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While you were sleeping: 2 December 2016

While you were sleeping: 2 December 2016
Trump appoints Mattis as Secretary of Defence, Bolivia suspends air crash charter company, and Australia insists reef "not dying".





TGIF, 2nd December


"Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, roads, the fresh water system, and public health… what have the Romans ever done for us?"
Graham Chapman




 



 









Elections aftermath: Why did the ANC ignore its own research?





After two intense meetings with veterans and a heated three-day national executive committee (NEC) meeting that debated the call for President Jacob Zuma to step down, the ANC does not appear to have a clear way forward to deal with its internal turmoil. The issue has been left to the top six officials (who include the person central to the problem) to figure it out. The NEC acceded to a call from the veterans to hold a consultative conference, but decided it would be an extension of the mid-year national policy conference. In that format, it is possible that the Zuma defence squad will treat the veterans as the villains and Zuma as the hero. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.





 



 



 










WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING










Trump names Mattis defence secretary



Donald Trump has announced that General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis will be his defence secretary. A seasoned combat commander who is a well respected individual across party lines, Mattis has a reputation for blunt talking, but also for possessing a shrewd intelligence. Mattis may also be the first entirely lucid, non-right wing cabinet choice made by the Orange Menace so far.





 





Bolivia suspends air crash carrier



Bolivia has shut down the LAMIA air charter service in the wake of this week's devastating crash. Authorities are now investigating LAMIA's operations, and have revoked its permit entirely. Air crash investigators are examining pilot records and air traffic control logs, which they suspect all may have contributed to the disaster.





 









Hollande won't run again



French President François Hollande will not run for a second term. Hollande made the announcement late yesterday, his action throwing open the doors for the socialists to field a new candidate in April. It is expected that Hollande's deputy, Manuel Valls, will attempt to run instead. With the lowest approval ratings since WWII for a French president, Hollande's departure is probably for the best.





 





Australia insists reef 'not dying'



Australian officials have insisted that the Great Barrier Reef is not dying. The country is now required to submit its 'Reef 2050' rescue plan to UNESCO in order to avoid having the site listed as endangered. With widespread bleaching affecting two-thirds of its inshore northern section, "not dying" seems to be a Zuma-esque stretch of the imagination.





 









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IN NUMBERS


3,749



The number of people who streamed 'It's the End of the World As We Know It' on the day of the Brexit vote results.





 









FACT OF THE DAY



Today in 1804 Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.


Reporting a pothole in Boston will get you a photo of the filled cavity, along with the team who performed the work.





 










FEATURED ARTICLES






















OPINIONISTAS

















We are talking at rather than to each other


A column by RICHARD RABER



 










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Weather
BFN: min: 16° max: 31°, sunny
CPT: min: 14° max: 27°, cloudy
DBN: min: 20° max: 24°, cloudy
EL: min: 17° max: 24°, cloudy
JHB: min: 15° max: 31°, cloudy
KIM: min: 19° max: 31°, sunny
NLP: min: 18° max: 26°, cloudy
PMB: min: 15° max: 21°, cloudy
PKN: min: 18° max: 28°, cloudy
PE: min: 16° max: 24°, cloudy
PTA: min: 16° max: 32°, cloudy








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