UN votes on Syrian war crimes unit

[Daily Maverick] FIRST THING with JOHN STUPART Thursday, 22nd December “Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.” G.K. Chesterton PICTURE OF THE DAY BY EPA/JULIAN SMITH A ring-tailed lemur sunbakes at Melbourne Zoo in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 December 2016. The Zoo is going to depart from tradition this summer by opening at 8am, beginning on Boxing Day. [Sell your car fast, easy and secure!] WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [Syrian war crimes unit to be established] The United Nations voted on Wednesday to create a war crimes evidence-building unit specifically focusing on Syria. Opposed by Russia, China and Iran amongst others, the body will gather testimony and other evidence in the civil war that has killed roughly 300,000 civilians. [Trump meets generals over F-35] Donald Trump has met with top military officials to discuss the ballooning costs of the F-35 project. America's most expensive jet project to date, the costs of the troubled aircraft could reach as high as $1.5 trillion. Combined with Trump's dislike for the new Air Force One's costs, and aerospace companies clearly now have no friend in Trump Tower. [Ban placed on former Protea] Alviro Petersen was banned from cricket for two years by Cricket South Africa. Petersen, a veteran of many test matches and a regular with the Johannesburg Lions, was banned on corruption charges relating to meetings held with match fixers. [British defence dept loses hundreds of laptops] More than 700 laptops and over 300 memory sticks have gone missing in the past year and a half in Britain's Ministry of Defence. The loss included encrypted laptops from several departments. At the very least one hopes the login passwords were more complicated than the Queen's birth date. — [Sell your car fast, easy and secure!] FEATURED ARTICLES [Op-Ed: Industrialisation is just as important as cost when considering IRP options] [Op-Ed: Industrialisation is just as important as cost when considering IRP options] BY Mike Levington [Letter to the Editor: The Myopic Matisonn?] [Letter to the Editor: The Myopic Matisonn?] BY Daily Maverick [Elephant Dawn: The high cost of hanging out with elephants] [Elephant Dawn: The high cost of hanging out with elephants] BY Don Pinnock [2016: A Big Year for Putin] [2016: A Big Year for Putin] BY Saif Islam [Letter to the Editor: Beneath the surface of the UCT convocation AGM] [Letter to the Editor: Beneath the surface of the UCT convocation AGM] BY Daily Maverick [Op-Ed: A 2017 Springbok Wish List] [Op-Ed: A 2017 Springbok Wish List] BY Daniel Gallan OPINIONISTAS [Eskom & DoE must act in the interest of public, or face the consequences] [Eskom & DoE must act in the interest of public, or face the consequences] A column by Wayne Duvenage [All they want for Christmas: A sunny day, the right documents, and maybe a parent or two] [All they want for Christmas: A sunny day, the right documents, and maybe a parent or two] A column by ROBYN WOLFSON VORSTER [Spartacus lives! Remembering Kirk Douglas on his 100th birthday] [Spartacus lives! Remembering Kirk Douglas on his 100th birthday] A column by Kalim Rajab [A Common Thread] [A Common Thread] A column by Paul Hoffman [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND] Copyright © 2016 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick First Thing subscriber list. Stay tuned to Daily Maverick's beat. [Click here for announcements]. [Preferences] | [Unsubscribe]