South Africa, World
While you were sleeping: 11 October 2017
KZN storm kills seven, Catalan independence announced, then suspended, and Trump lashes out at Tillerson.
Wednesday, 11 October 2017
“The man who cannot visualise a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.”
André Breton
STORY OF THE DAY
Scorpio & amaBhungane: The McKinsey Dossier, Part 4 – Bending over backwards for Trillian
By Pauli van Wyk for SCORPIO and Susan Comrie for AMABHUNGANE
Eskom paid Trillian R595-million without a valid contract while lying to the public about doing so. This is well established by now. But how the Gupta-linked company was sneaked onto Eskom’s payment system – a system designed to prevent fraud – has always been a mystery. A series of interviews and leaked documents show that suspended chief financial officer Anoj Singh and his management team stand accused of bending over backwards to get Trillian their payday, sometimes bullying mid-level officials into fabricating documents.
Two patients at the KZN Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital died after a wall collapsed, bringing the KZN storm death toll to seven. Flooded and destroyed cars, port-blocked cargo ships and a general sense of weather-based mayhem left a massive path of destruction in the province. Ultimately the N2 highway was shut down following heavy flooding and residents were encouraged not to go outside at all. Today’s forecast, thankfully, is a little less rain and wind.
Jubilation and uncertainty after Catalan declaration
Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont declared independence on Tuesday but followed this with a request for its parliament to suspend the implementation thereof. A dialogue was called for by Puigdemont, but Spain and Catalonia’s “
Trump challenges Tillerson to IQ test
It had been relatively quiet on the Trump front this week, but
Child obesity soars since 1975
Ten times as many children are obese today than in 1975. Although underweight children still outnumbered them, The Lancet medical journal reported that obesity rates are fast increasing beyond malnutrition, meaning that by 2022 there will be more kids overweight than under.
IN NUMBERS
$70
The amount the creators of That 70’s Show’s theme tune get paid each time the song airs.
FACTS OF THE DAY
Today in 1899 the Second Anglo-Boer War begins.
Domino’s pizza developed the world’s first pizza box, but never patented it.
FEATURED ARTICLES
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A column by SIMON MANTELL
Weather
BFN: min: 7° max 22°, cloudy
CPT: min: 11° max: 18°, cloudy
DBN: min: 14° max: 22°, rainy
EL: min: 14° max: 23°, cloudy
JHB: min: 9° max: 21°, sunny
KIM: min: 9° max: 24°, sunny
NLP: min: 9° max: 23°, sunny
MHK: min: 9° max: 24°, sunny
PMB: min: 8° max: 21°, sunny
PE: min: 12° max: 28°, rainy
PTA: min: 11° max: 22°, sunny
Financial Data
Oil=$56.51
Gold=$1,288.60
Platinum=$933.50
R/$=13.66
R/€=16.14
R/£=18.04
$/€=0.83
JSE All Share=57,629.93
DJIA=22,812.82
FTSE 100=7,538.27
