O'Sullivan wards off a menacing Phahlane

[Daily Maverick] FIRST THING with JOHN STUPART Tuesday, 14th February 2017 "You cannot hope to bribe or twist, thank God! the British journalist. But, seeing what the man will do unbribed, there's no occasion to." Humbert Wolfe STORY OF THE DAY [House of Cards: O’Sullivan vs Phahlane – who will outwit, outlast, outplay?]( By MARIANNE THAMM The dramatic Hollywood-style arrest of forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan after he had been pulled over by a convoy of at least eight vehicles carrying around 17 plain clothes cops outside Pretoria on Monday, while it was no doubt intended as a show of force, is not good PR for the country’s most powerful policeman at present, acting Commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane. O’Sullivan and attorney Sarah Jane Trent, fresh from her weekend ordeal behind bars, were nabbed as they left Afriforum’s offices. In a late-night High Court bid O’Sullivan pulled out an ace – a previously granted court order preventing his arrest. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [Flynn resigns after Russian scandal]( National Security Advisor Bill Flynn has announced his resignation. Flynn had been exposed as having discussed sensitive political matters with the Russian ambassador, despite denying doing any such thing publicly. Clearly, the White House had been doing a little too much Rushin' before Flynn's appointment. Keith Kellogg has become the interim replacement. [UN panel holds emergency armyworm meeting in Zimbabwe]( An outbreak of armyworm in Zimbabwe is threatening to devastate an already devastated agricultural sector. The outbreak of "fall" armyworm has left Zimbabwean farmers somewhat clueless as to how to treat the pests, as it is a first for Southern African farms. A working theory at present is that the caterpillars arrived in Zimbabwe on plants imported from South America. [Playboy brings back the nudity]( Playboy has announced that it will resume publishing nudity in its magazine. Hugh Hefner's son Cooper Hefner announced via Twitter that: "Nudity was never the problem because nudity isn't a problem. Today we're taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are." The magazine's circulation dropped dramatically last year when nudity was cut from the publication. Whether its subscribers will return from their now-online sources remains to be seen. [Exploding whales threaten NZ beach]( The world's third-largest beaching of whales saw a beach in New Zealand tragically saturated with over 700 of the beached creatures last week. With most of them dead, New Zealand authorities have closed the beach to the public for fear of exploding carcasses. As the gases in the remaining 300 whale carcasses expand, explosions are not uncommon. The smell, meanwhile, could only be described as "terrific". — [Zapiro - Teleconference]( PICTURE OF THE DAY BY EPA/VLAD CHIREA A general view of the Victoriei Plaza full of protesters flashing the lights on their cell-phones under coloured pieces of paper, all at the same time to form a huge national flag, during a protest in front of the government headquarters in Bucharest, Romania, 12 February 2017. Following recent mass protests, Romania's government on 5 February repealed a controversial ordinance after announcing on 4 February 2017 that they would withdraw the disputed bill. The government ordinance, which was meant to pardon those sentenced to jail terms shorter than five years, finally caused the justice minister to resign on 8 February. Tens of thousands of people continued to protest on 12 February despite low temperatures, demanding that the entire government resign. IN NUMBERS 8.6% The rise in sales seen by Miller High Life after airing a one-second advert in the Super Bowl. FACTS OF THE DAY Today is Singles Awareness Day. It is also Valentine's Day. Vin Diesel is a self-confessed World of Warcraft fan. He plays for the Horde. Ronda Rousey has also acknowledged playing the game with Diesel. FEATURED ARTICLES [House of Cards: O’Sullivan vs Phahlane – who will outwit, outlast, outplay?]( [House of Cards: O’Sullivan vs Phahlane – who will outwit, outlast, outplay?]( BY Marianne Thamm [Problems to the left of me, problems to the right: Stuck in the Middle with JZ]( [Problems to the left of me, problems to the right: Stuck in the Middle with JZ]( BY Stephen Grootes [GroundUp: US analyst urges clients to sell Net1 shares as fears mount over social grant payments]( [GroundUp: US analyst urges clients to sell Net1 shares as fears mount over social grant payments]( BY GroundUp [Life Esidimeni: Makhura’s administration will continue to face blame]( [Life Esidimeni: Makhura’s administration will continue to face blame]( BY Greg Nicolson [South African Culture Guides and the art of Alternative Facts]( [South African Culture Guides and the art of Alternative Facts]( BY Rebecca Davis [Op-Ed: ‘We will soon die’]( [Op-Ed: ‘We will soon die’]( BY LUCAS LEDWABA [Analysis: SA needs to talk about the Islamic State’s real dangers, Trump’s extreme positions be damned]( [Analysis: SA needs to talk about the Islamic State’s real dangers, Trump’s extreme positions be damned]( BY Jasmine Opperman [Video: Street Talk – Sugar Daddies]( [Video: Street Talk – Sugar Daddies]( BY Street Talk [ISS Today: Somalia’s elections herald unexpected fresh start]( [ISS Today: Somalia’s elections herald unexpected fresh start]( BY ISS TODAY [GroundUp: Vigilante violence in Rosettenville leaves Malawian family homeless]( [GroundUp: Vigilante violence in Rosettenville leaves Malawian family homeless]( BY GroundUp [Pirates, invaded: PSL owes fans safety and a critical response in wake of Loftus violence]( [Pirates, invaded: PSL owes fans safety and a critical response in wake of Loftus violence]( BY Antoinette Muller OPINIONISTAS [Renewable job growth is a misleading statistic]( [Renewable job growth is a misleading statistic]( A column by Ivo Vegter [24: Valentine’s edition]( [24: Valentine’s edition]( A column by Tony Jackman — Weather BFN: min: 21° max: 31°, rainy CPT: min: 16° max: 28°, sunny DBN: min: 22° max: 26°, rainy EL: min: 22° max: 25°, rainy JHB: min: 16° max: 29°, rainy KIM: min: 22° max: 33°, cloudy NLP: min: 17° max: 33°, rainy PMB: min: 18° max: 24°, rainy PE: min: 20° max: 25°, cloudy PTA: min: 18° max: 30°, sunny Financial Data Oil=$55.54 Gold=$1,225.99 Platinum=$999.64 R/$=13.33 R/€=14.14 R/£=16.69 $/€=1.06 JSE All Share=52,956.71 DJIA=20,428.57 FTSE 100=7,278.92 [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2016 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. 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