the foundation has announced a cash boost for winners. Reduced in 2012 to 8-million krona, the award was increased back this year to SEK 9-million, or about $1.1-million. The Nobel Prize for medicine will be announced on 2 October.

 
 — 

IN NUMBERS

00000000

The US nuclear launch codes for 20 years.

 

FACTS OF THE DAY

Today in 1973 Concorde makes its first trans-Atlantic crossing, in pretty quick time to boot.

Walt Disney personally hated Goofy. He only retained the character because it employed so many people.

 
 

 

FEATURED ARTICLES

OPINIONISTAS

South Africans at sea, waiting for a rescue mission

A column by JUDITH FEBRUARY

 

From the Inside: Lessons from Vietnam

A column by HELEN ZILLE

 
 — 

Weather
BFN: min: 11° max 31°, sunny
CPT: min: 10° max: 14°,  cloudy
DBN: min: 12° max: 17°, rainy
EL: min: 8° max: 24°, cloudy
JHB: min: 8° max: 24°, sunny
KIM: min: 3° max: 19°, cloudy
NLP: min: 13° max: 28°, cloudy
MHK: min: 8° max: 25°, sunny
PMB: min: 6° max: 14°, rainy
PE: min: 9° max: 20°, sunny
PTA: min: 12° max: 28°, cloudy

Financial Data
Oil=$56.52
Gold=$1,291.09
Platinum=$938.26
R/$=13.33
R/€=15.79
R/£=17.95
$/€=0.83
JSE All Share=55,867.34
DJIA=22,376.14
FTSE 100=7,263.90

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Premier Debate: Gauten Edition Banner

Gauteng! Brace yourselves for The Premier Debate!

How will elected officials deal with Gauteng’s myriad problems of crime, unemployment, water supply, infrastructure collapse and potentially working in a coalition?

Come find out at the inaugural Daily Maverick Debate where Stephen Grootes will hold no punches in putting the hard questions to Gauteng’s premier candidates, on 9 May 2024 at The Forum at The Campus, Bryanston.