South Africa's alt-right problem, Brexit abandoned, Chicago freezes up

[Click here for the web version of this email]( [FIRST THING With John Stupart]( Wednesday, 30 January 2019 “But need alone is not enough to set power free: there must be knowledge.” Ursula K. Le Guin [Will the Bosasa’s Angelo Agrizzi testimony at the Zondo Commission change the balance of power in the ANC and could it have an impact on the number of people who turn out to vote for the party in the elections? Probably not, but it could become a major milestone in the battle to right the listing sh]( Story of the Day [Global alt-right exploiting SA’s divisions and history]( By Marianne Thamm A steady stream of transnational right-wing populists and nationalists has trekked to South Africa in recent years hoping to leverage the country’s fraught racial history for their own global aims. They have found local friends who appear willing to allow these grifters to exploit South Africa’s past and its current high rate of crime and violence. [Advertisement]Discover a world of investment potential. [Find out more about investing offshore here.]( WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [Brexit deal abandoned]( Theresa May's Conservative Party 'allies' have torn up her 18 month-brewed Brexit deal. Instead, May will be tasked with returning to the EU to renegotiate something better. In addition, the British Parliament rejected a call to extend the deadline. This effectively forces May to broker a deal with a hostile EU eight weeks before Britain will be forced to leave the bloc. A no-deal 'hard' Brexit has never looked more likely. [Barr telegraphs possible Mueller report block]( President Trump's attorney general William Barr has suggested that he may be "prevented" from releasing Robert Mueller's report. During an answering session in front of Senate Judiciary Committee members, Barr implied that Justice Department standards might prevent him from releasing the report. That said, Barr was quick to add that he would resign should Trump demand Mueller's dismissal if it were based on spurious claims. [Ex-Starbucks CEO holds back on 2020 confirmation]( Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has announced that he might not declare, as it were, for the 2020 elections. Or rather, Schultz revealed that he may or may not be running depending on an announcement in the summer. Punting himself as an independent, Schultz's motto was summed up when he stated: “the far left and the far right are controlling the conversation when people actually mostly agree in the middle.” [Midwest braces for massive freeze]( While most of South Africa boils in the summer heat, Chicago and much of the US midwest are bracing themselves for a cold front of note. Stores and general retailers in Chicago have begun closing doors in anticipation of a massive freezing cold that is expected to arrive today. Temperatures are expected to reach a brisk -22 Celcius, prompting much of the city, and indeed the Midwest as a whole, to bundle up and stay at home. AdvertisementStay local. Seize global opportunities. [Find out more about investing offshore here.[Advertisement]]( Picture of the Day By EPA-EFE/Gyorgy Varga The yacht pier is enclosed with the icy water of Lake Balaton in Balatonfenyves, Hungary, 29 January 2019. [Fight For the Facts]( After the last ten years, it’s easy to be cynical in South Africa. Especially when it comes to politics. But cynicism doesn’t build a better society; it doesn’t hold power to account and it doesn’t expect better from our leaders. Daily Maverick believes in hope and we hope for a better South Africa. And while hope isn't a strategy - supporting truly independent media is. [Join Maverick Insider and be part of something positive.]( In Numbers 2 The number of Nobel prizes won by Marie Curie. They were in two separate science fields. Curie is the only person in history to achieve this. Facts of the Day Today in 1982 the first PC virus is coded. It contained 400 lines and was named "Elk Cloner". 'Dord' was an erroneous word in the English dictionary for several years. It was eventually defined to mean "ghost word". Featured Articles [A’yo goin’ down, Dr Survé?]( [A’yo goin’ down, Dr Survé?]( By Sam Sole [The unravelling of Angelo Agrizzi, State Capture’s racist whistle-blower]( [The unravelling of Angelo Agrizzi, State Capture’s racist whistle-blower]( By Jessica Bezuidenhout [The SANDF’s Real Challenge: It’s become a Welfare not a Warfare Agency]( [The SANDF’s Real Challenge: It’s become a Welfare not a Warfare Agency]( By Greg Mills [South Africa vs People of Venezuela]( By Henning Suhr [SABC staff are paid — but jitters about broadcaster’s ‘Day Zero’ remain]( By Rebecca Davis [Breytenbach tells of days of darkness at NPA]( By Nkateko Mabasa [Romantic visions of pastoral Africa won’t solve urban food insecurity]( By Jonathan Crush Opinionistas [On Helen Zille’s ‘Tax Revolt’: Blaming voters for not getting your way]( A column by Pierre De Vos [Lessons from my first white boss]( A column by Lwando Xaso [Corruption Orgy: How our moral values are being tested to the limits]( A column by Oscar Van Heerden Weather BFN: min: 17° max: 31°, cloudy CPT: min: 18° max: 23°, cloudy DBN: min: 22° max: 28°, sunny EL: min: 21° max: 28°, cloudy JHB: min: 15° max: 26°, rainy MHK: min: 18° max: 31°, cloudy NLP: min: 18° max: 31°, sunny PE: min: 19° max: 26°, sunny PMB:min: 18° max: 32°, rainy Financial Data Oil=$61.08 Gold=$1,311.21 R/$=13.62 R/€=15.56 R/£=17.81 JSE All Share=54,387.70 DJIA=24,574.93 BTC$=3 414 Access a world of investment opportunities when you invest offshore with us. 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